Okinawan actress Yuina Kuroshima to star in new NHK series airing next spring

Okinawan actress Yuina Kuroshima to star in new NHK series airing next spring


March 3, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

Actress Yuina Kuroshima, 23, who hails from Itoman City, Okinawa, was chosen to play the heroine in Chimu Don Don, the newest NHK morning TV drama series slated to air in spring 2022. The show commemorates the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s return to Japan; the story takes place in Yanbaru, a town located in the northern part of Okinawa’s main island. John Kabila, a Naha City native, will narrate the series.

 

On March 3, Kuroshima made a live appearance on NHK’s national morning show Asaichi, from the Kunigami Village coastline in Okinawa. The actress said, “I was surprised to get the part. This will be the third morning TV drama I’ve appeared in, but I was hoping to [play the protagonist] one day, so I’m elated.”

 

Chimu Don Don tells the story of the main character’s ambitions of becoming a chef and succeeding in Okinawan cuisine, and her great bond with her four siblings. Full of laughter and tears, it is a tale about family and hometown. The title Chimu Don Don is an Okinawan phrase that expresses the heart beating in excitement. Kuroshima explained, “you might say, I have chimu don don for the field trip tomorrow.”

 

Okinawan actresses who have starred in NHK’s morning TV drama series in the past include Ryoko Kuninaka as Eri Kohagura in Churasan (2001), Aimi Higa as Natsumi Asakura in Dondo Hare (2007), and Fumi Nikaido as Oto Sekiuchi in Yell (2020).

 

Chimu Don Don will be the latest TV show in which Okinawa is the main subject or setting since Churasan and Jun to Ai (2012), which portrayed a heroine who grew up on Miyako Island struggling to manage a hotel.

 

Kuroshima was born in 1997. After modeling for Okinawa Bishoujo Zukan, she made her acting debut in the movie Himawari: Okinawa wa Wasurenai Ano Hi no Sora wo in 2013. She made her first NHK morning TV drama appearance in Massan (2014) and has since appeared in numerous dramas and commercials, including the TV series Scarlet and the historical drama Hana Moyu (2015).

 

In 2020, she won the 43rd Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Newcomer of the Year for the movie Katsuben!

 

Daisuke Habara is the screenwriter for Chimu Don Don. Habara also wrote the screenplay for Massan and the films Patchigi! and Hula Girl.

 

 

(English translation by T&CT and Monica Shingaki)

Photograph: Click to enlarge (PDF file: 880KB)

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