On May 30th, actress�Kuroki Meisa attended a press conference for NHK's upcoming Taiga drama, 'Yae no Sakura', where they announced the new cast members. The drama stars Ayase Haruka as the lead roles.

Kuroki will play the role of 'Nakano Takeko', the rival of Yae(Ayase). Born in Edo, Nakano is a skilled long sword fighter and serves as the assistant trainer of a Swordplay School. However, when the Boshin War begins, she returns to Aizu, and teaches samurai wives how to use the long sword.

"I hope to deliver the power of life, the bond of people, the importance of protecting something, and courage to everyone. I also want to learn from this piece of work," Kuroki expressed.

According to NHK chief producer Naito Shinsuke, they offered Kuroki the role last fall. Regarding Kuroki's filming for the drama, he declared, "The script isn't done yet, so we'll see how things go while making arrangements with the schedule." When asked, "Since Kuroki-san is pregnant, didn't you think about a replacement?", Naito explained, "If there are no obstacles during shooting, she can do it. We've started productions after thinking about who we need."

During this press conference, 16 new cast members were revealed. They include�Nishijima Hidetoshi as�Yae's older brother 'Yamamoto Kakuma', Hasegawa Hiroki as�Yae's first husband 'Kawasaki Shounosuke', Gouriki Ayame as�Yae's childhood friend 'Hinata Yuki',�Matsushige Yutaka as�Yae's father 'Gonpachi', Fubuki Jun as�Yae's mother 'Saku', Hasegawa Kyoko as Kakuma's wife 'Ura', and�Kudo Asuka as Yae's younger brother 'Saburo'.

Other cast members include�Ayano Gou as 'Matsudaira Katamori',�the last feudal lord of the Aizu clan, Tamayama Tetsuji as 'Yamakawa Ohkura', Aizu's young general, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki as the chief retainer 'Kajiwara Heima', Saito Takumi as Jinbo Kuranosuke's eldest son 'Shuri', Kitamura Yukiya as 'Akizuki Teijiro', the leading figure of the 'Satsuma-Aizu Alliance',�Inamori Izumi as Katamori's sister-in-law 'Teruhime', Nakamura Shido as 'Sagawa Kanbei', and Nishida Toshiyuki as minister 'Saigou Tamono'.

The drama portrays the life of Yae, a woman who barricaded herself with 500 women during the Boshin War in Tsurugajou, Aizu. She later fought the battle with guns, which made her known as the "Joan of Arc during the end of the Edo era". The script will be written by Yamamoto Mutsumi (Gegege no Nyobo), and the theme songs will be done by Sakamoto Ryuichi.

'Yae no Sakura' is scheduled to air 50 episodes starting January of 2013.

[gallery]

Source & Image: Mantan Web & Cinemacafe