oshin

Oshin

Details

Title: おしん
Title (romaji): Oshin
Episodes: 297 15-minute episodes
Sub-genre: Human drama
Broadcast network: NHK
Broadcast period: 1983-Apr-4 to 1984-Mar-31
Viewership ratings: Ep1=39.2, High=62.9, Avg=52.6
Opening theme song: "Oshin" Main Theme /「おしん」メインテーマ

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 (大路三千緒) as Naka (Oshin's grandmother)
Yoshioka Yuichi (吉岡祐一) as Shoji (Oshin's older brother)
Watanabe Eriko 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 (Ryozo's mother)
Kitamura Soichiro as Taro (Ryuzo's older brother)
Kanze Yoko (観世葉子) as Tsuneko (Fukutaro's wife)
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 (浅茅陽子) as Michiko (Hitoshi's wife)
Yoshino Yoshiko (吉野佳子) as 禎
Kirihara Fumio (桐原史雄) as 辰則 (husband of 禎)
Nagashima Yuko (長島裕子) → 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)
Nomura Mannojo (野村万之丞) as Yatsushiro Nozomi (Kayo's son)
Ohashi Goro as Kei (Nozomi's son)

Hairdressing Shop

Watanabe Misako as Harada Taka (mistress)
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

Others

Maruyama Hiroko (丸山裕子) as Tsune
Nakamura Masatoshi as Shunsaku (deserter)
Watase Tsunehiko as Takakura Kota → Namiki Kota (Oshin's first boyfriend)
Uratani Hizuru (浦谷ひづる) as Namiko
Hyugo Akiko (日向明子) as Someko
Kodate Yuki (古館ゆき) as Shigeko
Tanigawa Miyuki (谷川みゆき) as Yaeko
Konoshima Aiko (此島愛子) as Tsuru
Kuwabara Kazuto (桑原一人)
Guts Ishimatsu as Nakazawa Ken (ep98~)
Akagi Harue as Koyama Hisa
Fuke Norimasa
Nagamisa Hiroko
Saito Yosuke
Tanaka Yoshiko
Nagato Hiroyuki
Shioya Toshi
Nomura Manzo
Mori Atsuo (森篤夫) as 政男
Inoue Michio (井上三千男)
Mochizuki Ryutaro (望月太郎)
Shintaku Shoji (新宅正二) (guest, ep69)
長洞功 (ep70)
坂本由英 (ep71)
Yano Yasuko (矢野泰子) (ep73)
Matsumoto Matsue (松本マツエ) (ep73)
Utsunomiya Hideyo (宇都宮英世) (ep73)
Mineta Michiyo (峯田智代) (ep74)
Fuse Masayuki (布施木昌之) (ep75)
Hori Katsunosuke (堀勝之祐) (ep76)
Okada Kazuko (岡田和子) (ep76)
溝呂木但 (ep77)
Arai Mariko (荒井麻里子) (ep78)
Murakami Mikio (村上幹夫) (ep79)
Rasem Wahab (ラセム・ワハブ) (ep81)
Rey Alton (レイ・アルトン) (ep81)
Ozawa Etsuko (小沢悦子) (ep81)
Morii Mutsumi (森井睦) (ep82)
Kosaka Rumiko (古坂るみ子) (ep83~)
Kobayashi Tetsuya (小林徹也) (ep83~)
Kagimoto Keiko (鍵本景子) (ep83~)
Masaki Yukako (正木香子) (ep91)
Arimoto Misao (有本操) (ep91)
Ishizuka Yoko (石塚洋子) (ep92)
Akai Yuko (赤井祐子) (ep93～094)
Akatsukasa Mariko (赤司まり子) (ep93)
Ishigami Hajime (石神一) as the delivery boy (ep96)
Ishigura Masao (石黒正男) (ep97～)
三遊亭歌夫 (ep97～)
Umino Tsuyoshi (海野つよ志) (ep97～)
Obon (おぼん) (ep98～)
Kobon (こぼん) (ep98～)
Hirakawa Hitoshi (平川ひとし) (ep98)
Saikawa Kazuo (斉川一夫) (ep98)
Otsuki Akiko (大月優子) (ep98)
Sugiyama Yayoi (杉弥生) (ep98)
Tama Asami (多摩美) (ep98)

Production Credits

Screenwriter: Hashida Sugako
Music: Sakada Koichi
Narrator: Naraoka Tomoko
Producer: Okamoto Yukiko
Directors: 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

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.

Oshin being televised with Arabic subtitles. Only the first 96 episodes were televised in 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.