The 46th episode of the NHK Asadora drama "Anpan " starring Mio Imada (General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 AM and others) was broadcast on June 2nd. In the episode, the brutal past of "Yam-on-chan" Kusakichi ( Sadao Abe) that became the reason he hates war was revealed, which became a hot topic among viewers.
In the 46th episode, Kusakichi safely delivers the hardtack to the army and leaves the Asada family. Nobu (Imada) tries to chase after him, but Kamaji (Kotaro Yoshida) stops him and tells Nobu and Hatako (Noriko Eguchi) the reason why Kusakichi refused to make hardtack.
Kusakichi served as a Japanese volunteer soldier in the British Army during the European war, and went to the battlefield, where he had a brutal experience. At the time, Kusakichi was training at the Ginza bakery "Mimuraya," but "I wanted to bake better bread," so he sneaked onto a stowaway ship and headed for Canada. Kusakichi recalled, "It was the folly of my youth. Instead of training to make bread, I was thrown into hell. It was a battlefield with bullets flying everywhere."
There were many soldiers around Kusakichi who had been shot and were unable to move, but no help was coming. As his comrades lost their lives one by one, the most difficult thing for him was hunger. He stole some hardtack from the pockets of his dead comrades and ate it. Kusakichi said, "But my stomach was still growling. All I had to eat was biscuits... well... hardtack." Nobu was at a loss for words after hearing this story from Kamaji.
With Kusakichi's tragic past finally being revealed, comments were made on social media such as, "What a depressing start to a Monday," "The sight of Yam devouring hardtack while shedding tears was gruesome," "Yam's war experiences far exceeded our expectations as viewers," and "It was unfair to see the usually cheerful Uncle Yam cry...it was so painful."
