Hikaru Nishida and Mako Ishino take on Ashiya City!

 Thank heavens for Hikaru Nishida’s faithfully-updated instagram blog which let me know that just last week she appeared on the NHK travelogue show “Eetoko” with fellow former-idol Mako Ishino to the town of Ashiya City in Hyogo!
From the official NHK website:
EETOKO
Enjoy culture and cuisine in your favorite city! ~ Ashiya City, Hyogo ~
Broadcast date: September 5, 2024

Ashiya is one of the most luxurious residential areas in the Kansai region. Ishino Mako, who grew up here and whose family home is here, and Nishida Hikaru, who lives in Nishinomiya within the area, rediscover its charms, from modern culture to gourmet food!
Ashiya City in Hyogo Prefecture is a residential area that developed from the Meiji period to the Showa period. Attracted by its abundant nature, merchants and cultural figures moved from Osaka and built a residential district. We will introduce the culture and gourmet food unique to Ashiya, such as a mansion designed by modern architecture master Frank Lloyd Wright, old stone public housing that houses a glass workshop, baumkuchen made with a recipe inherited from a Kobe store, minced cutlet made with plenty of Japanese black beef, and danjiri floats that have been passed down since the Edo period.

And with that statement, we're off!

We follow the ladies as they go from famous Ashiya spots to popular locale treats on this warm and sunny day!

Croquettes. Itadakimasu!

Frank Lloyd Wright Architecture

Apparently this town is somewhere near where Hikaru lives, so she takes the lead at several points, saying "You gotta try THIS place!" And of course Mako is game!

Sampling the delicacies....

Learning about the customs...

...and even taking a peek behind the scenes to see how it's made!

Then it's off to arts and crafts...

And then going to the temple and checking out that aforementioned Danjiri Float...

Was a pleasant way to spent the afternoon, and I even felt like I had been walking along with the girls all day~

Would love to see more of these!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

Hikaru in "Renai Kekkon No Rule"

Was going through some old episodes the the excellent 1997 drama "Renai Kekkon No Rule" for a post about stars Kyoko Koziumi and Satomi Kobayashi, but couldn't help snapping a few shows of our lovely Ms. Nishida who had a support role in the show....

Though the drama centered around Koziumi and Toshiro Yanagiba, a side story is about Toshiro's old father (Soichiro Kitamura) marrying a much younger woman. And that woman was portrayed by Hikaru! Sadly the old geezer is set in his "old school" chauvinistic ways, and it's up to the support of Kyoko and Satomi to come to her defense and tell those guys how to treat a lady in the modern era!

Below: Hikaru constantly asking for help from the dynamic duo of Kyoko Koizumi and Satomi Kobayashi

Thankfully, the two ladies help smooth things over so the mismatched couple can have a "happy end"!

Awwww...Can't have better friends than this!

This was, as I recall, one of the last times I saw Hikaru in any J-dramas for awhile, too bad as she was such a great talent! Oh well, she could focus back on her singing career, and her 1998 album "Shiawase no Katachi" was just on the horizon!

Your Daily Hikaru

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