Kasumi Arimura’s divine smile while chatting with Rikka Ihara

The Tokyo performance of the stage play “Friend” had its final performance on September 26. In mid-September, as the performance reached its halfway point, the actors who had finished the daytime performance appeared one after another at the backstage entrance. Kasumi Arimura (28) appeared in a checkered jacket and navy pants, dressed for autumn. Walking next to her was the young actress Rika Ihara (22).

Ihara is the former captain of the dance club at Osaka Prefectural Tomigaoka High School, where her “Babble Dance” became a hot topic. She was scouted for this dance and has been working as an actress since graduation. Arimura and Ihara played the roles of the second and third daughters of three sisters, and since they shared a dressing room, they became very close friends.

In normal times, the two would have been good friends and would have gone out to eat afterwards to ……, but that was the Corona disaster. Arimura waved to Ihara as if to say, “Good work,” and then got into the pickup truck and headed home in a flash. With careful infection control measures in place, I have no doubt that she will finish the race safely.

FRIDAY” October 15, 2021 issue