Ai Mikami and Juri Kosaka star in the NHK morning drama series " Kaze,Kaoru, " which premiered on March 30th. This 114th Asadora drama Asadora is based on two trained nurses, Chika Ozeki and Masa Suzuki. What was the series that began airing 10 years before "Kaze,Kaoru" on this day (April 4th)?
◇Mitsuki Takahata takes the next step after "Gochisosan"
The Asadora that began airing on April 4, 2016, was "Toto Nee-chan," starring Mitsuki Takahata. The drama is based on the life of Shizuko Ohashi, the founder of the lifestyle magazine "Kurashi no Techo." The story follows the heroine, Tsuneko Kobashi, who, after losing her father at the age of 11, becomes a father figure to her family. She moves from Hamamatsu to Tokyo and launches a women's magazine. The story unfolds as the magazine gains support from women living during the period of rapid economic growth.
The script was written by Masafumi Nishida, known for his work on anime such as "TIGER & BUNNY" and as the author of the novel "Onodera's Younger Brother, Onodera's Older Sister," which has also been adapted into a stage play and a film.
Takahata, who plays the heroine Tsuneko Kohashi, was selected from an audition with 2,564 participants and was introduced on August 31, 2015, about seven months before the drama started. This was a step up for Takahata, who played the heroine's stepsister in the Asadora"Gochisosan" (second half of 2013), starring Anne. She made her debut as the lead in a television drama series with "Toto Nee-chan".
Tsuneko, the heroine of "Toto Nee-chan," is portrayed as an "old man heroine," and at a press conference on August 31, 2015, Takahata commented, "I'm often told that I have an old-man-like personality, so when I heard that the main character was an 'old man heroine,' it really struck me. I thought it was very much like me." Chief Producer Masaru Ochiai, who is in charge of production, explained the reason for casting Takahata, saying, "The heroine acts as a father figure to the family, but we weren't sure if she would portray an old-man-like personality. We didn't choose her because she had an old-man-like personality," but added, "During the audition, she wasn't fazed by the ad-libs, and it was as if she was watching Tsuneko's back."
◇Maintaining strong viewership ratings; the average for the period is the third highest this century.
The drama aired from April 4 to October 1, 2016, for a total of 156 episodes. The viewership ratings remained strong, following "Asa ga Kita" (second half of 2015), which had the highest ratings of the century. In the end, the average rating for the period was 22.8% (Kanto region, according to Video Research; the same applies below), which was the third highest rating of the century, following "Asa ga Kita " (23.5%) and "Sakura" (first half of 2002) (23.3%).
One of the factors that contributed to the drama's popularity was the presence of Musashi Hoshino, played by Kentaro Sakaguchi. Hoshino first appeared in the fourth week as a university student studying in the botany laboratory at the Imperial University. A "plant nerd" who spends his days searching for new species with the aim of becoming a botanist, he supports Tsuneko during her youth and provides comfort to viewers. "The Leaf Guy," who is clumsy in love and sometimes has nonsensical conversations with the insensitive Tsuneko, proposes to Tsuneko when he is called to Osaka for a research position, but Tsuneko chooses to support her family, and Hoshino goes to Osaka alone. Hoshino later reappears as a father of two, but the approximately two months he was absent caused a sense of loss among fans.
In the end, Hoshino and Tsuneko never ended up together, but Sakaguchi himself became a household name through this role. Five years later, Sakaguchi appeared in another Asadora , " Okaeri Mone " (first half of 2021). He gave a great performance as Suganami Kotaro, a young doctor who is somewhat argumentative but kind at heart and shows a clumsy but thoroughly sincere attitude towards others, and as the love interest of the heroine Mone (Kiyohara Kaya), he sparked a "Our Suganami Fever."
While "Toto Nee-chan" didn't have many memorable male characters, such as Tetsuro Kobashi played by Osamu Mukai or Toshiaki Karasawa , in terms of a breakout role typical of Asadora, Sakaguchi and the character he played, Hoshino, were probably the best.
◇Among the members of "Moritaya" is an "NHK-approved actor"
"Toto Nee-chan" is also known for producing two future heroines of Asadora. One is Hana Sugisaki, and the other is Rina Kawaei.
Sugisaki played Yoshiko, the youngest of the three sisters in the heroine's family, in "Toto Nee-chan," and about four years later, she "returned" to Asadora as the heroine in "Ochoyan" (second half of 2020). Meanwhile, Kawaei appeared in "Toto Nee-chan" as Tomie, the only daughter of the Moritaya catering business in Fukagawa. About five years later, in "Come Come Everybody" (second half of 2021), she played Hinata, the third heroine in a "100-year family story."
Kawaei, who rose from being a member of the idol group AKB48 (graduating in 2015) to becoming the heroine of a Asadora , played Tomie in "Toto Nee-chan." As mentioned earlier, Tomie was the only daughter of the Moritaya family, and the unique members of the Moritaya family (including Akino Yoko and Pierre Taki) also gained popularity during the broadcast, giving rise to some "NHK favorite actors."
This refers to Kenta Hamano, also known as "Hamaken," the vocalist of "Zainichi Funk." He has appeared in four Asadora dramas, starting with "Toto Nee-chan," followed by "Manpuku" (second half of 2018), " Okaeri Mone" (first half of 2021), and "Anpan " (first half of 2025). He has also appeared in three other flagship dramas, the Taiga dramas: "Saigo-don" (2018), "Idaten: Tokyo Olympic Story" (2019), and "Dousuru Ieyasu" (2023). Following in the footsteps of Pierre Taki, the musician and actor with whom he co-starred in "Toto Nee-chan," his appearances in NHK productions have become noticeable (though not as frequent as they once were).
It might seem surprising given that it was rebroadcast on terrestrial television last year, but it's already been 10 years since its original airing. No show has surpassed "Toto Nee-chan" in terms of ratings since then, but the heroines of Asadora are still undoubtedly the "faces of the morning," and I'm looking forward to seeing popular characters and breakout actors appear in the newly started "Kaze,Kaoru."
