Completion screening event of 24 Jikan Terebi drama SP "Moumoku no Yoshinori-sensei ~ Hikari wo ushinatte kokoro ga mieta ~"

The completion screening event of NTV's 24 Jikan Terebi drama SP "Moumoku no Yoshinori-sensei ~ Hikari wo ushinatte kokoro ga mieta ~" (The blind teacher Yoshinori ~ Losing light but being able to see with the heart) was held on 21 August which was attended by the leads NEWS member Kato Shigeaki and Sawajiri Erika. The drama SP which will be shown at 9pm on 27 August, features Kato in the role of Arai Yoshinori, a blind teacher who works at Minano Junior High School in Saitama Prefecture and Sawajiri as his wife Mayumi who overcome the difficulties after he lost his sight at the age of 34. At the end of the screening, the Arais made an appearance and presented flowers to the actors. In order to prepare for this role, Kato had gone to a rehabilitation centre and tried to walk with a eye-mask and with a guide dog.

Although this is the first time that Kato and Sawajiri are playing a married couple, he praised her for being able to convey the strength in her character while she commented that they had good chemistry during the filming as Kato was very passionate and hardworking about acting. As for having to work with child actors for the first time, Sawajiri recounted that it was a tough but enjoyable experience even though it was difficult to predict how the children would react. Kato also revealed that they had NG scenes because the children were doing things such as picking their noses but he still found them adorable.

When asked about the difficulties he had faced so far in his life, Kato recounted that his group NEWS was on the brink of disbandment and had many problems to date until they were so unsure of their future. However, when compared to what Arai went through in his life, he realised that those challenges were really nothing at all and can hardly be considered as despondent situations. As for Sawajiri, she commented that there had been painful incidents in the past but they were too insignificant when compared to other people. However, she did not go into details on which incidents she was referring to.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo