Akari Takaishi plays the heroine in the NHK Asadora drama series "Bakebake" (Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times). At the end of the 30th episode (broadcast on November 7th), Toki (Takaishi) tells Nishikori (Ryo Yoshizawa) that she will become Heaven's (Tommy Bastow) maid. Throughout the sixth week, sensitive language such as "a maid who can do both" appeared, but was there anything they were conscious of when depicting such content in a Asadora? We asked Hashizume Kuniomi, the production supervisor for this series, about this.
In episode 30, Heaven moves into a rented house with Nishikori. Heaven is happy with her new home, but is frustrated that she still hasn't found a maid. Meanwhile, Toki reunites with Sannojo(Rihito Itagaki) and hears about how Tae (Keiko Kitagawa), who was supposed to have left Matsue, and Sannojo have returned. On her way home, Toki sees Tae begging again, and feels uncomfortable, with a thoughtful expression on her face. The next morning, Toki has made up her mind and tells Nishikori, "I'll be Heaven-sensei's maid."
Hashizume says, "It's a Asadora , so children watch it too, and we had to walk the line of 'only those who understand can understand,' so we were careful about our language."
"The scriptwriter, Fujiki Mitsuhiko, is good at expressing things with humor, so I think he's written an interesting story. There's also the merit of not expressing things directly, and while "a maid who can do both" is a line spoken by Governor Eto (Sano Shiro), important people often say things in a way that can be interpreted either way without stating the truth. I think that's also part of the character's character development."
By accepting the position of housemaid at Heaven, Toki resolved to become a "rasshamen" (mistress of a foreigner). Hashizume revealed, "There are no records to show whether Koizumi Setsu, who was the model for Toki, was actually a rasshamen or not."
"Some documents suggest he may have been a raschamen, but I think it's a history the Koizumi family wanted to hide, and in 'My Father, Yakumo Koizumi ' written by Yakumo Koizumi 's son Kazuo, he says he was an honest man."
The storyline delves into historical facts that have never been touched upon before, but Hashizume says, "I didn't intend to make it into a drama about pure and innocent people who got married because they loved each other and then their prince came."
"In this era, people had to live through many hardships. Among them, there was both resentment and splendor. Therefore, I thought that depicting this way of life as it was was very important in conveying the theme of this drama. I spoke to Koizumi Bon ( Yakumo Koizumi's great-grandson) and asked him, 'Is it okay to write it that way?' He replied, 'From what I've seen in the documents, that's what I think, and I can really understand the importance of it, so please write it.'"
Shiro Sano, an actor from Matsue City, where the drama is set, who has made it his life's work to recite the works of Yakumo Koizumi, plays the role of Governor Eto in the drama. When he read the script for the sixth week, he was surprised, saying, "This is bold."
Hashizume recalled, "I spoke with Sano for about 30 minutes, and he said, 'Everyone has known about this until now, but it's been hidden.' I decided that I wanted to face it head-on without running away from it. Week 6 is full of determination."
