Preview of "Yamaonna Nikki" (Drama SP)

Title: Yamaonna Nikki 山女日記 (The diary of the mountain woman)
Official website: here
O.A. Dates: 10pm on 29 October 2017 & 5 November 2017
Broadcast by: NHK
Original novel by: Minato Kanae
Cast: Kudo Yuki, Kikawada Masaya, Kurotani Tomoka, Kurokawa Mei, Natsuna, Katase Rino

Press conference of new NHK drama SP "Yamaonna Nikki"

The press conference of new NHK drama SP "Yamaonna Nikki" was held on 19 october which was attended by cast members Kudo Yuki, Kurotani Tomoka and Kikawada Masaya. The drama SP will be shown in two parts at 10pm on 29 October and 5 November and is the sequel to the original drama series shown in November last year.

Press conference of new NHK drama "Yamaonna Nikki ~ Onnatachi wa itadaki wo mezashite ~"

The press conference for new NHK drama "Yamaonna Nikki ~ Onnatachi wa itadaki wo mezashite ~" was held on 26 October which was attended by cast members Kudo Yuki, Natsuna and Hagiwara Masato. The drama which is based on Minato Kanae's novel and consists of 7 episodes, will begin its run from 6 November in the Sundays 10pm timeslot and features Kudo in her first drama appearance since 1994's NHK drama "Aozora ni chindon". She plays a newbie mountain climbing guide interacting with various female climbers who have different issues in their lives.

The filming was done at various mountains such as Mount Myoko in Niigata and the Kita Alps before the mountain climbing season ended this year. Kudo appeared at the event by dragging her right leg where she then revealed that her leg got injured during the filming on the mountains. As there was a scene shot on 15 October where she had to drink a lot of water at one go, she felt like going to the toilet after the filming and slipped while going down the mountain in a hurry. As a result, she suffered a serious sprain in her right ankle which is expected to take two weeks to recover. Looking back, Kudo said that she would have preferred wetting her pants than to suffer this injury which led Hagiwara to remind her that the mountains pose a degree of danger to those who aren't careful.

In order to proceed with the rest of the filming, Kudo had to rely on ice packs to apply on her leg and appeared without her crutches for the phototaking session. Despite the injury, Kudo who is an avid mountain climber and is the navigator for NHK's "Jissen! Nippon Hyakumeisan", said that she might become the owner of a mountain cottage by the time she is more than 60 years old. If there is a day when she can no longer make a living in showbiz, she will go and become a mountain guide since this is something she enjoys doing.

Due to the filming being done outdoors, it was largely dependent on weather conditions so the cast and crew had huge difficulties moving around and finding accomodation. However, this also meant that their teamwork was largely boosted due to the tough conditions. Kudo even took photos of their production process with her iPhone and uploaded them to Facebook since she thought that it would be a pity not to share these interesting moments.

Sources: Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon / Eiga.com

Saito Yuki to star in new NHK drama "Yamaonna Nikki ~ Onnatachi wa itadaki wo mezashite ~"

Saito Yuki will be starring in the new NHK drama "Yamaonna Nikki ~ Onnatachi wa itadaki wo mezashite ~" (Mountain woman's diary ~ The women aim for the summit) which will begin its run from 6 November at 10pm on Sundays. The drama which consists of 7 episodes, is based on the novel "Yamaonna Nikki" by Minato Kanae and features the booming trend of women climbing mountains as a hobby and the issues and feelings they have.

In reality, Saito is also a Yamaonna as she is the main MC for NHK's BS1 programme "Jissen! Nippon Hyakumeisan" showing on Saturdays at 5pm which introduces the charm of the mountains in Japan. She has also scaled mountains considered to be difficult to climb thus her experience will be useful for this drama.

In the drama, Saito plays a woman named Tachibana Yuzuki who is around 40 and has just taken on a job as a mountain climbing guide. While on her first solo guide job to climb Mount Myoko and Mount Hiuchi, she meets the female members in her group i.e. Yumi (Uehara Takako) and Ritsuko (Mabuchi Erika) who work in a departmental store and Mitsuko (Minamino Yoko) who works in a welfare facility. With various reasons and issues, these first-time climbers try to scale the mountains while led around by the nose by Kijima (Kikawada Masaya) who is Yuzuki's senior but younger than her. Co-stars include Nukumizu Yoichi, Iida Kisuke, Natsuna, Katase Rino and Hagiwara Masato.

Source: Oricon