It has been revealed that actor Ikuta Toma will be playing Saito Jurobei in the NHK Taiga drama "UNBOUND (Berabou)" (General TV, Sunday 8pm and other times). Jurobei is the "man with an identical face to Hitotsubashi Harusame" who appeared at the end of the 46th episode, "The Soga Festival Incident" (broadcast on November 30th). Ikuta will be playing two roles, one with Harusame and the other with the same name.
Saito Jūrōbei, newly played by Ikuta, is a Noh actor employed by the Awa Hasegawa Hachisuka family. Hasegawa Heizo Nobuyoshi (Nakamura Nakamura Hayato) mistakes him for Jūrōbei, and Shibano Kuriyama (Shimada Kyūsaku), who knew Jūrōbei, also stares at him when he first meets Jūrōbei (Ikuta Toma) (Episode 35). Along with Tsutaju (Yokohama Ryusei), he becomes embroiled in a revenge plot planned by Sadanobu (Ryusei Yokohama) and others as a stand-in...
Saito Jurobei is also said to be the true identity of the "mysterious painter" Toshusai Sharaku.
Ikuta was surprised, saying, "My name is not Hitotsubashi Harusame. My name is Saito Jurobei. I never expected that the setting would come up here where Harusame and Saito Jurobei are identical twins. Morishita's scriptwriting is truly impressive."
He also revealed, "There was a lot of excitement on set. My heart was excited as well," and added, "I'm having fun acting. There are a lot of twists and turns scattered throughout the film right up until the very end, so I think a lot of people will enjoy it. I hope you'll look forward to seeing what happens to Jisei and Jurobei in the final episode."
"UNBOUND (Berabou)" is the 64th taiga drama, depicting the life of Tsutaya Juzaburo(or "Tsutajyu" for short), who is said to have laid the foundations for Japan's media industry and pop culture. The script was written by Yoshiko Morishita, known for her work on the highly talked-about "Drama 10: Ooku," which aired on NHK two years ago. The final episode will air on December 14th.
