news to Shirasaki, who informed the people of Japan of Taro and Jiro's survival. He gave the deceased huskies an honorable send off linked via radio communication to the crew members aboard the icebreaker Sōya and the people of Japan. One by one, Kuramochi says goodbye to the eight dogs, promising each of them that he would see them again, especially to Riki whom he, Taro, and Jiro all express their final farewells of love and sorrow for the beloved leader of the sled dogs. In 1961, Kuramochi, along with the dogs Taro and Jiro and the members of the Third Japanese Cross-Winter Antarctica Expedition team returned to a grand welcome from the people of Japan. Fifty years later, an elderly Kuramochi returned to Antarctica to visit the burial place of the sled dogs he had left behind in Japan, remembering the good times he had had with each of them. Cast Takuya Kimura - Takeshi Kuramochi Kyōhei Shibata (special appearance) - Suguru Shirasaki Teruyuki Kagawa - Eitaro Hoshino Masato Sakai - Haruhiko Himuro Naoto Ogata - Noriaki Utsumi Yusuke Yamamoto - Natsuo Inuzuka Susumu Terajima - Naohito Samejima Hisashi Yoshizawa - Shinkichi Yokomine Yoshinori Okada - Ikuzo Funaki Yōsuke Kawamura - Hajime Arashiyama Ishimoto Doronzu - Manpei Yamazato Kōtarō Shiga - Kennosuke Tani Haruka Ayase - Miyuki Takaoka Yukie Nakama - Yukari Kuramochi (eps. 1, 5) Tsunehiko Watase - Kuramochi's father (eps. 1–2, 4–5) Gaku Yamamoto - Tomohiro Furutachi (eps. 1, 7–10) Tae Kimura - Ayako Furutachi (eps. 1, 6–10) Mana Ashida - Haruka Furutachi (eps. 1, 6–10) Mizuki Inoue - Ryo Furutachi (eps. 1, 6–10) Ito Ōno - Mitsuko Inuzuka (eps. 1, 4, 8) Takako Katou - Junko Samejima (eps. 1–2, 4, 6–7, 9) Shion Satō - Kenta Samejima (eps. 1–2, 4, 6–7, 9) Sakura - Naomi Yokomine (eps. 1–4, 6–7) Kōsuke Yabe - Haruo (eps. 1-5,7-10) Takeo Nakahara - Shinpei Hatano (eps. 1, 5, 8–9) Susumu Kurobe - Himuro's father (eps. 1, 9–10) Takashi Kobayashi - Mifune (eps. 2–3, 6–8, 10) Shigeru Yazaki - Inuzuka's father (eps. 4, 8) Kazufumi Miyazawa - Masataka Iwaki (eps. 5–8) Hirayama Hiroyuki - Kishibe (ep. 6) Ryuta Sato - Michio Ando (eps. 9–10) References External links Nichiyō Gekijō 2011 in Japanese television 2011 Japanese television series debuts 2011 Japanese television series endings Japanese drama television series Television series set in the 1950s Television series set in 1961 Television shows about dogs