Cast announcement press conference of 2017 NHK Taiga drama "Onna Joushu Naotora"

The cast announcement press conference of 2017 NHK Taiga drama "Onna Joushu Naotora" (The female castle lord Naotora) was held on 26 May which was attended by the lead Shibasaki Kou, Sugimoto Tetta, Zaizen Naomi, Maeda Gin, Kobayashi Kaoru, Miura Haruma, Takahashi Issei, Yagira Yuya, Kanjiya Shihori and Muro Tsuyoshi. The drama will be written by Morishita Yoshiko who was responsible for the NHK morning drama "Gochisousan" while the narrator will be Nakamura Baijaku.

The drama features Shibasaki as the only daughter of the Ii family in the present-day Shizuoka Prefecture during the Warring States era who was given a male name Naotora despite her gender. Naotora's parents will be played by Sugimoto and Zaizen while her fiance will be played by Miura who appeared as a child actor in the 2006 Taiga "MUSASHI" in 2003 and "Komyo ga Tsuji" in 2006. Yagira who makes his first appearance in a Taiga drama, will be playing the head of a bandit group who is a newly-created character that didn't exist in history. As for Takahashi, he had been seen in four previous Taiga dramas i.e. "Genroku Ryouran" in 1999, "Shinsengumi!" in 2004, "Fuurin Kazan" in 2007 and "Gunshi Kanbee" in 2014.

Other actors in the cast include Ukaji Takashi, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Kariya Shunsuke, Denden and Kakei Toshio.

Sources: NHK / Oricon / My Navi