Wakana Matsumoto Seen at Iconic Showa Retro Street During NHK Spring Drama Shoot, Flaunting Petite Frame

A beauty blending into downtown

On Christmas Eve last year, I encountered a group of women walking cheerfully through a shopping street in downtown Tokyo. All of them were carrying lots of bags and paper shopping bags, dressed heavily in bench coats and down jackets. Even so, they seemed lively and cheerful, centered around a model-figured beauty walking at the front. That beauty was actress Wakana Matsumoto (41).

In fact, on this day, filming for the NHK drama Taiketsu, scheduled to air this spring, was taking place at Joyful Miwa Shopping Street (Arakawa Ward).

“This drama is based on Ryoei Tsukimura’s novel Taiketsu. It depicts a social entertainment story in which a newspaper reporter, hearing shocking rumors that a certain medical university is intentionally lowering women’s exam scores, begins her own investigation and targets the university’s board members. From there, the story shows their struggle. Matsumoto plays the lead newspaper reporter, Kikuno Hibaki, while another lead, board member Harumi Kanbayashi, is played by Honami Suzuki (59),” explained a TV magazine writer.

NHK announced the production of the drama on December 16 last year. Our site witnessed the filming eight days later.

“It seems Suzuki-san was also present on this day, but she was filming a little away from the shopping street, near a Tokyo Sakura Tram (Toden Arakawa Line) crossing. Perhaps the two were filming separately. When I saw Matsumoto, it seemed the filming had already finished, and she was walking cheerfully with the staff,” said a local resident in the shopping street.

Joyful Miwa is known as one of Tokyo’s shopping streets that retains a nostalgic Showa-era atmosphere, appearing in many works such as the drama 3-nen B-gumi Kinpachi-sensei (TBS) and the film Shoplifters. It is now widely known as a holy place for filming locations.

Perhaps because of that, shoppers who noticed Matsumoto looked momentarily surprised, but did not call out to her and passed by as if accustomed. Perhaps her way of blending so naturally into the neighborhood made them not even realize it was her.

Speaking of Matsumoto, she also appeared in the TBS Sunday drama The Royal Family in the October term last year, maintaining her position as an extremely popular actress. This drama deals with women’s workplace discrimination, and regarding her role, she said:

“Even if there is a period when women temporarily leave the workplace, in the long run, the power women bring to society is very large. I believe that. If this work leaves even a small impact on the hearts of viewers, it will be a great pride for me as Kikuno.” (From NHK official program website)

This is a message very characteristic of her, having gone through a long period of struggle before becoming a popular actress.

It’s impossible not to look forward to the socially conscious drama Matsumoto stars in.

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