Singer Masako Mori will act in her first lead drama role in 22 years. The special episode "Okaasan, Boku ga Umarete Gomenasai" will air as part of Fuji TV's "Kinyo Prestige" drama slot (Friday 9:00pm) on July 13. In it, Mori will play the mother of a young boy with cerebral palsy.

The drama is inspired by a true story. In 1978, Mori sang a song on television composed by Minoru Endo. It was adapted from a poem written by a young boy who suffered from cerebral palsy and died three years earlier at the age of 15. He had been a big fan of Mori.

A book about the boy's life was published around that time. It was eventually read by producer Tadayuki Hazama, who decided that he wanted to make it into a drama but was unable to find an actress to play the part of the mother. As fate would have it, Mori made her return to acting in this year's "Dondo Bare" as the mother of the main character, and Hazama immediately offered her the role.

The rest of the main cast includes Naoki Watanabe as the young boy, Eiichiro Funakoshi as the father, and Saki Fukuda as an acquaintance of the boy.