Noriyuki Higashiyama to star in WOWOW drama

Higashiyama Noriyuki stars in the new WOWOW drama "Yokokuhan ~ THE PAIN ~" which begins its run from 7 June in the Sundays 10pm timeslot.

The drama which is in conjunction with the movie "Yokokuhan" featuring Ikuta Toma and due to be shown in cinemas from 6 June, will be an original story written by the original manga's author Tsutsui Tetsuya. The movie will be about a man (Ikuta) who wears a mask made of newspapers and puts criminals who are unable to be punished by the law on trial before giving them what they deserve. As the man releases videos of the process online, he is nicknamed "Shinbunshin" (Newspaper God) and worshipped for what he does. The drama will carry on one year after the ending of the movie where a mysterious group replicates what Shinbunshin had done and tries to do a mock trial in order to expose a hidden truth. Higashiyama plays a judge in the drama and will be featured in a mask at least two-thirds of the time while Toda Erika who appears in the movie as a police officer, will also be featured in the drama.

Noriyuki Higashiyama to star in TV Asahi 2015 Summer drama

Higashiyama Noriyuki will be starring in the TV Asahi Summer 2015 drama "Keiji Shichinin" which will be shown from July in the Wednesdays 9pm timeslot.

He plays the role of Amaki Yu, a police detective who gets transferred to the 12th team in the Metropolitan Police Department's 1st Division which is commonly known as the grave for a detective and is a stickler for punctuality and persistent in his investigation work. However, he is a poor team player and often does things on his own without telling anyone. The unofficial leader of the team Samura Kosuke (Takashima Masahiro) is a professional at observing people while Yamashita Takumi (Kataoka Ainosuke) is an expert at information analysis. Nagasawa Keita (Suzuki Kosuke) is a lazy detective but has a strong sense of justice and Mizuta Tamaki (Kurashina Kana) is a cool detective who studied abroad. The team leader Katagiri Masatoshi (Yoshida Kotaro) and the forensic pathology professor Domoto Juntaro (Kitaoji Kinya) work with these detectives to solve various difficult cases.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi / Sponichi

Noriyuki Higashiyama to return in "Keiji Shichinin" sequel

Higashiyama Noriyuki will be back in the sequel of TV Asahi drama "Keiji Shichinin" (7 Police Detectives) this summer in the Wednesdays 9pm timeslot. His co-stars including Kitaoji Kinya, Takashima Masahiro, Kataoka Ainosuke, Suzuki Kosuke, Kurashina Kana and Yoshida Kotaro will be back as well in the new installment.

"Keiji Shichinin" was first aired in summer 2015 featuring the 7 actors who play 6 detectives and 1 pathology professor belonging to the 12th section of the Metropolitan Police Department's 1st department which is jokingly known as the graveyard for police detectives. They work together to solve various difficult cases using their expertise in different areas. In the sequel though, the key characters have been transferred to different departments to work in but are grouped together in a new unit to handle some unique cases.

Filming will begin in early June.

Source: Oricon

Noriyuki Higashiyama to return in "Hissatsu Shigotonin 2016" Special

Higashiyama Noriyuki will be returning to star in the latest installment of "Hissatsu Shigotonin 2016" which will be broadcast via ABC and TV Asahi at 9pm on 25 September. In the new SP, besides the regular cast members including TOKIO's Matsuoka Masahiro, Hey! Say! JUMP's Chinen Yuri, Wakui Emi, Namase Katsuhisa, Nakagoshi Noriko and Nogiwa Yoko, Endo Kenichi will be returning to the ranks of the shigotonin while Yasuda Ken and Terajima Susumu will play baddies this time.

The "Hissatsu Shigotonin" series started in July 2007 as a drama SP and since then, had one full drama series and 6 SPs to date. The latest installment was shot at Kyoto in February this year and features the themes of power harassment, sexual harassment and moral harassment which the shigotonin must fight against in the organisation.

Higashiyama commented that this was the first time that he had been surprised by a Hissatsu Shigotonin script and that he had been waiting for something like this for a long time. Having taken on this series for the past 9 years, he is glad that the new installment will feature themes which will resonate with the audience of this era and breathe new life into the drama SP.

Source: Oricon

Noriyuki Higashiyama to star in TV Tokyo drama special

Higashiyama Noriyuki will be starring in the TV Tokyo drama SP "Kajitsu no nai mori" (The forest without flowers and fruits) which is based on the same-titled novel by Matsumoto Seicho and will be shown within 2017. Although this was made into a movie in 1965, this is the first time that the novel is adapted in a drama and the time setting will be changed to the current era.

Higashiyama plays the role of Umeki Ryusuke, a creative planner working in a IT company who happens to meet a mysterious beautiful woman Eto Miyuki and her male companion while returning from a drive as they try to hitch a ride from him. However, he finds out that the man died suddenly in a strange way while getting increasingly obsessed with Miyuki. When he realises later that the men around her die one after another under mysterious conditions, Umeki sets out to find the truth out of fear for his own safety.

As this will be the third time that Higashiyama is appearing in a Seicho work (the previous works were 1995's "Yakou no Kaidan" and 2004's "Shougen"), he felt that this drama had come at the right time given his current age. In the story, although Umeki and Miyuki aren't young people, their intense relationship is like a first love for both of them so Higashiyama described this as similar to "Romeo and Juliet".

Sources: Nikkansports / Yomiuri Hochi / Oricon / Eiga.com

Noriyuki Higashiyama to return in TV Asahi 2017 Summer drama "Keiji Shichinin 3"

Higashiyama Noriyuki will be back to reprise his role in the TV Asahi Summer 2017 drama "Keiji Shichinin 3" along with regular cast members Takashima Masahiro, Kataoka Ainosuke, Kurashina Kana, Tsukamoto Takashi, Yoshida Kotaro and Kitaoji Kinya. The drama is the third installment in the series which first began in 2015 and will be shown in the Wednesdays 9pm timeslot.

At the end of the last season, Katagiri Masatoshi (Yoshida), the chief of the general affairs section, declared the disbanding of the Betsudou Sousatai even though he did mention that there is a big job waiting for the 7 of them. This time, with the increase in criminal activity in the Tokyo Waterfront area, Katagiri becomes the chief of the Juuichi Houmen Honbu Junbishitsu to lead everyone in resolving cases from this area which is becoming the new battleground for people interested in the gains that come with the area's development before 2020. In addition, the truth behind the deaths of Amagi's wife and daughter 12 years in the waterfront area will also come to light in the sequel.

Higashiyama commented that although he is happy to be given the chance to play the lead character again, he is even more thrilled by the fact that the drama has entered its third season which is rare in this time and era. After what they had built up in the first two seasons, he hopes that they can show off different sides of the characters this time. In addition, Higashiyama expressed anticipation and joy that they were able to gather everyone back for the sequel and is eagerly awaiting to see what sparks will fly between them.

Sources: Nikkansports / Oricon