Princess Maison

Official Website
www.nhk.or.jp/pyd/princessmaison

Broadcast
From 11.15 p.m., Tuesdays, 25 October 2016

Station
NHK BS Premium

Story
The percentage of unmarried women in their 20s has exceeded 60% and the average age at which they are marrying for the first time is 29.2 years while the percentage of those in their 20s who have purchased an apartment is 12.7% and the average age of a buyer is 36.8 years. A house probably trumps marriage in the first big choice that females make in their lives. 26-year-old Numagoe Sachi works at a Japanese-style pub and earns an annual income of 2.5 million yen. She lives in an old apartment on a street lined with high-rise buildings in Tokyo. Her routine is to spend her off-days going around to Mochii Real Estate’s apartment showroom in town with the objective of having her own house even though she has no plans to get married. Date Masakazu, who acts as a guide for clients; Kaname Riko and Akutsu Marie who are in charge of the reception desk; and new trainee Okuda Naoto work at the showroom. Sachi scrutinises the showroom with a dispassionate seriousness that is nothing like someone just browsing around, and she asks questions that put professionals to shame amid the couples and families seeking their “paradise on earth”. With her trademark braids, Sachi looks younger than her age and does not seem as if she can afford the very expensive apartments. Her presence becomes a mystery to the showroom staff. Why does Sachi intend to buy an apartment alone? In truth, she suddenly lost the house that her family used to congregate at in the past.

Characters
Morikawa Aoi as Numagoe Sachi
She has worked at a Japanese-style pub for 8 years ever since she came to Tokyo after graduating from high school. Braids are her trademark. She is usually a person of few words and has an elusive air, but she is a hard worker who moves around the pub energetically. She lives modestly and saves most of her meagre salary. She dreams of having her own home some day. The reason appears to lie in her lonely past, but this has still not been disclosed.

Takahashi Issei as Date Masakazu
An employee of a large real estate company called Mochii Real Estate. He is a very capable man and is always calm and collected. That makes him appear heartless, but he has a strong passion and responsibility for his work. Although he is feared by his subordinates, he has a mischievous side too. He says harsh things to Numagoe Sachi at times, but contrary to his words, he watches over her with warmth.

Hizuki Hana as Kaname Riko
An employee of Mochii Real Estate. A sensible person with a long working experience. She is single and likes to drink alone. At first, she has misgivings about Numagoe Sachi who comes to view the apartment that she is in charge of and sticks out like a sore thumb. But she feels Sachi’s fortitude and single-mindedness in buying an apartment, identifies with her and ends up rooting for her.

Shison Jun as Okuda Naoto
An young employee of Mochii Real Estate. He is from Kansai. A person who gets carried away easily, he has a tendency to slip into Kansai dialect while serving customers and has been severely cautioned by Date Masakazu. However, he also has a serious side and worries about his own job.

Watanabe Makiko as Nakamori Fumi
The chairman of the association for female apartment buyers. A passionate woman who has been conducting seminars based on her own difficult personal experience buying an apartment.

Watanabe Misako as Todo Beni
The landlady of the apartment that Numagoe Sachi is presently living in. She is intimidating and not easy to approach. A woman of many mysteries. She is always dressed in work clothes.

Scriptwriter
Takahashi Izumi (Fujiko, Yume o Ataeru)
Matsui Kana

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