<figure id="attachment_455662" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455662" style="width: 6000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9fa836b2"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/11986e034d6b57f7cf67dd02fd8c3264-2.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455662" class="wp-caption-text">She began her performing career at the age of 18, working as a model and actress. She is a young actress who is currently in the spotlight in the industry, appearing in her first role in a morning drama, &#8220;Bakebake,&#8221; which is currently airing, and is also appearing in the January drama &#8220;Winter no Kana-sa, Spring no Kana-ne&#8221; (Nippon Television Network Corporation).</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Baptism on the Kore-eda scene</h3>
 Sunday theater, Netflix, and morning dramas.
 Last year, there is an actress who ran through the &#8220;royal road&#8221; that young actors are aiming for, with a cool face. Maru Nouchi, 23, is currently starring in the NHK morning drama &#8220;Bakebake,&#8221; and has been making her presence felt this year as well, playing a friend from her college days of Hana Sugisaki, 28, who plays the lead in the new drama &#8220;Winter no Nankisa, Spring no Nankane&#8221; (NTV), which started in January.
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 She started her career at the age of 18, and last year alone she appeared in a series of high-profile films, including Hirokazu Kore-eda&#8217;s (63) Netflix series &#8220;Asura no Gotoku,&#8221; the film &#8220;Under Ninja,&#8221; and the Sunday theater series &#8220;Gokami Sensei&#8221; (TBS). On screen, she is always imposing and wears a &#8220;quietness&#8221; that is unmistakable of a rookie, but her true face is surprisingly frank and charming.
 We caught up with the 23-year-old to learn more about her true feelings, from the impact she had on the set of director Hirokazu Kore-eda, which we could not talk about in this magazine, to what kind of actress she wants to be.
 I&#8217;m actually very nervous. When I first go on set, I&#8217;m very nervous. People often tell me I&#8217;m cool, but that might just be because I&#8217;m so nervous that my expression is frozen (laughs). When I am with my friends, I laugh all the time and have a lot of fun. I am not a quiet character by any means.
 Despite her mysterious impression, her bright smile is impressive. Does she have an on/off switch?
 I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m conscious of it,&#8221; he says. It&#8217;s just a moment when I go home, change into my loungewear, and &#8220;laze around&#8221; or when I have a good laugh with my friends over a meaningless conversation. &#8230;&#8230; I find myself relaxing.&#8221;
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 One of the things that led to her big breakthrough as an actress was the Netflix series &#8220;Asura no Gotoku,&#8221; in which she appeared in 2013. She was surprised to find herself on set with world-renowned director Hirokazu Kore-eda, who had just made his debut with the film.
 Until I started working on the set, I didn&#8217;t know that Kore-eda doesn&#8217;t give scripts to young directors,&#8221; she said. On the day of the costume fitting, the director asked me, &#8216;Do you need a script? I was surprised. I was so surprised (laughs). At the time, I was still inexperienced, so I was like, &#8220;Is this the standard for an actor&#8217;s work? I was so impatient that I was told by my seniors, &#8220;No, Maru-chan, this is not all there is. I was told by the seniors around me, &#8216;No, Maru-chan, this is not everything,&#8217; and &#8216;This is special.
 I would go to the set with my lines perfectly prepared. That common sense was suddenly overturned.
 But the free atmosphere and the way the conversation that takes place on the spot is so important was a very valuable experience for me. It was an experience that allowed me to experience firsthand the fun of a play that is not a scheduled routine, but rather a raw, realistic performance.&#8221;
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<h3>I want to be an actress that people notice through my work.&#8221;</h3>
 During the interview, a surprisingly lively discussion took place on the topic of &#8220;food. When asked what her favorite food is, Nonai immediately answered, &#8220;Curry.
 I like &#8216;home curry&#8217; the best,&#8221; she said. Spiced curry is delicious, but it is the curry from school lunches or the kind served at my parents&#8217; house that gets me the most excited. Even when I make my own curry, I use store-bought roux. That thick, reassuring taste. I think that&#8217;s what curry is.
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 While showing a homey side, her words also reveal a strong will. In fact, she has always loved movies like the popular American film &#8220;Ghost World,&#8221; in which a person escapes from a place of stagnation to find his or her own way.
