Nakama Yukie plays the character of Yamaguchi Kumiko, a self-righteous high school teacher who wants to make her mark on the Japanese educational system. Unfortunately, the school she teaches has its share of troublemakers. But fortunately, she’s trained to handle them because her secret life in the past was that she was a membr of a major crime syndicate. Nakazawa plays her confidante, a kindergarden teacher. Matsumoto is the leader of a gang of problem kids. Sawamura Kazuki plays a love interest.

TV Synopsis: Newly graduated Kumiko Yamaguchi wants to make

her mark on the Japanese educational system as a teacher.

All well and good until she finds out that the school she’ll

be teaching at has its fair share of troublemakers and rabble-

rousers. The ruffians at the school don’t frighten her though for she has a secret of her own-she’s a fourth generation crime syndicate member and next in line to head it up. She’s gone straight and wants to be a teacher though, but she’s one person in whose class you don’t want to be caught fooling around!

[Source: Daily Yomiuri, January 13, 2005, Wm. Penn]: Two popular sequels focusing on heroes with secret identities are back.

Gokusen (Saturdays, 9 p.m. on the NTV network) starts Jan. 15 and features

Yukie Nakama as the granddaughter of a yakuza. She passes for a demure high

school teacher during the day and only displays her dazzling martial arts

skills when the kids are real, real bad.

STARRING: Nakama Yukie, Itoh Misaki, Namase Katsuhisa, Kaneko Ken, Sawamura Kazuki, Utsui Ken, Matsumoto Jun (Arashi), Sawamura Ikki, Oguri Shun, Ishigaki Yuma, Narimiya Hiroki, Waki Tomohiro and Nakazawa Yuko.
THEMESONG: “Feel Your Breeze” by V6
NETWORK: NTV
DURATION: April through June 2002. Second Series: January through March 2005.