Enka singer Ayako Fuji will appear on the NHK documentary "Family History" (General) which will be broadcast from 7:57 pm on January 22nd. In the preview, the narrator introduces the show by saying, "The hands of my grandmother who died young were the ones she gazed upon until the very end. The hidden thoughts of farming women," and Fuji is seen wiping away tears.
The subtitle of this day's program was "Fuji Ayako - Hands marked by hardship...", and it explored the roots of a family originally from Akita Prefecture who have continued to farm for generations on land pioneered by their ancestors.
Fuji wanted to know about her maternal grandmother, who was said to be her spitting image. Unfortunately, she died at the age of 24. As she lay dying, Fuji was staring at her hands covered in scars. They were hands deeply marked with the hardships of working as a farmer's wife, no matter how freezing the day.
Meanwhile, her father, who was at the mercy of the war, opened a restaurant in Manchuria. In the chaos of the postwar period, he barely returned to Japan and opened a new restaurant in his hometown of Akita. His determination helped to give birth to the singer Ayako Fuji.
