Takako Matsu"Tetsuko's Room" July 15th broadcast episode: Fascinated by the world of nothingness in sewing

Actor Takako Matsu appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on July 15th. She talked about her hobbies of sewing, tennis, and pilates.

She started sewing to make things for her children to use at kindergarten. "I thought if I didn't try it now, I'd never do it, so I tried and I loved it," she said. She started making things like placemats, then simple clothes. She plans to keep the clothes until her children grow up. Her daughter, who is in the fifth grade of elementary school, says she "likes to read books," so she also made a bookmark for her. She seems to have liked the bookmark, and said, "It's not something I'd show to other people, so I hope she'll remember me as a mother who made things like this."

My paternal great-grandmother was the kind of person who would do French embroidery on plain kimonos. My grandmother also liked that kind of thing and making small things, so I guess I'll just say I inherited it, she said, laughing. "The feeling of being able to clear my mind, the feeling of being able to become nothing, seemed to suit me."

In junior high school, she was in the soft tennis club. She said she "loves the feeling of solitude" when watching live broadcasts of tennis matches. She played tennis with a friend, but "I was shocked because my legs didn't move as much as I thought they would. I want to find the time to go (to practice) until I can rally gracefully."

Besides tennis, she also exercises. She says she makes plans to go to places where she can exercise. She is trying out exercises that combine pilates with strength training. "I do it with a look that I would never show. It's not graceful. But it was a good opportunity to get to know my body. My only goal is to have a body like everyone else's," she says. "Time is counting down, but I'm conscious of how I can spend this kind of leisure time, or how I can waste time."