<figure id="attachment_371916" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-371916" style="width: 975px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6a113fe8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/05/7ec0ece683671c48fbd7926fea838097.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-371916" class="wp-caption-text">Sairi Ito is the heroine of NHK&#8217;s morning drama &#8220;Tora ni Tsubasa. Although she is known as a &#8220;child prodigy,&#8221; it is not a Cinderella story&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 NHK&#8217;s TV drama series &#8220;Tora ni Tsubasa&#8221; is based on the life of Yoshiko Mibuchi, Japan&#8217;s first female lawyer who later served as a judge. In the 6th week, the heroine Torako (Sairi Ito) and her friends finally take the higher examination (bar exam).
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 But make no mistake. This morning drama is not just a story about a woman&#8217;s rise to the top of the closed legal profession.
 In the fifth week, her father Naogon (Takashi Okabe) is arrested for his role in the &#8220;Kyoya Incident,&#8221; which has rocked the political and business world.
 The 110th episode of this series is a testament to the potential of morning dramas to continue to evolve. This is an ambitious work that holds such potential.
 At the center of the cast is Sairi Ito, who plays Torako.
 The courtroom scene in the 25th episode broadcast on May 3 was nothing short of spectacular.
 After winning a reversal of acquittal, she hugged her mother Haru (Yuriko Ishida) and cried like a mad woman, then looked back at her father and nodded her head repeatedly as if she was biting her victory. I am not the only one who was captivated and moved by Torako&#8217;s performance.
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 She starred in &#8220;Momo-san to 7 no Papageno,&#8221; a drama series broadcast last year about people who live with the desire to die. Hirokazu Ozaki, who was in charge of production management, witnessed Ito&#8217;s performance.
 It was a sensitive piece, but I could feel her positive attitude toward life in her performance.
 She said, &#8220;Torako, who is positive, charming, and cheerful, is the only person I would want to play Torako.
 She also said that &#8220;Torako, who is positive, charming, and cheerful, is the only person I would have chosen to play the role.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" When she was 2 years old, her father&#39;s company went bankrupt and she disappeared..."></div>
No matter what environment she is placed in, she lives her life cheerfully, holistically, and straight-forwardly. This role may be the perfect fit for Sairi Ito, an actress who has lived a life of ups and downs.
 Ito was born the youngest of three siblings. However, when Ito was two years old, her father disappeared after the company went bankrupt. After that, she had to endure the hardships of sleeping on three futons with her aunt and five other family members, but when she was nine years old, she was selected through an audition and appeared in the drama &#8220;14 Months &#8211; My Wife Returns to the Child&#8221; (Nippon Television Network Corporation). Ito, who had no acting experience at all, was selected for the lead role.
 However, the Cinderella story of a child prodigy was not waiting for her.
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 Although she left her mark in the dramas &#8220;Everybody Was a Child Once Upon a Time&#8221; and &#8220;The Queen&#8217;s Classroom,&#8221; her agency&#8217;s child-acting division was dissolved when she was 18 years old. Although she was able to break into a new agency, she had no work at all, and the thought of retirement crossed her mind.
 At that time, she passed an audition for the drama &#8220;GTO&#8221; (Fuji Television). Director Ken Iizuka, whom she calls her mentor, encouraged her by saying, &#8220;Work hard for three years, and things will definitely change in three years,&#8221; and Ito further refined her skills as an actress.
 Thanks to his efforts, three years later she appeared in the morning drama &#8220;Hiyokko&#8221; (NHK). After attracting attention, Ito was selected for the lead role in the film &#8220;Beast Road,&#8221; which was entered in the Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy, marking a great leap forward as an actress.
 The movie &#8220;Zyudo&#8221; was a turning point in Ito&#8217;s career as an actress.
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 The main character, Ai (Ito), was sent to a religious institution by her fanatic mother, and dropped out of junior high school after the cult was exposed. After that, she continued to search for her place in the world, moving from one family and job to another, and was willing to strip herself naked in order to portray her epic life.
 Eiji Uchida, known for the film &#8220;Midnight Swan&#8221; and the distributed drama &#8220;The Naked Director,&#8221; wrote and directed this ambitious film. Ito says, &#8220;It was a challenge for me, and I had a lot of battles in this film.
 I can afford to get a zero on a test. Falling asleep while working the cash register at a convenience store. He was handing out leaflets at a tavern when he went missing. Sairi Ito, who calls her life a &#8220;piece of shit,&#8221; first encountered acting when she was 9 years old, and she too has been searching for her place as an actress.
 The theme song by Genji Yonezu, &#8220;Sayonara Someday Again! plays and Torako dances in the title background inspired by Beyonce&#8217;s &#8220;Run The World (Girls). The only reason why I cried was because it overlapped with her life story.
 Sairi Ito turned 30 on May 4. She is the one who plays Torako, and with this film, she is sure to take on new wings and soar high as an actress.

 He is involved in program production in a wide range of genres, including variety, news, and sports programs. He has also planned and published numerous books on female TV announcers, idols, and the TV industry. While working on documentary programs, he became interested in history and recently published "Ieyasu was dead in Sekigahara" (Takeshobo Shinsho). She has also published the e-book series "Ibun chakurezuregusa" (Different Stories about Craftsmen).

 Ukon Shima (Broadcaster and video producer)

 Takero Shigumura

 NHK's morning drama "Tora ni Tsubasa" is already being called a "masterpiece. The drama's overall reputation is no doubt due in part to the acting ability of the heroine, Sairi Ito. However, it will take more than a few years for her to become a national actress. ......

Sairi Ito, the heroine of NHK&#8217;s morning drama &#8220;Tora ni Tsubasa&#8221; (Wings to the Tiger), &#8220;had a clunker of a life&#8221; until she &#8220;found her place&#8221; as an actress.

Sairi Ito, the heroine of NHK’s morning drama “Tora ni Tsubasa” (Wings to the Tiger), “had a clunker of a life” until she “found her place” as an actress.

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