In the afternoon of January 7, presentation of the TV Tokyo drama production Gimbap and Onigiri was held at The Saint in D-Cube City, Guro-gu, Seoul, with actors Akaso Eiji and Kang Hye Won in attendance.
Gimbap and Onigiri is a pure love story that delicately portrays the emotional connection between Hase Taiga (played by Akaso Eiji) and Park Rin (played by Kang Hye Won), two young people attracted to each other despite the confusion resulting from the cultural and value differences between Japan and Korea.
In the drama, Kang Hye Won plays Park Rin, a graduate student studying abroad in Japan. His character constantly moves towards his dreams as he faces the harsh realities of everyday life. Park Rin is portrayed as someone who goes to Japan to study animation, constantly torn between the struggles of the present and future aspirations, but who lives each day diligently. Kang’s naturally adorable charm and gentle aura are expected to bring depth and warmth to the role.
Kang Hye Won revealed, “I studied really hard for two months before going to Japan. At first I was very worried. I had studied the language to some extent, but it wasn’t perfect, so I wondered if I would be able to adapt well.” She added that Akaso Eiji made a great effort to support her and help her blend into the environment, which eased her worries.
Debuting in 2018 as a member of IZ*ONE, Kang Hye Won credited her past experience with helping her greatly. “My time with IZ*ONE helped me a lot when shooting a drama in Japan. We often promoted there, so the environment didn’t feel completely foreign to me. If I hadn’t done Japanese activities back then, I don’t think I could have improved my language skills so much in just two months” he explained.
He also shared his method for improving pronunciation, saying: “They gave me audio files with Japanese pronunciation, and I listened to them when I woke up every day to get used to the language.”
Co-star Akaso Eiji praised Kang’s dedication, saying: “I was honestly surprised by how good her Japanese was. Even though she was playing a Korean character, I wondered if she could really be Japanese. After filming, when I asked her if she would eat something delicious, she said she would go back to learning Japanese. This level of commitment really shows in the final result, and I think viewers will be very surprised when they watch the drama.”
Gimbap and Onigiri will premiere on January 12, will air every Monday at 11.06pm and will also be available on Netflix.
Sources: Daum
