Sunday, December 18, 2016

Matsushima Nanako to star in FujiTV drama SP "Onna no Kunshou"

Matsushima Nanako will be starring in the FujiTV drama SP "Onna no Kunshou" (A woman's badge) which will be shown next year. The drama which is based on the same-titled novel by the late Yamasaki Toyoko, features Matsushima as the heroine Oba Noriko who starts a small dressmaking school in Kansai after the end of WWII and gets embroiled into the spiral of jealousy among women in the fashion industry.

Oba Noriko was from a family operating a woolcloth wholesale business before the war happened and she lost everything as a result. Since young, she has been interested in clothes and decides to open her own dressmaking school. However, once she starts to do well, the old-fashioned industry leaders of the fashion world see her as an eyesore and subject her to harsh treatment in order to get her out of the way. With the help of Yashiro Ginshiro who teaches her business management and her students Rinko, Katsumi and Tomie, Noriko gradually builds up her business. Unfortunately, personal desires of the women and being made use of by Ginshiro causes Noriko to be hurt badly and she later meets Shiraishi, an university professor who also has emotional issues of his own.

As most of Yamasaki's novels feature male lead characters, this is one of the few where women take centrestage. For Matsushima, this is the first time that she is appearing in an adaptation of Yamasaki's novel so she commented that she is very honoured to be given this chance. As for her thoughts about her character Oba Noriko, Matsushima commented that although Oba found success as a fashion designer, she was also embroiled in jealousy, desires, love, hate and money which caused ripples in her life. As such, she hope to be able to show the amazing story depicted in Yamasaki's novel through this drama with the help of the director, staff and her co-stars.

In addition, the clothes worn in the drama will be decided through an open call for designs from students studying designing or those interested in this field. The best 20 designs will be featured in the fashion show during the climax scene of the drama. During the filming, there will be judges who will pick the best design out of the 20 shortlisted entries to win the Grand Prix title and 5 others to win the Excellence award. Designs are to be sent to the TV station before 22 December.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Oricon

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