On November 11th, a press conference was held for NHK's Saturday special drama, 'Chouchou-san'. �The main cast, including Miyazaki Aoi, Ito Atsushi, Ethan Landry, and Nishida Toshiyuki, as well as the writer, Ichikawa Shinichi, attended the event.

'Chouchou-san' was adapted by Ichikawa from a famous Puccini opera called "Chouchou Fujin" or more popularly known as "Madama Butterfly". �He changed it into a lyric poem and transfered the story to Nagasaki, during its time of restoration, giving it a unique charm. The special drama, which will consist of two episodes, will try to capture the same charm.

Miyazaki plays the protagonist, Ito Chou or 'Chouchou-san', who lives quite a stormy life. �It's also Miyazaki's first drama role since "Atsuhime" (NHK).

She commented, "I've once again realized how much responsibility you have to bear (when filming a drama). I'm glad that we were able to complete this drama and film everything without problems." About her role, she added, "It was difficult expressing her complicated feelings, but I think I've managed it somehow. It's a drama that tells you to face forward."

Looking at Ethan Landry, who plays a lieutenant of the US Navy and husband of Chouchou-san, Miyazaki added, "English was the most difficult part of the whole filming. When I met Ethan, it was very important to me to be able to speak with him and thus I had to master the language. I can speak it now thanks to meeting him."



Ethan, who came to Japan specifically for this press conference, praised her, "Miyazaki is a very beautiful and elegant person. I'd like to treasure this experience."

Nishida added, "Going to the set was as much fun as going to school, knowing there is this girl that you like so much. Maybe I should put a love-letter in her shoe rack." �He continued in a more serious fashion, "Miyazaki is still a very young actress, but she already has such a wide capacity and such a great sense of what she's doing. I'd love to see her trying a role similar to Natalie Portman's in 'Black Swan'."

Ito, also couldn't hold back with the compliments and said, "She's sparkling. �Just like the character I'm playing in the drama, Isaku, who loves Chou sincerely, I played the role with the feeling of 'Atsushi loves Aoi' until the end."

Miyazaki blushed and replied, "I'm so happy right now. I'm glad that I was able to work with such wonderful people."

"Chouchou-san" will air on November 19th and 26th.

By the way, keen observers also noticed that Miyazaki wasn't wearing her wedding ring during the press conference. However, she didn't comment on the recent break-up rumors.

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Sources + Pictures: Oricon, MantanWeb