Japanese Actress Mio Imada Plays Character Based on Wife of ‘Anpanman’ Creator

By Yoshitaka Tsujimoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

10:45 JST, May 9, 2025

Mio Imada stars in NHK’s serial morning drama “Anpan,” as the wife of an artist who is based on Takashi Yanase, the creator of “Anpanman.”

Yanase’s picture book series “Anpanman” is also a major hit as a manga series, a TV anime and a series of movies. He was inspired by his wife, Nobu Komatsu, to create the popular female character Dokin-chan.

When I asked Imada, who says she loves Dokin-chan, to create a heart shape with her hands, she said, “No problem.” Dokin-chan often appears with hearts.

With her big round eyes, Imada is charming. Like scriptwriter Miho Nakazono said, Imada certainly resembles Dokin-chan.

Anpanman literally gives himself (Anpanman’s head is an anpan bun with sweet bean paste inside) to help those in need. “Anpan” is the story of a couple who created such a unique hero.

Nobu Asada and Takashi Yanai, played by Takumi Kitamura, meet in a town in Kochi Prefecture and work for the same newspaper after World War II. Nobu helps her husband achieve success later. Imada said their life paths had many events that connect with “Anpanman.”

“During the war, Nobu [Asada] struggles between ‘justice as a teacher’ who sends children to the battlefield and ‘justice as an individual’ who loses a loved one in the war,” Imada said. “She must consider justice from various angles.”

After the war, Nobu became a newspaper reporter to determine what justice really is. Imada believes that whatever the couple seriously contemplates leads to “a justice that never overturns,” which lies at the root of Anpanman.

Imada says she feels Nobu Komatsu’s presence in Anpanman’s world, which is filled with gentle characters.

“Yanase’s experiences of war and hunger are expressed in ‘Anpanman,’” she said. “Even so, the story is always positive, and I think it’s because Nobu, who was generous, soft and tough all at once, was by his side.”

The drama has already been in production for more than half a year. Imada says Nobu Asada has become a part of her life. The production of a long-running morning serial is said to be mentally and physically demanding, but she says she is simply treasuring the remaining time.

“The drama will warm your hearts every morning,” she said at the time of the interview, before it started airing.

The drama is broadcast on NHK from 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday and on NHK BS from 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Q&A session with Imada

Q. What is your favorite bread?

A. Salted butter rolls. When it comes to anpan, I prefer koshi-an (smooth bean paste).

Q. How do you cope with fatigue from filming?

A. I soak and relax in the bathtub and drink alcohol on a day when I have worked hard. First a beer, then a highball. There is no filming on Saturdays and Sundays, so I really look forward to drinking beer after work on Fridays.

Q. What advice did you receive from your predecessors, heroines of NHK morning dramas?

A. Kaya Kiyohara, whom I worked with on “Welcome Home, Monet,” as well as Hana Sugisaki and Mei Nagano, told me, “It’s tough, so call me if you need anything.”

Mio Imada

Born on March 5, 1997, and raised in Fukuoka Prefecture. She won the Japan Academy Film Prize’s newcomer award for the movie “Tokyo Revengers” in 2022. “Anpan” is her second NHK serial morning drama following “Welcome Home, Monet.”