On February 9th, five Japanese actors with a promising future were honored at the '2012 Elan d'or Awards'. The five recipients were Hasegawa Hiroki, Anne, Inoue Mao, Kora Kengo, and Yoshitaka Yuriko.

Hasegawa Hiroki experienced a sudden popularity boost thanks to his performance in the 2011 hit drama, 'Kaseifu no Mita'. The starring actress of that drama, Matsushima Nanako, also made a surprise appearance at the awards ceremony to congratulate her colleague. Stunned by Matsushima's beauty, Hasegawa admitted he was at a loss for words. "She's just too dazzling, I don't know where to look anymore...," he said.

Matsushima gave high praise to Hasegawa and expressed her blessings. "It was exciting to see his potential. He can probably play all kind of roles. I hope we'll be able to work together again in the future."

Inoue Mao earned herself a lot of credits and positive reviews for her stellar performance in the 2011 NHK morning drama, 'Ohisama'. She commented, "Although I felt this great weight of responsibility on my shoulders last year, it also reassured me that it's a work worth doing and something I can be proud of. This year, I will try my best to express this gratitude and pride in my heart through my actions."

Her husband in 'Ohisama', Kora Kengo, also received an award from the committee. He said, "It was soothing to play this role for six months -- it even changed my own values. I hope there will be more roles like this from now on."

Anne was grateful to receive the award as well. "I've been keeping a Daruma doll with 'Elan d'or Award' written on its back since my drama debut in 'Karei naru Spy' in 2009, and I've been working very hard since then (in order to receive the real award someday)," she confessed. "I'm really happy that I'm able to receive the award three years after my debut. However, I'm not looking at it as a goal anymore but as a starting point. From now on, I'm going to work even harder and completely devote myself to work."



As for Yoshitaka Yuriko, she made the audience laugh with her excitement. "I haven't told my parents, but I think they will be delighted to see it in the news and say stuff like, 'Our Yuriko did it!'"

Over the past few years, Yuriko has played many different roles. However, she's confessed that it's not easy for her yet. "I have become more used to being at the sets now, but I'm not yet liking acting itself, since it's still very difficult for me," she said.

With the marriage of Akanishi Jin and Kuroki Meisa being the hottest topic in entertainment news, the stars were asked for their opinion on the matter.

Yoshitaka offered an amusing response and revealed her 'sour' feelings. "How could they announce their marriage at the same time as the announcement of my upcoming movie with Kora... Now we'll have to work even harder to advertise the movie."

Yoshitaka revealed that she's the same age as Kuroki, and mused, "Back in the day, many people married at such a young age. My grandmother was 23 when she married." As for her own marriage ambitions, she chirped with a bashful smile, "Please don't sniff around too much."

Aside from the five actors mentioned above, the '2012 Elan d'or Awards' were attended by Mizutani Yutaka, Oikawa Mitsuhiro, Takeda Tetsuya, and Nakai Kiichi, who honored the production crews of the 'Aibou' and '3 nen B gumi Kinpachi Sensei' series with the '2012 Elan d'or Special Award'. NHK also was awarded for having completed their 50th taiga drama in 2011.

The producer awards went to Arishige Yoichi ("Youkame no Semi") and Ohira Futoshi ('Kaseifu no Mita'). The encouragement awards went to the producers Shii Yukiko ("Ooshikamura Soudouki") and Komatsu Masaru ('Ohisama').

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Sources: Oricon [2], TV Asahi, MantanWeb