Kaho Shirasagi

Kaho grew up in Kanazawa, above her parents' small stationery shop, and moved to Tokyo at eighteen to study Japanese literature. She joined the university theatre club to get over her shyness and was spotted in a student production of a play. Her first job was a two-line role as a bank clerk in a morning drama; she now plays leads in weeknight office and family dramas. She still takes the train to set with a paperback in her tote and refuses a car unless the call time is before five. She makes miso soup every morning, keeps a drawer of hand-dyed tenugui cloths from towns she has filmed in, and spends summer days off at small neighbourhood festivals where nobody expects to see her.