It's impossible to turn on the television now without seeing SMAP leader Masahiro Nakai, who is working overtime to promote his new movie, "Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai" ("I Want to Become a Seashell"). And since he was just chosen for the fifth time to cohost NHK's New Year's Eve song contest, "Kohaku Utagassen," Nakai will be even more difficult to avoid on the box in the coming weeks.
This Monday and next Monday, he'll join rakugo storyteller Tsurube Shofukutei as they visit the homes of average people on NHK's travel series "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kampai" ("Tsurube Toasts Families"; NHK-G, 8 p.m.). The two stars, who, in fact, once hosted "Kohaku Utagassen" together, will visit the coastal town of Kyonan in Chiba Prefecture. The premise of the show is that Tsurube and his guest just show up in town unannounced and start chatting to passersby.
Part One opens with Nakai and Tsurube meeting on the beach in Kyonan and getting into an argument that is interrupted by an elderly man who invites them to his house for a drink.