A press conference announcing the production and lead roles for the 2028 first-half NHK Asadora drama series was held on June 4th at the NHK Broadcasting Center in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was announced that the title would be "Hon no Mokichi," that Kankuro Kudo would write the script, and that Yuumi Kawai would star. Maiko Itagaki, the production supervisor, explained why the announcement was made before the 2027 second-half morning Asadora, which will be produced by the Osaka Broadcasting Station.
Itagaki explained, "We made our decision earlier this time, so we were able to announce it first." He continued, "I don't know for sure if there have been any instances in the past where the order was reversed, but for the 99th drama 'Manpuku,' Sakura Ando and the next drama 'Natsuzora,' Suzu Hirose were announced in the opposite order, so I think there have been cases like that in the past."
When asked by a reporter, "Were there any problems with the script or casting for the second half of fiscal year 2015?", Itagaki replied, "No, I don't think there were any problems." An NHK drama representative commented, "The Osaka project is also progressing smoothly, and we have been announcing the projects in order as they were finalized, so we think we will be able to announce those soon as well."
"Hon no Mokichi" is the 118th installment of the NHK morning drama series. It tells the story of the "most estranged couple" in the history of Asadora, modeled after the poet Saito Mokichi and his wife, Teruko. This marks Kudo's return to writing the script for a Asadora after 15 years, since "Amachan" in the first half of 2013.
