Thursday, January 20, 2011

Maki Horikita in Fuji TV Drama Kakashi

Maki Horikita

Maki Horikita (22) has been chosen to star in an upcoming Fuji TV drama special, tentatively titled "Kakashi." The drama is based on the 1977 song of the same name by Masashi Sada.

This is the third time in recent years that one of Sada's works has been adapted to television. In 2008, his novel "Bizan" was made into a drama starring Takako Tokiwa (after already being made into a movie with Nanako Matsushima). In 2009, his song "Oyaji no Ichiban Nagai Hi" also became a drama, starring Masami Nagasawa.

The original song "Kakashi" tells of a family whose daughter has left home to live far away in the city. For the drama, producers decided to model the characters after a family of udon makers from the Goto Islands, who were the subject of a documentary program that previously aired on Fuji TV.

Horikita plays the role of Chizuru Saeki, the second daughter of the family. After graduating from high school, she leaves the family's home in the Goto Islands to pursue a career as a photographer in Tokyo. While working as an assistant, she ends up involved in some trouble, and after becoming tired of life in Tokyo she returns home after three years.

The parents of the family will be played by Ken Matsudaira and Jun Fubuki. Sousuke Takaoka and Shuga Nakamura will play Chizuru's brothers, while Noriko Nakagoshi and Karen Miyama will play her sisters. Sada himself will make a guest appearance as the manager of a small bookshop.

"Kakashi" was filmed in early October last year. Fuji TV plans to broadcast the special sometime this March.

tokyograph