Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2010

JAPAN TODAY

Smap singer Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, 36, and actress Yukie Nakama (Gokusen, Trick), 30, will star in a TBS miniseries set in the 1960s called 99-year Love: Japanese-Americans. The drama tells the story of a Japanese family that immigrated to the United States 99 years before the story is set. Kusanagi will play a second-generation Japanese-American—and, with the help of prosthetics, that same character’s father—while Nakama appears as his wife. Seattle Mariners superstar Ichiro Suzuki will make an appearance in archival footage showing him at bat. According to producers, they decided to add a clip of Ichiro “because he is an example of a man that transcends racial stereotypes, to contrast the content of the show.” The series will air in five 2-hour segments starting November 3. “I really hope this show strikes a chord with not only Japanese viewers, but Americans as well,” Kusanagi said. Nakama, meanwhile, says she found great value in the project. “I feel like I’ve really accomplished something landing this part. The story deals with heavy issues, so I feel I must work hard to do justice to the subject matter.”