NHK's new morning drama "Massan" to look for a non-Japanese actress to play its heroine

NHK Osaka announced on 18 November that it will be producing a new morning drama titled "Massan" which will begin its run from 29 September 2014. The story will feature NHK's first non-Japanese heroine in a morning drama as it talks about the struggles of how Taketsuru Masataka and his wife Rita worked to make the first whisky to be produced in Japan. Taketsuru was the heir to a Japanese traditional brewery but became mesmerised with whisky. He then headed to Scotland to learn how to make whisky where he met his wife Rita. Later, they returned to Osaka and Hokkaido to make the first domestic whisky in Japan between the Taisho and Showa eras.

The heroine of this morning drama will be chosen through an audition and the final decision will be announced by March next year.

Source: Sanspo