Oshin
Contents
Details
- Title: おしん
- Title (romaji): Oshin
- Genre: Human drama
- Episodes: 297 x 15 minutes
- Broadcast network: NHK
- Broadcast period: 1983-Apr-04 to 1984-Mar-31
- Viewership ratings: Ep1=39.2, High=62.9, Avg=52.6
- Opening theme song: Oshin Main Theme
- Original soundtrack: Oshin OST
Synopsis
The 31st NHK Asadora Drama is Oshin. Oshin tells the story of a girl born in a very poor rural family in Japan, who through hard work and perseverance eventually triumphs over pain and adversity to achieve fame and success. Broadcast in the early 1980s when Japan had finally cast off the legacy of the post-war years and the Japanese were beginning to reap the benefits of economic development, the aim of the story was to recall the hardships the older generation had endured in order to pave the way for their children to enjoy their more affluent lifestyle. Viewers were drawn to the suffering of the main character Oshin - and then drew similarities between her story and their own home lives.
Some Japanese worried that showing Oshin abroad would give the country a bad profile - and would even be shameful because it showed the seldom glimpsed, poor, unequal side of Japan. In the event, the reverse proved true. Oshin gave viewers outside Japan - whose only image of Japan was formed by Japanese cars or electric goods, or through bitter memories of Japanese treatment during World War II - a far better understanding of the modern Japan and its people. --Courtesy, tve.org
Cast
- Kobayashi Ayako as Oshin (6 to 10 years old)
- Tanaka Yuko as Oshin (16 to 46 years old)
- Otowa Nobuko as Oshin (50 to 84 years old)
- Tanimura
- Izumi Pinko as Fuji (Oshin's mother)
- Ito Shiro as Sakuzo (Oshin's father)
- Oji Michio as Naka (Oshin's grandmother)
- Yoshioka Yuichi (吉岡祐一) as Shoji (Oshin's older brother)
- Watanabe Eri as Tora (Shoji's wife)
- Sendo Nobuko → Senno Hiromi (千野弘美) as Haru (Oshin's older sister)
- Watanabe Tomiko (渡辺富美子) as Riki (family friend)
- Tanokura
- Namiki Shiro as Ryuzo (Oshin's husband)
- Sato Hideo (佐藤英夫) as Daigoro (Ryuzo's father, as listed in the NHK book)
- Kitamura Kazuo as Daigoro (Ryuzo's father)
- Takamori Kazuko (高森和子) as Kiyo (Ryuzo's mother)
- Kitamura Soichiro as Fukutaro (Ryuzo's older brother)
- Kanze Yoko (観世葉子) as Tsuneko (Fukutaro's wife)
- Naruse Masataka (成瀬正孝) as Kamejiro (Ryuzo's older brother)
- Imafuku Masao (今福将雄) as Imamura Genemon
- Ito Takeshi (伊藤毅) → 萩堂 → Yamano Reo (山野礼央) → 槇浩 → Matsuda Yoji (松田洋治) → Fuke Norimasa as Yuu (Oshin's oldest son)
- Yamashita Shinji → Takahashi Etsushi as Hitoshi (Oshin's son)
- Tanaka Misako → Asaji Yoko as Michiko (Hitoshi's wife)
- 野竹和子 → Yamashita Yoko (山下陽子) → Ebina Yukiko (蝦名由紀子) → Yoshino Yukiko (吉野由樹子) as Tei
- Watanabe Kanji (渡辺寛二) → Kirihara Fumio (桐原史雄) as Sakita Tatsunori (Tei's husband)
- Uenaka Haruka (上中はるか) → Nagashima Yuko (長島裕子) → Tanaka Yoshiko → Sasaki Ai (佐々木愛) as Hatsuko (Oshin's adopted daugther)
- Kaga-ya (rice dealer)
- Shikiya Aya (志喜屋文) → Azuma Terumi as Yashiro Kayo (Oshin's friend - same age)
- Nagaoka Teruko (長岡輝子) as Kuni (Kayo's grandmother)
- Kobayashi Chitose (小林千登势) as Mino (Kayo's mother)
- Ishida Taro as Seitaro (Kayo's father)
- 大渕貴人 → Hagiwara Hitoshi (萩原等司) → Shioya Toshi (塩屋俊) → Nomura Man (野村萬) as Nozomi (Kayo's son)
- Ohashi Goro as Kei (Nozomi's son)
- Hairdressing Shop
- Watanabe Misako as Hasegawa Taka (owner)
- Nagawa Shinobu (名川忍) as Ritsu
- Tomizawa Michie (富沢美智江) as Natsu
- Shimamura Miki (島村美妃) as Kei
- Kiuri Mirai (木瓜みらい) as Sode
- Maya Yuko (真野ゆうこ) as Sono
- Tanaka Setsuko (田中世津子) as Toyo
Production Credits
- Screenwriter: Hashida Sugako
- Producer: Kobayashi Yukiko (小林由紀子)
