Press conference of new NHK drama "Ueki Hitoshi to Nobosemon"

The press conference and first-episode-screening event of new NHK drama "Ueki Hitoshi to Nobosemon" was held on 23 August which was attended by the cast members Yamamoto Koji, Shison Jun, Yuka, Ito Shiro, Yamauchi Takaya, Hamano Genta, Komatsu Masao and Takeda Rena. The drama begins its run from 2 September in the Saturdays 8.15pm timeslot.

The story is based on the book "Nobosemon yaken" written by Komatsu Masao about the late Ueki Hitoshi who was a big star during the Showa era. Komatsu was Ueki's assistant and driver for 4 years before he himself became an actor and comedian. The word "nobosemon" is a Hakata dialect word which refers to people who are easily passionate about and absorbed in the things they love.

Yamamoto will be playing Ueki while Komatsu (Matsuzaki Masaomi) will be played by Shison Jun. Yamauchi Takaya will be playing Hana Hajime who was the leader of jazz band The Crazy Cats and Tani Kei will be played by Hamano Kenta. Yuka will be acting as Ueki's wife Tomiko and Ito Shiro will be acting as Ueki's father Tetsujou. Other co-stars include Takeda Reina, Nakajima Ayumu, Denden, Sakai Maki, Tomita Yasuko and Katsumura Masanobu.

Back in 1962, Ueki's song "Sudarabushi" became a smashing hit which led to himself and The Crazy Cats to become very much sought-after performers on TV and in movies. Due to his increasingly busy schedule, Ueki hired Matsuzaki, a young man who came from Hakata to Tokyo, to be his driver and assistant. While following Ueki around, Matsuzaki observed up close how the big stars of that era were passionate about their work where they gave their all and were not afraid to look stupid as comedians and created cool music when they were musicians. However, Ueki himself was having doubts about doing such work which required him to fool around and wondered if there was any value in doing this. At the same time, Matsuzaki was treated very nicely by Ueki's family and even called Ueki "Otousan" as his own father had passed away when he was young. Matsuzaki then aspired to become a performer himself as he worked with his teacher Ueki over the years.

Yamamoto revealed that he started the filming with singing Ueki's hit songs like "Zuudarabushi" and "Musekinin Ichidai Otoko" which will be featured in the first episode. At the director's orders to be as similar to Ueki as possible, Yamamoto said that he had tried his best but was worried about going overboard with his acting which would make it look like he was impersonating Ueki especially since their looks are rather different. However, his efforts seemed to have paid off with co-stars like Ito and Yuka praising him for being a spitting image of Ueki so he felt a bit reassured that he was doing OK.

Sources: Oricon / Nikkansports / Sanspo