Shizuka Ishibashi Steps into the Spotlight—Comparisons and Concerns with a Renowned Peer

Actress Shizuka Ishibashi (31), who began her entertainment career in 2015 and recently marked her 10th anniversary, has been cast as the lead in the latter half of NHK’s 2026 morning drama series “Blossom.”

The story is based on the life of writer Chiyo Uno, who lived through the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras while continually pursuing freedom, and Ishibashi will play the protagonist, Tama Hano.

A remarkable success that won’t let anyone say she’s just riding on her parents’ coattails

Ishibashi’s parents are actor and former ARB vocalist Ryo Ishibashi (68) and Mieko Harada (66), and her older sister Yuga (33) is also active as a singer-songwriter—truly a family rooted in the entertainment industry.

She started classical ballet at age 4 and became so passionate that she studied abroad in Canada and the U.S. After returning to Japan in 2013, she worked as a contemporary dancer and then transitioned to acting in 2015.

“She is now a highly skilled actor in demand for stage plays, films, and dramas. She began her acting career with the 2015 stage production ‘Night on the Galactic Railroad.’ In 2017, she co-starred with Sosuke Ikematsu (35) in the film ‘The Night Is Always the Blue Highest Density,’ quickly earning praise for her acting and sweeping newcomer awards. She even won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best New Actress, an honor her mother Mieko Harada also received.

The following year, she appeared in the NHK morning drama ‘Half, Blue’ starring Mei Nagano (25), playing a strict, education-obsessed mother who left a strong impression despite limited screen time. In the 2022 Taiga drama ‘The 13 Lords of the Shogun,’ she portrayed Shizuka Gozen, showing her versatility and earning industry praise for handling everything from modern to historical dramas,” says an entertainment writer.

According to this writer, there is a recent trend in morning dramas: “While morning drama heroines used to be a gateway for rookie actresses, recently, many second-generation actors like Ishibashi are frequently cast. In the 2013 ‘Gochisousan,’ Anne (39) was the heroine; in the 2018 ‘Manpuku,’ Sakura Ando (39); and in 2023’s ‘Boogie Woogie,’ Shuri (34) played the lead, all of whom received high ratings and critical acclaim. NHK likely based its decision on these precedents.

Since morning dramas air over a long six-month period and have a different viewer demographic than other dramas or movies, if Ishibashi performs well in this role, she’ll gain recognition from a broader audience, which will help her future career,” the writer adds.

The second-generation actors who have led morning dramas have not simply benefited from their parents’ fame; each has been recognized for their strong individuality and acting skills. Among them, Shuri and Ishibashi, who greatly boosted their popularity with ‘Boogie Woogie,’ share many similarities.

From their family backgrounds to their career’s kindred spirits through and through

Shuri is the only daughter of actor Yutaka Mizutani (72) and singer Ran Ito (70). Like Ishibashi, she devoted herself to classical ballet from the age of four and aspired to become a professional dancer, even studying abroad in the UK. After repeated injuries ended that dream, she auditioned in 2011 without using her parents’ famous names and made her acting debut in the drama 3-nen B-gumi Kinpachi-sensei Final: Saigo no Okuru Kotoba (TBS).

Since then, she has focused mainly on stage acting, gaining attention with a role as a colleague of the lead in Totone-chan (2016), starring Mitsuki Takahata (33). She has worked widely in film, stage, and television, earning high praise for her acting skills and winning numerous awards. As mentioned earlier, she went on to star in the NHK morning drama Boogie-woogie.

The two are strikingly similar in both family background and career. One difference is that Shuri has recently been linked to a marriage report involving a popular boy group BE: FIRST member Ryoki Miyama (26), with controversy over a 100-million-yen lavish engagement scandal involving a famous influencer.

Yuri Nishina, a writer who authored Say Goodbye to Mistaken Marriage Activities! (Shufu to Seikatsu-sha), analyzes the situation:

“Second-generation actors tend to fall into two types: those who use their parents’ names and those who don’t. It should be easier to use their parents’ names, but those who don’t are showing strong independence. Shuri doesn’t use her family name and hid her parents’ identities during her audition for 3-nen B-gumi Kinpachi-sensei, showing a strong desire not to rely on her parents’ fame.

This recent fuss can only be described as private matters. Miyama is younger than Shuri, and Masahiro Higashide (37), who was caught cheating and divorced, is also younger than Anne. Marriages involving second-generation actors sometimes reveal a mix of affection and calculated moves for increasing fame or securing couple commercials.”

She also points out:

“Even if there are troubles in a relationship, as long as they aren’t compliance violations like infidelity, it’s merely a private issue. Nowadays, an actress’s value doesn’t decline because of that. As seen with Anne, women who live sincerely and have no shady secrets sometimes even see their popularity rise because of such troubles.

The model for Ishibashi’s upcoming drama Blossom is the writer Chiyo Uno, known for her free-spirited love life, which she transformed into novels that earned acclaim. This represents a modern lifestyle of not neglecting one’s profession. So even if Ishibashi’s portrayal of Uno involves some controversy, it’s unlikely to cause much uproar.”

Ishibashi, who has reached a big milestone in her tenth year in the industry, is set to soar even higher.

Last summer, Ishibashi was spotted in Tokyo during the filming of Kenshi Yonezu’s music video for “Garaku-ta.”