- Director: Eguchi Hiroyuki (江口浩之) (ep1-6, 55-60), Kobayashi Heihachiro (小林平八郎), Takemoto Minoru (竹本稔) (ep13-18, 49-54, 127-132), Mochizuki Yoshio, Ichiryu Kunihisa, Yoshimura Fumitaka, Ebata Jiro, Oki Kazufumi
- Music: Sakata Koichi
- Narrator: Naraoka Tomoko (奈良岡朋子)
Special
- Title: もうひとりのおしん
- Title (romaji): Mou Hitori no Oshin
- Also known as: Another Oshin
- Format: Renzoku
- Genre: Asadora
- Episodes: 6
- Broadcast network: NHK
- Broadcast period: 1983-Aug-15 to 1983-Aug-20
- Air time: 08:15-08:30
- Theme song: Oshin Main Theme
- Related TV shows: Oshin
Synopsis
These specials aired after Tanaka Yuko had been ordered by the doctor to rest, after having collapsed due to work exhaustion.
Cast
Episode Ratings
| Episode | Episode title | |
|---|---|---|
| Episode 1 | いろりのまわりに家族がいた | ?? |
| Episode 2 | めしはいつも大根めし | ?? |
| Episode 3 | 女は一生働きづめ | ?? |
| Episode 4 | 夏も冬も着たきりすずめ | ?? |
| Episode 5 | ことばは国の手形 | ?? |
| Episode 6 | 日本中のおしんたちへ | ?? |
| Average | ?? | |
Production Credits
- Music: Sakata Koichi
Oshin in the Middle East
An Iranian woman was once asked by a radio reporter, "Who is your symbol of Islamic womanhood?" "Oshin", she answered. It was a reply that so shocked Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini that he ordered the arrest of four people from the TV station that broadcast the program.
The Japan Foundation, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Japan and the state-run television station of Egypt, will provided the NHK TV program "Oshin" with subtitles in Arabic to the Iraqi Media Network (IMN) free of charge as a part of the reconstruction assistance to Iraq.
This assistance is a contribution in hopes that the people of Iraq will be able to carry out an enjoyable life, mentally as well, by providing a TV program to the IMN which still lacks adequate program broadcasting system.
"Oshin" is a nationally popular TV program in Japan and has been highly evaluated in 59 countries and regions in the world. Broadcasting of such a program would deepen the understanding of Japanese culture by the people of Iraq. It is also expected that the people of Iraq, who are working for the post-war reconstruction of their country, will be encouraged by watching the life of a Japanese woman living through a turbulent period and overcoming various challenges.
Broadcasting was scheduled to start from the Holy month of Ramadan, the fasting month for the Muslim (started around 26 October), when high television rating can be expected.
Notes
- Oshin holds the record for the highest average rating in Japanese television history (52.6-percent). Also holds the record for the highest rating of a single episode (62.9-percent). Only the annual Kohaku Uta-Gassen, and specific special events have scored higher ratings.
- Filming locations include Yamagata Prefecture Nishi-Murayama - Sakata, Tokyo, Saga Prefecture, Mie Prefecture Shima Isobe, and Aichi Prefecture Nagoya.
- During production, a week's filming was delayed, caused by Tanaka Yuko becoming ill. NHK worked around the problem by taking the show off-air for a week, and replaced it with a short documentary series Another Oshin, introducing the filming locations, and tips such as recipes from the series for such delicacies as radish rice (the recipe can be found in the official NHK Oshin book.)
- In 1984, a Japanese anime of Oshin was released by Sanrio, with Kobayashi Ayako as the voice of Oshin. The anime focused only on the childhood phase of the drama.
- Oshin aired with English subtitles via the Nippon Golden Network (NGN) in 2000, airing all 297 episodes.
- NHK released Oshin on DVD in 2003. There are seven DVD box sets, each set containing four or five Region-2 DVDs. No English subtitles on the DVDs.
External Links
