On January 31, TBS announced that the drama "Yamada Yoji x Ishii Fukuko Drama Special Project 'Our Home is Fun'" will be broadcast on March 13 at 9pm. The script is written by master director Yamada Yoji, known for the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" series, and produced by Ishii Fukuko, who has produced numerous family dramas including the "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari" series. This is the first time that Director Yamada and Producer Ishii have teamed up in about seven years since "Ani Imouto" aired on the same station in 2018.
The story is about a middle-aged couple's divorce, which leads each family member to think about what it means to be a family and what it means to be a couple, and to reexamine family ties in a new way. This is the first time that lead actor Fumiyo Kohinata plays the role of a father in a full-scale family drama.
Kohinata plays the main character, Konosuke Hirayama, who retires from the company he has worked for for many years. Having devoted himself to his work, he was looking forward to spending the rest of his life peacefully with his wife, Fumie, who was a full-time housewife, but Fumie had a secret dream of opening a book cafe. The two of them have different opinions, and the matter escalates into a divorce that involves the whole family.
The cast will include Toda Keiko as the wife, Fumie, King & Prince's Takahashi Kaito as the eldest son, Kazuo, a university student, Yuki Sakurai as the eldest daughter, Haruka, who works as a tax accountant, Yamada Anna as Kazuo's girlfriend, Misuzu, and Enari Kazuki as Haruka's husband, Yuta.
Kohinata commented, "I don't think it's very common for Yamada Yoji to write original TV dramas, so I was extremely honored to be offered the role in a drama that brings together these two people, with the opportunity to take part in such a work and with Ishii Fukuko producing."
"This story feels very nostalgic, similar to the family dramas I often watched on TV when I was a child, and I think people of my generation in particular will feel an indescribable nostalgia for it. The work delves deeply into different types of family, so I would be happy if this work could give the younger generation an opportunity to think about what a family is," he said.
Director Yamada commented, "We sometimes hear stories about wives asking for divorce when a man retires, and stories of major events happening to men. I'm sure there are many couples who have lived under the same roof, or even in the same room, for many years, but who rarely talk about their love for each other. So, how do couples get through this terrible situation? Rather than falling apart, can the couple regenerate with hard work and ingenuity? I wrote this script with the feeling of solving the homework given to me by producer Ishii Fukuko."
Producer Ishii explained the background to the production, saying, "I feel that these days there are fewer dramas on TV that directly depict family issues. But I have always felt that the existence of 'family' is extremely important. I have been talking about this with Yamada Yoji, who I have worked with for many years, for several years now, and he feels the same way, so I wanted to create this drama with Yamada's script again."
◇ Written by Yoji Yamada and produced by Fukuko Ishii
The first was "Unrequited Love - Sisters' Love" (starring Chieko Baisho) which aired on February 20, 1966. The previous was "Brother and Sister" (starring Yo Oizumi and Aoi Miyazaki) which aired on June 25, 2018.
*The "taka" in Takahashi Kaito's name is pronounced as "ladder".
