A fresh start after independence and divorce! Atsuko Maeda, in a long skirt, was spotted on location “playing the part of a single woman in her twenties!

Walking along the Meguro River in Tokyo one day in March, I spotted Atsuko Maeda, 31, squinting in the spring sunlight, among the crew filming the April drama “Kashimashimeshi” (TV Tokyo).

It was Maeda’s first starring role in a terrestrial drama since becoming a freelance actress after leaving her agency in 2008. It is a gourmet drama in which three former classmates, single men and women in their twilight years, get together for “home cooking” and face their own lives and problems, but without being “lonely.

Last year, Maeda was fully engaged in two stage productions, three movies, and a drama. This year, in addition to “Kashimashimeshi,” Maeda has already appeared in two dramas and two movies.

She is working on her acting career at a rate that surpasses that of her idol days. In her personal life, she divorced actor Ryo Katsuji (36) in 2009 and became a single mother. It seems difficult to raise a child alone when you star in a series of dramas. …… Maeda relies a lot on her own mother and even rents a room in the same apartment. Actresses in their early 30s have a lot of rivals and can be forgotten at any time. She probably knows this, which is why she devotes so much time to her work, even cutting back on her time with her children.

She has a good relationship with her ex-husband, Ryo Katsuji, as evidenced by her trip to Disneyland with their child in January of this year. Perhaps the presence of her child at home waiting for her return is the secret to her continued success.

From theApril14, 2023issue ofFRIDAY