A review of the basic information about the next Asadora"Bakebake"

The NHK Asadora drama series "Bakebake " (General TV, Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times), starring Akari Takaishi , will begin airing on September 29th. The story follows the heroine, who loves ghost stories, as she goes about her everyday life with her foreign husband. It seems to be a story of a married couple, following on from the currently airing Asadora"Anpan," but here we would like to review the basic information, such as the historical background, setting, meaning of the title, and notable cast members.

◇Review of the couple's model The grave is in Toshima Ward, Tokyo

"Bakebake" is the 113th morning Asadora. The heroine, Toki Matsuno, and her husband, Lefkada Heaven, are based on Setsu Koizumi, the daughter of a fallen samurai from Matsue, and Lafcadio Hearn(Yakumo Koizumi ). The drama boldly reconstructs the characters, changing some of the names of characters and organizations to create a fictional portrayal.

The story is not based on an original novel, but is an original work by screenwriter Fujiki Mitsuhiko, who has worked on NHK's drama "Asagaya Sisters' Relaxed Life" and WOWOW's "Shooting Break Series." The music will be composed by Kensuke Ushio, who has also worked on TV anime " Dandadan" and "Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Chi: Chikyu no Undo ni Tsuite). " The theme song has been decided to be "Waratta Korondari" (Laughing and Falling) by the male-female duo Humbert Humbert.

To briefly explain the model couple, Koizumi Setsu (1868-1932) was born as the second daughter of the Koizumi family, vassals of the Matsue domain, and was adopted by the Inagaki family shortly after. To support her family's declining fortunes, she began working as a weaver at the age of 11. She married in 1886, but her husband ran away within a year. She then began working as a live-in maid for Lafcadio Hearn, who had come to Matsue as an English teacher, and entered into an international marriage, which was rare at the time. As a narrator of retellings, she contributed greatly to Hearn's writings.

Meanwhile, Lafcadio Hearn(1850-1904) was born in Greece and was Irish (with British citizenship). After working as a journalist in the United States, he came to Japan in 1890 and was posted to Matsue as an English teacher. He later taught at Kumamoto Fifth High School, Tokyo Imperial University, and Waseda University. In 1896, he married Koizumi Setsu, naturalized as a Japanese citizen, and took the name Yakumo Koizumi. His works on ancient Japanese culture, such as "Unknown Faces of Japan" and "Kwaidan," are highly acclaimed.

Incidentally, their graves are located in Zoshigaya Cemetery in Tokyo's Toshima Ward. While not far from Ikebukuro, one of Tokyo's most popular shopping districts, the Toden Arakawa Line runs nearby, making it a place with a laid-back atmosphere far removed from the hustle and bustle, where they still rest peacefully to this day.

◇The common thread is "we love ghost stories" - will this lead to a "ghost" story?

The story begins in Matsue during the Meiji period. Toki Matsuno is a slightly eccentric girl who loves ghost stories. The Matsuno family is descended from a high-ranking samurai family, but when the era of the samurai came to an end, her father embarked on a business venture that failed, leading to a very poor life. As the world changed rapidly, Toki grew up surrounded by people who had been left behind by the times, and she spent her time feeling envious of this difficult world.

Living in extreme poverty for a long time, Toki is at her wit's end when an offer for a job comes her way: a live-in maid in the home of a new foreign English teacher who has arrived in Matsue. In an era when foreigners are rare, Toki is prepared to face prejudice from society, but she decides to become a maid.

The foreign teacher is Irish and originally from Greece. He was abandoned by his parents at a young age, passed around from one relative to another, and eventually driven to America. He continued to search for a place to belong, eventually ending up in Japan.

At first, Toki struggles with language barriers and cultural differences, but he soon realizes that they share similar circumstances, and gradually they begin to connect. Moreover, they both love ghost stories. Surrounded by strange people, the two strange people spend every night telling ghost stories, and so begins their strange life...

As mentioned above, the drama is set in Matsue. As the heroine's life progresses, she moves to various places, including Kumamoto. Therefore, the "local areas" are Shimane and Kumamoto. On the 1st of this month, the local visuals, a staple of Asadora, were released, complete with a handwritten message from Takaishi.

According to NHK, this work is a story of "transformation." As Meiji Japan rapidly modernized, people's lifestyles and values ​​rapidly "transformed." The feelings of those left behind in this process were sometimes transformed into ghost stories and passed down through the generations. In the same way, the world of the envious heroine Toki also "transforms" into something irreplaceable and wonderful. That's why the title is "Bakebake."

◇ Ryo Yoshizawa"Tenyo-kun fever" is also hard to forget...

The cast members who are attracting attention are Takaishi, who plays the heroine Toki, and Tommy Bastow, who plays Heaven. Takaishi was selected through auditions from 2,892 applicants, and Bastow was selected from 1,767 applicants.

Takaishi was a member of the dance and vocal group "α-X's" before starting his acting career in 2019. He attracted attention with the "Baby Warukyuure" series, the first of which was released as a film in 2021, and his performance in the TBS Sunday Theatre drama "Mikami Sensei" in January of this year also drew attention.

Bastow is a British actor known for playing one of the main characters, Priest Martin Alvid, in the drama "SHOGUN," produced by and starring Hiroyuki Sanada. "Bakebake" will be the first Asadora for both Takaishi and Bastow.

Filming for the drama began in March of this year, and in April, Takaishi, who plays the Tsukasanosuke role, began shooting in Kyoto City alongside Takashi Okabe, Chizuru Ikewaki Fumiyo Kohinata as her mother, Fumi, and Ryo Yoshizawa will play Nishikori Yuichi, who has a major influence on Toki and Heaven's lives, and Keiko Kitagawa will play Ushimizu Tae, who rigorously teaches Toki the culture of a samurai daughter.

Yoshizawa's "Tenyo-kun fever" in the Asadora"Natsuzora" (first half of 2019) about six years ago is also unforgettable. After starring in the same station's taiga drama "Aoi Ten wo Tsuke" (2021) and the huge success of the film "Kokuho," what kind of performance will he show us? Along with Kitagawa, who will be making her Asadora debut in this work, this will surely be a major highlight.