Inside Nozomi Morita’s Lavish Dinner at a ¥1M+ Members-Only Restaurant

Soaring After a Powerful Performance in Night Flower

Harajuku, Tokyo—now a daily hub of bustling inbound tourists—saw a beautiful woman intently examining coffee bean packages at a café one late January day. Encouraged to sample the coffee, she slowly removed her mask and sipped—revealing herself to be actress Nozomi Morita (29).

On that day, Morita had appeared as a main cast member in the stage play Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, starring Tatsuya Fujiwara (43). Perhaps she was enjoying a well-deserved post-performance moment of relaxation.

After leaving the café, Morita met a woman in Omotesando and headed to a members-only luxury restaurant reportedly charging over one million yen for entry. At the entrance, a man was waiting, and the three of them entered together.

“Morita first became widely known for her role in the 2019 Netflix drama The Naked Director, where she boldly portrayed the original sexy idol Kaoru Kuroki. She debuted at 14 but had failed hundreds of auditions before. She approached that role with the mindset of this may be my last chance. Since then, she has steadily built her career, and she has now secured the lead role in next year’s morning drama Meguru Swan,” said a reporter from a sports entertainment newspaper.

In January this year, Morita won both the Outstanding Supporting Actress Award and the Newcomer Actor Award at the 49th Japan Academy Prize for her performance in the film Night Flower. She is now fully recognized as a talented actress. Film critic Yuichi Maeda commented:

“Morita is a building-up type of actress who steadily worked her way up before breaking through with The Naked Director. She immerses herself fully into every role and has the pride that comes from rising through the ranks. Importantly, she broke through via a streaming drama—foreign streaming productions demand long preparation and international-standard performance quality. Her courage in performing nude scenes in an era where a single scene can become a digital tattoo was substantial.”

The Japan Academy Prize ceremony is scheduled for March, where the Best Actor and Actress awards will be announced. Maeda predicts:

“Morita is almost certain to win this year’s Outstanding Supporting Actress Award. Traditionally, the Japan Academy Prize values roles requiring physical transformation. Masami Nagasawa, who shaved her head for Crying Out Love in the Center of the World in 2004 and won, is a classic example. Morita gained seven kilograms for Night Flower, plus victories in the preliminary awards—the Hochi Film Award and Blue Ribbon Awards—have set the tone. Within the industry, the sentiment is this year is Morita. The balance works out so that with the Best Actress award likely going to National Treasure, the Supporting Actress award naturally falls to Night Flower.”

Returning to the opening scene:

After the meal, Morita left the luxury restaurant in high spirits and got into a taxi alone. Her light, graceful steps—hardly what one would expect after a stage performance—reflected the confidence of an actress riding the highest wave of her career.