The main character. When her best friend Miyazaki Tomoko dies after living together for three years, she falls into despair. With no caretakers and little money in the bank, she leads days of desolation. Then one day she sees news coverage of a senior-aged man who had committed shoplifting for the purpose of going to prison, and finding attraction in spending her own remaining life in prison, she begins her "prison challenge." She clumsily but intently schemes criminal plans, and gets various people around her involved in her endeavors. Her hobby is haiku-writing, and it was in a haiku-writing club where she had met Tomoko.

Matsuzaka Keiko - Profile
Born in 1952, Matsuzaka Keiko was given the opportunity to concurrently learn various arts from a young age by her parents, who wished for her to "become a beautiful lady like Ingrid Bergman." In 1960 she joined the Kurumi Children's Choir. In 1969 she was scouted by Daiei Film Company to make her screen debut, and since then she has gone on to become a leading actress in Japan, winning such prestigious awards as the Japan Academy Award, the Blue Ribbon Award, the Hochi Film Award, and the Kinema Junpo Award, all for best leading actress. For NHK she played the heroine Nohime in the 1973 Taiga Drama Kunitori Monogatari, and has since performed in nine Taiga Drama works including Atsuhime, Burning Flower and Segodon, marking the record number of appearances at the time. She has also appeared in many other NHK works including the morning drama serials GeGeGe no Nyobo, Here Comes Asa and Manpuku. She has won the NHK Broadcast Culture Award in 2008, and the Purple Ribbon Medal of Honor in 2009.

The work leader at the pinball parlor where Kiriko works part-time as a cleaner. He uninhibitedly chides Kiriko for her lapses at work, but his personal life is shrouded in mystery. Kiriko, hearing the rumor that he had spent time in prison, approaches him as an expert in crime, and he gradually becomes her advisor in her prison challenge.

Iwata Takanori - Profile
Born in 1989, Iwata Takanori debuted as a member of the song and dance group J Soul Brothers III in 2010, and began his acting career with the stage show Attack No.1 in 2013. In the EXILE Performer Battle Audition Final held at Nippon Budokan in 2014 he was chosen as a new member of the song and dance group EXILE. In 2016 he took on his first starring role in the film Evergreen Love, and for this performance he won the best new actor awards at the 41st Hochi Film Awards, the 40th Japan Academy Awards, and the 26th Japan Movie Critics Awards. For NHK he has performed in the 2018 drama Enjo Bengonin. Currently he performs as a member of both EXILE and J Soul Brothers III, and also appears in various acting roles and television ads.

A 17-year-old high school student. While working part-time in a supermarket she spots Kiriko in a suspicious act. Learning of Kiriko's prison challenge, she begins to be her cross-generation friend. She has her own life ambition, as Kiriko does, but her father opposes it.

Nagasawa Itsuki - Profile
Born in 2005, Nagasawa Itsuki auditioned for and won her debut as a model in 2016, becoming the in-house model for fashion magazine Kirapichi. After making her screen debut in the 2020 film Day of Destruction, she has steadily appeared in films, television drama and stage shows, her singular magnetism drawing wide attention. For NHK she has performed in drama works Real Princess, The Mystery Collection of Enmado Sara and North Light.

The organizer of the haiku-writing club of which Kiriko is a member. She adores haiku and excels in reading the club members' emotions from their writing. She pays special attention to Kiriko, knowing that she is distraught over the loss of her friend Tomoko.

A regular customer of the pinball parlor where Kiriko works, and a shady character who runs a black-market money lending outfit. He casually calls on various people offering loans, and seeing this, Kiriko determines him to be a "bad man" and approaches him with a scheme in mind.

A woman of mystery who appears before Kiriko in different ways at several junctures in the story.

Kiriko's best friend and soulmate. She and Kiriko had found immediate rapport when meeting at a haiku-writing club assembly, and they have lived together for three years. Having led a married life until her husband's death, and having raised a daughter, she is adored by Kiriko as a cheerful and sociable partner. The two had planned to save money for a trip together to her hometown on the Setouchi Sea, but she dies of a sudden illness. After her death, Kiriko learns of a certain secret that she had kept.

A fellow member of the haiku-writing club, formerly an internationally active professional tennis player. A subject of Kiriko's adoration, he has a tendency to be generous to those seeking help for the sake of making good impressions.

Daughter of Tomoko. The death of her mother starts her relationship with Kiriko. She alone knows her mother's secret.

Kiriko's work colleague at the pinball parlor. She aspires to be a stand-up comedian, and she treats Kiriko as her comedy partner while at work.

A real estate agent who handles the neighborhood where Kiriko lives. He happens to be with Kiriko at key junctures, such as when Kiriko looks for new housing, and when Kiriko sees the news about the shoplifter wanting to go to prison.

A resident of the apartment where Kiriko comes to live. As a token of welcome she scares Kiriko with the story about Kiriko's unit being haunted.

The officer manning the police station in Kiriko's neighborhood. Familiar among the residents as a gentle-mannered keeper of peace.