The 13th episode of the NHK Asadora drama series "Kaze,Kaoru " (NHK General, Monday-Saturday 8:00 AM, etc.), starring Ai Mikami and Juri Kosaka , aired on April 15th, and viewers were drawn to the first appearance of Yuta Hayashi as Taichi Makimura.
Rin (Mikami-san) has started working at "Mizuho-ya," a shop that sells foreign books and imported goods. When Rin suggests that he buy the second volume along with the first volume, Makimura, who is visiting as a customer, responds, "It's 1 yen 80 sen for both volumes? So expensive." When Rin replies, "Expensive...it's expensive," the young man says in a mix of English and Japanese, "Exactly. If I buy them as you recommend, I'll be bankruptcy." When Rin asks, "Bank...?" the young man explains, "bankruptcy."
Just then, Kenjiro Shimada, also known as "Shimaken" (played by Masaya Sano), comes along and looks astonished, saying, "Have you started an English school or something?" Rin suggests that they each buy the first and second volumes and exchange them, but Shimaken says, "That's none of my business," and Makimura replies, "There's no way a humble student like me could afford that."
Rin asks if Shimaken is also a student, but he replies, "No." She continues, "I get it, you're a pawnbroker," trying to find out his background, to which Makimura laughs and says, "I might borrow money from a pawnbroker, but I don't lend money." When Rin asks, "Shimaken is a regular customer of this shop, is that right?", Makimura replies, "He's a regular customer who doesn't buy anything. He just looks," and it is here that he introduces himself for the first time, saying, "I'm Makimura Taichi."
Makimura is a student who frequents Mizuho-ya and is Shimaken's best friend. The actor playing him, Hayashi, was born on November 2, 2000, and is 25 years old and from Tokyo. This is his second appearance in a Asadora, following "The Tiger and Her Wings Tsubasa" in the first half of 2024, where he played Mizukami, the defendant in an assault case handled by Torako (Sairi Ito) at the Niigata District Court. In the 2025 film "Orokamono no mibun," he gave a strong performance as Mamoru, a young man involved in the illegal trade of family registers, and attracted attention, winning the Sponichi Grand Prix Newcomer Award at the 80th Mainichi Film Awards.
On social media, comments included: "I've been waiting for him to appear!", "Hayashi Yuta really suits cheerful and friendly roles", "Hayashi Yuta is great!", "He's Mamoru from ' The Orokamono no mibun'!", "He's been one of my favorite actors ever since I saw ' The Orokamono no mibun'", "This is eye-catching", "He's a really good actor", and "I have high expectations!".
