Production press conference of TV Asahi Winter 2018 drama "Holiday Love"

The production press conference of TV Asahi Winter 2018 drama "Holiday Love" was held on 22 January which was attended by cast members Naka Riisa, Tsukamoto Takashi, Nakamura Tomoya, Matsumoto Marika, Iijima Hiroki, Okada Ryuutarou, Dan Mitsu and Hiraoka Yuta who were dressed in wedding suits and dresses. The drama which will begin its run from 26 January in the Fridays 11.15pm timeslot, is based on the manga "Holiday Love ~ Fuufukan Renai" by Koyama Yukari and Kusakabe Eliza. Naka plays the lead character Takamori Azu who is a 30-year-old nail artist living with her husband and child. Her peaceful life takes a sudden turn when she finds out about her husband (Tsukamoto) having an affair and is filled with anguish over his betrayal. However, Azu chooses to believe him and overcome their problems together so as to keep their marriage going. Things do not go as planned though as her husband's married lover Izutsu Rina (Matsumoto) keeps thwarting her efforts with various traps laid around the unsuspecting Azu so this process would be fraught with danger as she realises the meaning of what it means to be a partner in a marriage and tries to save her marriage.


With regard to her character, Naka described Azu as someone so perfect that it was unthinkable that her husband would cheat on her so she found it very heart-wrenching as she read the original manga and script. Although this drama would probably remind those in the same situation of the pain they are experiencing, she also hoped that it would become a source of support for them at the same time.

Nakamura who plays Rina's husband Wataru and finds out about her affair, described his character like a Warring Era warrior who speaks with lots of customary epithets and engages in various forms of sadistic behaviour towards his wife such as moral and power harassment and domestic violence. As he celebrated his 31st birthday on the set of this drama, Nakamura said that it was "memorable" for him to film the scene of him catching his wife in bed with another man on his birthday. As for Matsumoto, she described her character Rina as someone who derives pleasure and a kick when she does drastic things which led Nakamura to poke fun at her for being the real psychopath. For Hiraoka, he joked that he usually played cheating guys so he was very happy to be playing a gentle guy offering support to Azu in this drama.

During the event, the cast members were asked about their reactions if they found out about their partners cheating on them. Yamada joked that if he were to bump into his woman being in bed with another man, the most "damaging" response would be to jump into bed with them and freak them out. Nakamura then added on to say that taking off his clothes in front of them would be even more interesting. On the other hand, Iijima and Okada said that they might reflect on what their own faults and try to seek an amicable resolution. Hiraoka then said that he might as well just break up with the girl rather than do anything drastic.

Naka commented that she would make her husband go on an "exile" overseas and never be allowed to return to Japan again if the same thing happened to her. When asked for the reason, Naka said that she couldn't bear the thought of sleeping and waking up at the same time as her cheating husband so the time difference between Japan and the country where her husband would be at could resolve this issue. In addition, she loved Japan so much that she wouldn't want to leave the country thus she would chase him out of Japan instead. However, she felt that her husband who succumbed to temptation was more at fault than the lover so she wouldn't do anything to the other woman.

Sources: Nikkansports / Natalie