82-year-old actor Yukiyo Toake appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on June 16th. She talked about her memories of her sociable mother and her enthusiasm for her work.
Her mother was said to have been a very sociable person. "I didn't inherit that trait from my mother, but I loved going out everywhere, and whenever I went out I always made friends. Even if I was sitting next to someone at the hospital, I would start talking to them and become friends with them," she said.
When my mother passed away, I thought it would be lonely if we rented a large funeral hall because of her age, and there were few visitors, so we rented a small one, but the funeral hall was overflowing with people. "When we held the funeral, a huge number of different groups came to pay their respects, and I was surprised to see that she had been involved with many different people in various places, such as people who recited poetry, people who danced, and people in the chorus," he said.
When her mother was feeling weak, she was told, "When you get older, you need to try new things and talk to as many young people as possible," but she says with a wry smile, "I haven't followed that advice at all. I'm the type of person who has a hard time making friends."
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work was canceled one after another. "Since then, I've gotten into the habit of playing around, and I've come to like doing all kinds of things at home. It's been five years now. Rather than going outside, I've been gardening and playing with the dog, and I thought maybe I should just quit my job and fade out," she said.
However, she said she has changed her mind, saying, "When I see my seniors, including Tetsuko, being so healthy and doing so well, and when I go to the shopping district and see the elderly people helping out in the stores, or the lively older women serving customers, I start to wonder if this is really what I want, so I've made a big decision and I've decided to try working a little."
