Enka singer Yuki Tokunaga made his first appearance on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi), which aired on Getsuku. He talked about his time as an actor in the film "It's Tough Being a Family" directed by Yoji Yamada.
Tokunaga, who has appeared in the NHK Asadora dramas "Yell" and "Kumu Kum Everybody," is also active as an actor. "Of course, I want to continue with enka, but I also want to keep up with the times and try new things, and I would be happy if people get to know me as 'Tokunaga Yuki' through that," he said.
In "It's Tough Being a Family," he played a "happy eel restaurant owner." He obtained a moped license for filming. "I didn't have many scenes, but it seems to have left an impression on everyone who watched it. I'm grateful for that," he said.
On set, Director Yamada suddenly requested something that wasn't in the script: "Can you sing Tora-san's song?", and he decided to take on the challenge of riding a motorbike up a hill while singing. However, he made a series of mistakes during rehearsals. "I was so focused on singing that I was told my motorbike speed was too slow. One time I was going too fast, and another time I forgot to use my blinker, and it was chaos," he recalled.
In the end, the filming was a success. "I was really happy to have the opportunity to appear in Director Yamada's film and work with everyone," she said with a smile.
