Press conference of new NHK drama "Teinen Joshi"

The press conference of new NHK BS premium drama "Teinen Joshi" (Retirement Age Women) was held at the TV station's HQ in Shibuya, Tokyo, on 4 July which was attended by the cast members Minami Kaho, Kusakari Tamiyo, Shimizu Michiko and Ishino Mako as well as the scriptwriter Tabuchi Kumiko. The drama consists of 8 episodes and will begin its run from 9 July in the Sundays 10pm timeslot.

The four actresses play ex-classmates back in university where Minami plays 53-year-old Miyama Asako who was a director at a large trading company but was told to retire. As she is a workaholic, she cannot stand the slowness of retirement life and aims to start a second career in her 50s. Minami commented that when they were doing scenes of the friends' gatherings, they had so much fun that it didn't feel like work at all to them.

As Asako is a divorcee who broke up with her husband due to his infidelity and raised her daughter on her own, the setting seemed to coincide with Minami's real-life situation to a certain extent as her husband Watanabe Ken was exposed to be seeing another woman while she was undergoing cancer treatment and doing the filming of this drama. Minami didn't mention her husband specifically nor touch on what happened but commented that she was grateful to be able to play Asako at that difficult time when she was tired both physically and mentally. If she was much younger, she would have probably taken a lot more time to recover from her setbacks but now that she's already in her 50s, she has grown to be able to take things in her stride and accept that as part and parcel of life's challenges. Even for people who are at retirement age, this is the best time to add new colours to their lives and decide how they want to live from now on until they reach the final goal of their lives.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi / Oricon / Eiga.com