Kusanagi, Nakai, Nakama, Matsuyama & others to star in stars in TBS miniseries "Japanese Americans"
This autumn, TBS plans to broadcast a five-episode drama series titled "Japanese Americans." The drama, an original work by veteran screenwriter Sugako Hashida, focuses on a Japanese family who emigrated to the United States a century ago and lived through World War II.
SMAP's Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (35) will star, playing the second-generation immigrant Ichiro Hiramatsu, who serves as a U.S. soldier during the war. Kusanagi will also play the role of the father Nagayoshi during his younger days, though Kiichi Nakai (48) will take over that character for middle age and beyond.
Yukie Nakama (30) plays the heroine as Ichiro's love interest Shinobu. Other cast members include Pinko Izumi (62) as the mother, Kenichi Matsuyama (24) as the younger brother Jiro, Yo Oizumi (36), Kaoru Yachigusa (79), and Keiko Kishi (77).
Filming starts in the next few days and is expected to last five months, including two months of filming in the U.S. Broadcast dates have not yet been set, but it will air this fall as five two-hour episodes on consecutive nights, which is a first for the network. The drama is being labeled as a special project in honor of TBS's 60th anniversary.
warning: *detailed synopsis.. so it might contain spoilers*:
Japanese Americans
Synopsis: One hundred years ago, 19-year-old Hiramatsu Chokichi (Kusanagi Tsuyoshi), who was born as the second son to poor peasants in Shimane, decides to leave for America in the spring of 1912 to reduce the mouths his impoverished family has to feed and to work abroad. However, behind this decision is a secret dream to make a name for himself in America.
Chokichi suffered setbacks from his early years but he does not lose heart because of his fortitude, and continues to work hard as a seasonal labourer in the farms. As time passed, Chokichi (Nakai Kiichi) and his wife, Tomo (Izumi Pinko) finally come into possession of their own farm through hard work.
They also have four children … In 1940, the year that Japanese-American relations deteriorate and spur discrimination against immigrants of Japanese descent, Chokichi’s eldest son, Ichiro (Kusanagi Tsuyoshi), turns 18. He has no friends at the American university he attends because of the discrimination but through a strange turn of events, he falls in love with Shinobu (Nakama Yukie), the daughter of a consulate staff who attends the same university as him.
The beautiful Shinobu also endears herself to the Hiramatsu family and helps out at their farm. Ichiro’s younger brother, Jiro (Matsuyama Kenichi), has a crush on Shinobu. At that moment, war breaks out between Japan and America. One day, Chokichi is arrested by the FBI and placed in detention.
Ichiro, Shinobu, Tomo, Jiro and other people of Japanese descent are also segregated and sent to a camp. Ichiro’s younger sisters, Shizu (Terashima Saki), and Sachi (Kawashima Umika) are sent home to Japan and placed with relatives. Before long, the war intensifies. In order to gain America’s trust in their family, Ichiro pledges his allegiance to America and is sent to the European warfront as a US soldier. At that moment, Shizu is caught in the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and Sachi gets entangled in the war in Okinawa (SYNOPSIS SOURCE: JDRAMA WEBBLOG@WORDPESS)
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source: TOKYOGRAPH(article)