Narumi and her bloody hands when playing cardsToday reporters got to see a preview of NHK’s new historical dorama called "Sakuya Konohana" starring young actress Narumi Riko (17) and actor Hiraoka Yuuta (25).Narumi plays a girl who loves to play the popular Hyakunin Isshu card game, a game with 100 poems that is mostly played on New Year’s Day. "When I was playing cards during my childhood, I was so much against loosing that I even got my hands hurt and was bleeding." Narumi revealed. In case you are wondering, in uta-garuta it’s all about recollecting and finding the right cards first. Among kids this easily can turn into some smaller fights for the cards.Sakuya Konohana tells the story of a simple young girl called Koi (Narumi) who loves to play the aforementioned card game, wins a competition and advances to the next tournament being held in Edo. Her continuous winning streak quickly gains a lot of attention. Through this she’s able to experience personal growth and her first love with a revenge-seeking ronin (Hiraoka) she happens to meet in Edo.Koi ends up standing out of the crowd even though she didn’t want to, so how is it with Narumi? Does she like to show off? She made it clear that – "I don’t like to show off." Hiraoka on the other hand, "I guess it’s just natural that you want to stand out."Sakuya Konohana will consist of 10 episodes and start on January 09, airing every Saturday at 07:30pm on NHK.
Riko Narumi stars in "performance calligraphy" filmThu, December 24, 2009 (5:00pm EST)Teen actress Riko Narumi (17) will star in a movie about "performance calligraphy," directed by Ryuichi Inomata ("Mari to Koinu no Monogatari"). Its focus is the Shodo Girls Koshien event, which was started last year by the NTV show "Zoom In!! SUPER." About ten years ago, "Zoom In!! SUPER" (then known as "Zoom In!! Asa!") started following performance calligraphy, which involves teams creatively drawing kanji on large sheets of paper. In July 2008, NTV collaborated with the Kami Matsuri (paper festival) in Ehime, which produces the largest amount of paper in Japan, to hold a Shodo Performance Koshien competition. The program drew a lot of attention for performance calligraphy, so the network started holding a regular tournament known as the Shodo Girls Koshien.The first Shodo Girls Koshien was held on January 1, 2009. Teams of high school girls drew on 10m x 12m sheets of paper while performing routines to music. By September, two more tournaments were held, and a fourth has been scheduled for January 1, 2010. In the movie, Narumi plays the head of her high school's calligraphy club, leading her team to the Koshien. She will undergo training in calligraphy soon, as filming begins in mid-January. The movie, which is scheduled for release in May 2010, does not have an official title yet. The title will be revealed on New Year's Day, when NTV broadcasts the 4th Shodo Girls Koshien during the four-and-a-half-hour-long "Zoom In!! SUPER" special.