Midnight Diner Returns After Seven Years With a Taiwan Surprise

Japanese actor Kobayashi Kaoru revealed that a Taiwanese actress will guest star in the new season of “Midnight Diner,” answering a question from Storm Media at a Tokyo press conference on September 24.

Kobayashi, the veteran lead of the long running drama — released internationally as Midnight Diner and sometimes referred to directly by its Japanese title, Shinya Shokudo — appeared at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan to promote the show’s seventh season, the franchise’s first new episodes in seven years. The season premieres October 20 on Japanese broadcasters TBS and MBS.

A Storm Media reporter asked Kobayashi, in Japanese, how he felt about returning to the role after so long and what message he had for Taiwanese fans who have waited years for new episodes. Kobayashi answered at length, describing the revival as the product of a string of small miracles, then shared a detail that had not yet been made public: one episode of the new season will feature a Taiwanese actress in a guest role.

He said he could not recall which episode, but that the casting was meant as a gesture of thanks to Taiwan, where the series has built a devoted following since its 2009 debut.

Asked separately whether the new season would stream internationally on a platform such as Netflix, Kobayashi turned to the producer seated beside him before answering and learned that nothing had been formally announced. He said he had simply assumed an overseas release would follow, calling it a natural next step for the franchise.

Asked why a story about strangers sharing a table at a tiny late night eatery has traveled so far beyond Japan, Kobayashi said the cast has aged alongside its characters over the past seven years, which he believes has made them more endearing. He added that he still finds the show’s overseas popularity hard to fully explain, since sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers over a meal in a cramped room is a distinctly Japanese custom rather than a global norm.

He recalled that unauthorized copies with Korean subtitles surfaced online almost as soon as the first season aired in 2009, followed by fully subtitled Chinese versions by the second season. Those bootleg copies, he said, were his earliest proof of how far the show had already traveled.

Kobayashi credited director Matsuoka Joji with assembling what he called a film caliber crew on a television budget, describing it as one of the production’s own small miracles. A standard network budget, he said, normally rules out that level of production, but Matsuoka brought in respected film industry talent from outside the major broadcasters, including celebrated food stylist Iijima Nami.

Kobayashi said many crew members joined largely out of devotion to the project rather than for the pay, given the limited budget and modest returns, and that a team this accomplished would not typically sign on for a show of this scale. He said their shared determination to make something worthwhile left him feeling fortunate.

To hold down costs, Kobayashi said, the production built its set inside a disused elementary school deep in the mountains of Kanagawa Prefecture instead of renting a studio. Filming began in the depths of winter, he said, but cast and crew forgot the cold, and the years apart, as soon as they stepped onto the diner set.

Kobayashi also reflected on Japan’s pandemic years, when acrylic partitions and bans on talking during meals reshaped restaurant life, saying the experience left him with a deeper appreciation for the show’s scenes of strangers eating and talking together. The new season’s opening episode folds that history into the story, depicting the diner reopening after the pandemic.

Kobayashi also addressed questions that have followed the franchise for years. He said manga creator Abe Yaro has deliberately left the scar across the diner owner’s face unexplained, believing the mystery serves the story better than any explanation would, and that the show has no plans to resolve it. The owner will see subtle emotional development in the new season, Kobayashi said, but not a conventional romance.

He also ruled out any overseas expansion of the franchise, saying the owner’s identity is inseparable from that one small shop. Asked about the most popular dish on set, Kobayashi named Iijima’s salmon roe rice bowl, which he said crew members regularly fought over. He added that his own tastes have shifted with age, away from expensive dining and toward simple regional dishes shared at home with family.

“Midnight Diner” has aired in Taiwan since 2009 and built one of its largest overseas fan bases there, but Kobayashi has never visited the island to promote the series. Manga creator Abe Yaro and former co-star Odagiri Joe have both made the trip. The franchise’s last season aired in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped daily life across Asia.

With the seventh season set to premiere after the longest gap in the show’s history, whether Kobayashi will finally make his own trip to Taiwan remains an open question for the fans who have waited seven years for his return.

Original Article In Chinese

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