Miyazaki Aoi to star in NHK drama SP "Kurara ~ Hokusai no Musume ~"

Miyazaki Aoi will be starring in the new NHK drama SP "Kurara ~ Hokusai no Musume ~" (Kurara ~ Hokusai's daughter ~) which will be shown at 7.30pm on 18 September. The drama SP is based on the novel "Kurara" by Naoki Award-winning writer Asai Makate and the script will be written by Omori Mika.

Miyazaki will be playing the third daughter O-ei (later known as Katsushika Oi) of famous Edo-era painter Katsushika Hokusai who will be played by Nagatsuka Kyozo. This will be the first time in 9 years that Nagatsuka and Miyazaki are playing father and daughter since the 2008 NHK Taiga drama "Atsuhime". O-ei's confidante and Hokusai's student Zenjiro (later known as Keisai Eisen) will be played by Matsuda Ryuhei. Co-stars also include Miyake Hiroki, Yo Kimiko and Noda Hideki.

Oi was the daughter of Hokusai's second wife and was married to artist Minamisawa Tomei who she found to be poor at his craft and mocked him for this. As a result, she was divorced by Tomei and returned to Hokusai's home where she assisted him in his artwork and produced her own as well. During this period, she confided in Zenjiro about her worries and troubles such as returning home divorced, how she found it difficult to outshine her father who was such a talented artist and her obsession with colours. After Hokusai's death, Oi who was in her 60s then, had nothing left but the paint brushes left behind by her father.

Source: Oricon