A special screening and press conference for the drama series "Kara-chan to Shito-san to," starring Hikaru Iwamoto of the popular group "Snow Man" and Genta Matsuda of "Travis Japan" (available on Prime Video from March 28), was held on March 24 at a sauna facility in Tokyo.
Based on the comic of the same name by Mizuto Takano and Futon Chirashi, this is a healing drama about Sou Karaki (played by Iwamoto), nicknamed "Kara-chan," a fashion model who loves delicious food, and Michiru Shito (played by Matsuda), nicknamed "Shito-san," a hairstylist who loves saunas, as they travel around Japan visiting saunas, enjoying delicious food in each place they visit, and finding healing for both mind and body.
On this day, Iwamoto and Matsuda appeared wearing sauna ponchos. As a surprise for the two, the reporters greeted them wearing sauna hats. Iwamoto said with a smile, "I was surprised because you don't often see a sight like this, but the sauna hats are really cute!" Matsuda added, "Everyone looks cute, they're all dressed up and looking great!"
When asked for their impressions of the first episode, "Kara-chan, Shito-san, and Japan's Finland," Iwamoto said, "The opening sequence was so cute. On the first day of filming, we were able to capture memories like, 'This is how we shot it,' or 'Genta ad-libbed and threw popcorn everywhere'... It was great that these memories were captured so cutely on video. The main drama itself had a nice, relaxed atmosphere that I personally liked, and it was wonderful." Matsuda also revealed, "Before we were Kara-chan and Shito-san, we were Teru-kun and Genta-san, and just like the relationship between the two in the drama, we were able to relax and feel a sense of 'healing' while filming."
Regarding the filming in the sauna, Matsuda said, "During filming, we had to lower the temperature in the sauna considerably to prevent the equipment from breaking and to make it bearable for long hours of shooting. We really love saunas, so it was just frustrating to have such a great environment but not be able to use it for filming." Iwamoto recalled, "Our bodies remember that saunas are hot, so it was quite difficult to act as if we were in a sauna for a long time at a low temperature."
Regarding the cold bath scene, Matsuda revealed, "Water is water! (laughs)," to which Iwamoto added, "The cold bath was ice cold!" He then shared a behind-the-scenes story, saying, "In terms of the filming order, the cold bath scene started right in the morning. I got into the cold bath before warming up in the sauna." He said he had to get pumped up right before filming, and Matsuda smiled as he said, "The coldness didn't come across at all in the video, which was honestly frustrating (laughs)."
Also, Kara-chan, played by Iwamoto, loves delicious food, so there are eating scenes in every episode. Iwamoto says, "For the scene in the first episode where I eat a hamburger, we had to shoot it many times to get it from every angle, and I ended up eating about 10 hamburgers in total that day (laughs). I eat a lot in the eating scenes that appear in each episode as well, so there are lots of 'endless [food item] episodes' in the other episodes too."
Furthermore, he revealed, in a "just between us" moment, "Kara-chan was explaining the onions in the hamburger, but I personally can't eat onions, so I had them removed. She was talking so enthusiastically, but there weren't actually any in it." Perhaps due to the eating scenes, Iwamoto said, "I gained weight during filming." He reflected, "I ate a lot, felt great, went to various places, and it was like a rewarding time."
Iwamoto commented, "It's a lighthearted production in a good way. Even people who aren't yet interested in saunas should watch the drama and learn about the goodness of saunas. In each episode, there's a 'problem' that you can't easily talk about or discuss with others, but that everyone can relate to and has experienced at least once. It's a work that allows you to feel both the warmth of people and the warmth of saunas, so I hope that viewers will feel refreshed after watching it."
Matsuda commented, "Kara-chan works as a fashion model, but she has a very human side, and Shito-san is actually a thoughtful person, but I wonder if he changes his character when he's with someone, or if it's just Shito-san's good nature... He's a character who has the power to be loved by people. In this work, the atmosphere and relationship between the two of them are depicted very warmly, so I hope you'll pay attention to that as well. Through the filming of this work, I got to visit various sauna facilities, and I myself have come to love saunas, and I've also come to love food even more, and there are many things I've become hooked on. I would be happy if many people come to love saunas, food, and this work."