 I am attracted to films that depict growing pains, such as feeling uncomfortable in one&#8217;s environment, struggling, and venturing out to a different place. Maybe it&#8217;s because I myself went through a period when I was unsure of my career path and worried that my place might not be here&#8230;&#8230;.&#8221;
 Because she is such a person, her actions are intuitive. Before the filming of the morning drama &#8220;Bakebake,&#8221; she flew to Shimane, where the story takes place, all by herself.
 I really wanted to get a feel for the local atmosphere before starting work on the drama. I went to Shimane on a private trip. I&#8217;m not used to traveling alone; I&#8217;m rather anxious and timid (laughs). But when I went there, I really enjoyed it!　Walking around the area alone gave me many hints for my role, and more importantly, it made me determined to do it .
 Recently, friends around me often recommend me to go to India, saying that it will change your sense of values. As a curry lover, I felt I had to go to the real place (laughs). I am still a little scared to go alone, but I would like to try it someday at &#8230;&#8230;.&#8221;
 Nouchi loves curry and is excited to travel alone. She has a phrase that she holds dear to her heart: &#8220;Don&#8217;t expect too much, but hope for the best.
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 She says, &#8220;Don&#8217;t expect too much, but have a lot of hope. If you expect too much, you will be disappointed when things turn out differently. But you have to have hope. The second is, &#8220;It is OK to be inferior to others, but it is shameful to be inferior to your past self. I tell myself that it is good if I am better than I was yesterday.
 Although she has been called the &#8220;next breakout,&#8221; she does not shout out information about her appearances, a stance that is somewhat artisanal in this age of social networking.
 She says, &#8220;I do announce on SNS, but I don&#8217;t verbally tell people that I&#8217;m going to be in a movie. Even if I don&#8217;t say it myself, people who see the show will notice that I&#8217;m in it. I am most happy when they notice. It makes me the happiest when people notice, and I can feel that my work is getting through to them. I want to be that kind of actress. I want to be that kind of actress. It&#8217;s a very big goal, but I would like to be a heroine in a morning drama or appear in a historical drama someday. I would love to be a heroine in an NHK drama or appear in an epic drama someday.
 In every work, it seems as if I am an extension of the world in which I have been living. I would like to continue to work hard with each production so that one day I will be able to perform in such a play,&#8221; she says seriously.
<figure id="attachment_455664" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455664" style="width: 4000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="65a25982"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/37e631f9ad526b7ba809ff76c93e4dd4.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455664" class="wp-caption-text"> Nouchi says he usually eats fermented foods such as kimchi.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_456323" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-456323" style="width: 5000px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="95b9a2e9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/61d012e9891dbea2a891f87c39e6a310.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-456323" class="wp-caption-text"> Photo courtesy of Nouchi, who is currently starring in the January drama &#8220;Winter no Kana-sa, Spring no Kana-nee&#8221; (Winter&#8217;s Something, Spring&#8217;s Something).</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_455665" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-455665" style="width: 1179px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="794dd133"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/01/04ea99387e8eff9cf4d8509a8d2216af.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-455665" class="wp-caption-text"> From her Instagram / Appearing in &#8220;Bakebake</figcaption></figure>

 Shu Nishihara

 Yoko Fuseya (ESPER) 

 Anna Yamamoto

 Maru Nouchi is a hot actress who is sure to break out in 2026. She tells us all about her experience of being baptized at the Kore-eda film studios and the kind of actress she aspires to be.

Surprised by the baptism at the Kore-eda site!　Notable Actress Maru Nouchi: “I want to be an actress that people notice through my work”

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Surprised by the baptism at the Kore-eda site! Notable Actress Maru Nouchi: “I want to be an actress that people notice through my work”

Access Ranking

Surprised by the baptism at the Kore-eda site!　Notable Actress Maru Nouchi: “I want to be an actress that people notice through my work”