Additional cast members for NHK's 2012 Taiga drama, "Taira no Kiyomori", have been revealed!

The drama held a press conference on August 8th, and it was revealed that actor Okada Masaki would play the role of 'Minamoto no Yorimoto', the biggest enemy of 'Taira no Kiyomori', who's played by Matsuyama Kenichi.

NHK explained, "We want to portray this not only as a historic drama, but as a human drama. We hope that Okada, who relies on his acting skills, will be able to deliver his feelings through his performance." As this will be Okada's first time in a Taiga drama, he genuinely stated, "I wondered if I would be okay for the drama, but I'm excited. I want to play the part while thinking why they chose me for the role."

Other actors announced included Anne as 'Houjou Masako', Kato Koji as 'Usamaru', Morita Go as 'Taira no Tokitada', Toyohara Kosuke as 'Taira no Tadamasa', Nakamura Atsuo as 'Taira no Masamori', Fukiishi Kazue as 'Maiko', and Ito Shirou as 'Emperor Shirakawa'.

Anne, who was the only woman to attend the press conference this time, will play the role of 'Houjou Masako', the wife of Yorimoto (Okada). Anne explained, "Houjou Masako is called a wicked woman, but she is a woman with a strong heart, and will push forward once she believes in something." She continued, "While this is a historic drama, this story is a contemporary drama for Masako. Like Masako, I want to play her character while thinking about the present."

This will be Okada's first time co-starring with Matsuyama, so he smiled as he described, "[Matsuyama] has a mysterious aura, and he has a passion. I want to do my best to the point he thinks I'm irritating." Kato also commented, "Matsuyama directly observes people. He probably can see through my impure heart," and generated laughter among the crowd. He also said, "The�characters change every time, so he's someone who jumps into the role."

Matsushima also attended the conference with the new cast. "This time was the announcement of leaders. They all have strong wills. I want to promptly start working with the leaders," he expressed, and praised the script saying, "There is something similar about the present time and the Heian period. There are too many things, that people's level of hungriness is low. Among them, the presence of samurais shine through as humans. I want to present that power through Kiyomori and this story."

"Taira no Kiyomori" will begin its filming on August 18th, and will air in January 2011 with a total of 50 episodes.

Check out photos from the press conference below!

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Source + Photos: Eiga