Hidekazu Mashima withdraws from TV Tokyo drama due to injury

Actor Hidekazu Mashima has withdrawn from the TV Tokyo drama ‘Borders: Metropolitan Police Department Special Incident Countermeasures Squad’ due to an injury sustained during filming. The injury occurred on September 4 during an action scene; while initially diagnosed with a knee sprain, subsequent examinations revealed a fracture of the left fibular head, requiring two months of rest.

Mashima will appear in the first four episodes as planned. Starting from the fifth episode, the role of Ryosuke Wataya will be taken over by actor Shunsuke Nakamura. Nakamura expressed his commitment to the role despite the sudden change and the pressure of stepping in as a replacement.

TV Tokyo executives expressed their wishes for Mashima’s speedy recovery and stated they would take the incident seriously to improve safety measures and prevent future accidents during production.