Handover ceremony for NHK Taiga dramas "Onna Joshu Naotora" & "Segodon"

The handover ceremony for NHK Taiga dramas "Onna Joshu Naotora" and "Segodon" was held at the TV station's HQ in Tokyo on 30 November which was attended by the dramas' leads Shibasaki Kou and Suzuki Ryohei. "Onna Joshu Naotora" will air its final episode on 17 December while "Segodon" begins its run from 7 January next year. During the customary gift exchange ceremony, Shibasaki presented Suzuki with oranges from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka while Suzuki did the same with a red and gold Satsuma kiriko glass from Kagoshima.

When asked by Suzuki for advice on how to handle the year-long filming, Shibasaki said that she adopted a very extreme method of maintaining her high level of concentration by actually moving to another place. She explained that if she were to remain in her home, she would be tempted to do other things like cooking when she should be memorising her lines. As such, she deliberately moved to a very small apartment without a proper kitchen so that she could memorise her lines and sleep there. Although Shibasaki admitted that this was something she didn't want Suzuki to do the same, he said that it was useful to consider being in a small space so as to get rid of any distractions but he commented that he probably won't be able to do it.

Sources: Oricon / Yomiuri Hochi