Today it was decided that actress Horikita Maki will star in NHK's next morning drama that will begin airing in the spring of 2012.

Similar to the currently airing morning drama "Ohisama", starring Inoue Mao, NHK decided to make the offer to a popular actress again instead of going through the standard practice of holding an audition. This announcement has already gained quite a bit of attention, even though the details about the story have yet to be revealed.

Thus far, Horikita has never starred in a NHK drama before, even so she managed to build up a nice track record of starring roles on commercial stations and in movies.

NHK stated, "We decided not to hold any auditions and are currently advancing into the process of casting the additional cast members."

An insider revealed, "With the success of last year's 'Gegege no Nyobo' and this year's 'Ohisama', it is most likely that Horikita's morning drama will be set sometime in the past as well."

Source: NikkanSports