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| Tsuchiya Tao Reveals Her 20s Were So Busy She Only Took Four Days Off a Year |
Japanese actress & superstar Tsuchiya Tao has opened up in a new interview about the brutally packed schedule she pushed through in her 20s, admitting she sometimes worked on as little as one to three hours of sleep and averaged only four days off per year. For an actress who debuted young, built her name through sheer consistency, and later entered marriage and motherhood, her reflection paints a rare, honest picture of what life behind the spotlight actually looked like.
The actress first caught attention in 2005 after winning the Judges’ Special Prize at the Miss Phoenix Super Heroine Audition. Since then, she has barely slowed down—jumping from dramas to films to stage productions without caring much about genre or comfort zone.
Even during her earliest years, Tao says she was already committed to giving every role proper respect.
For her 2010 drama debut in NHK’s Ryomaden, where she played the childhood version of Sakamoto Otome, she even visited Sakamoto Ryoma’s grave in Kyoto to “greet him properly” before filming.
“I wanted to introduce myself since I was portraying someone connected to him,” she recalled.
Despite struggling with auditions early on and landing only “about one role a year,” she still took every opportunity with excitement rather than pressure.
Her big breakthrough came in 2015 when she successfully auditioned for the lead role in the NHK morning drama Mare.
Being a Morning-Drama Heroine Came With Surprising Realities
Looking back, Tao says her Mare experience was filled with lessons—but also plenty of regrets.
At the time, successful heroines didn’t get their own private room or dressing space.
Instead, newcomers spent most of their time in the “front room” outside the studio.
Tao says this unusual setup helped her learn who did what on set and understand how production teams function.
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Even so, she often felt she wasn’t good enough.
“If I were stronger, maybe Mare would’ve become more talked about,” she said, crediting her co-stars—Yamazaki Kento, Hayama Shono, Yakusho Yuya, Oizumi Yo, Tanaka Yuko, and Tokiwa Takako—for keeping the atmosphere warm and grounded throughout filming.
She also revealed she cut around 40cm of her hair for the role—something she still questions today.
Because her hair is naturally wavy and soft, going short made it difficult to maintain on camera.
She had heard some viewers felt her hair looked untidy on-screen and, to this day, she wonders if the drastic haircut had been necessary at all.
“I Barely Remember My 20s… I Was That Exhausted”
The most striking revelation came when Tao described just how extreme her schedule used to be.
“I had about one to three hours of sleep a night, and around four days off for the whole year. I was simply trying to get through each day.”
Her 20s, she explains, were a blur—years spent focusing only on the moment in front of her, yet feeling like those moments slipped through her fingers. Now, entering her 30s, she says her relationship with “living in the now” has transformed.
Since marrying and giving birth in 2023, she admits the sleep deprivation continues—but this time for a reason she shares with other parents.
“My 'now' connects with someone else’s 'now’,” she said, feeling comfort in shared experiences with fellow mothers.
For her, this change is deeply tied to the gradual accumulation of life experience—something she sees not only in herself but also in friends her age.
As she steps into a new chapter, Tao says she wants to embrace the idea of growing older with confidence rather than fear.
She points out that Japan often celebrates youthfulness but sometimes doesn’t fully welcome the natural process of ageing.
For Tao, beauty isn’t about staying the same forever but maturing like “a good wine” over time—slowly, gently, and with intention.
Her goal for the future?
To grow as an actress, a mother, a wife, and above all, as a person who isn’t afraid to evolve.