Iijima returned to television in 2000 with the Fuji TV series which ran in twelve episode from July to September 2000. Her role was once again the poor little rich girl (as in the film "Messengers") but this time she has to resurrect a fading bus company in Tokyo with Teruyoshi Uchimura as the love interest. In the 2001 Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) drama , Iijima is cast against type as a breadwinner housewife with a sullen stay-at-home husband. For her 2002 TV series , Iijima returned to Fuji TV and the romantic comedy genre as the vice president of a company in the bridal industry. In late 2002 she appeared as the oldest of four daughters of a widowed father (played by Masakazu Tamura) in the TBS domestic drama .