Actress Hitomi Nakahara (89) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on November 11th. Having lost her husband, actor Shinjiro Ehara, three years ago, Nakahara now lives alone in the same apartment building as her daughter and her family. She spoke about her hobbies that she is passionate about.
Her hobby is mahjong. "I used to be good at it, but I'm not so good now," she says, analyzing herself. However, last year she won the "Healthy Mahjong" tournament, which had 120 participants. She also sometimes holds the "Nakahara Hitomi Cup," named after herself.
He is currently trying his hand at competitive mahjong. Unlike playing mahjong for fun, the etiquette and rules are strict, and private conversations are prohibited, so he confesses that he gets scolded all year round. His daughter tells him to quit if he's being scolded that much, but he has been obsessed with the game for about a year, wanting to play against stronger players and improve his game a little.
At first, he would sometimes be absorbed in the sport for eight hours, from the start at 2 pm until the end at 10 pm. "Rather than having fun, I just try my best, hoping to improve even a little," he said with a smile.
Her goal for the future is to "not cause trouble for my daughter." "Some of my mahjong friends have offered to take me to the hospital or other places when my daughter can't because of work, so I'm really happy. I wonder if it's okay for me to live such a frivolous life," she said with a happy smile.
