Akari Takaishi plays the heroine in the NHK Asadora drama "Bakebake" (Monday to Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times). In the 12th week, Toki (Takaishi) finally tells Heaven (Tommy Bastow) a ghost story, bringing the two closer together. Various ghost stories color the story, but how much of it is based on historical fact, and how are the stories created? We spoke to Hashizume Kuniomi, the production manager for this series.
◇Week 12: How much of it is historical fact?
In the 12th week, Heaven hears "The Woman Who Buys Starch Syrup" from the head priest of Daioji Temple (played by Masato Ibu). She is moved by the heartbreaking and tragic story and becomes obsessed with ghost stories. From then on, she begins to listen to Toki tell her ghost stories every night...
Regarding the story, Hashizume said, "It's a mix of historical facts and original elements." He continued, "There are records that Koizumi Setsu, who was the model for Toki, and Yakumo Koizumi, the model for Heaven, visited Daiouji Temple. However, we don't know whether they heard the ghost story at Daiouji Temple, or whether they visited the temple knowing about it beforehand."
"I'm not sure exactly when Setsu first started telling ghost stories to Yakumo. Apparently, she discovered she could tell ghost stories shortly after becoming a maid, but the documents don't go into detail, so I don't know. Still, I had to depict in the drama how the two of them came up with the idea of ghost stories, so I consulted with the screenwriter, Mitsuhiko Fujiki, and decided on the storyline."
Not only Setsu, who loved ghost stories, but Yakumo also grew up listening to Irish fairy tales as a child, and there is historical evidence that he also covered mysterious and horror stories while working as a newspaper reporter in the United States.
"Haven being paralyzed is an original plot development for ' Bakebake', but I'm interested in such mysterious phenomena, and I created this story with the hope that the paralysis could be used to exorcise evil spirits and lead to a ghost story."
◇Ghost stories are "something that touches your heart"
In the 12th week, three ghost stories appeared in the play: "The Woman Who Buys Starch Candy," "The Futon in Tottori," and "The Story of Abandoned Children." All of them are not only scary, but also sad, but how are the ghost stories that appear in the play chosen?
Hashizume says, "First of all, I think that 'The Woman Buying Starch Syrup' is a very important ghost story that cannot be left out when portraying Yakumo Koizumi."
"In fact, there is a sequel to 'The Woman Who Buys Starch Syrup' after the part depicted in this drama, which goes something like, 'The baby was found and grew up healthy.' Yakumo did not write about what happened to the baby after that, but he added a line that is not in the original text of 'The Woman Who Buys Starch Syrup' - 'A mother's love is stronger than death,' and included it in his book 'Memories of Japan.' I felt that this line reflected incredibly strongly Yakumo's personality, who was separated from his parents at a young age and had no fixed place in the world. I consider 'The Woman Who Buys Starch Syrup' to be a particularly important one among the many ghost stories that Yakumo wrote, and from an early stage I had been thinking that I wanted to include it at the climax of the drama."
In episode 58 (broadcast on December 17th), Toki mentions the "Tottori Futon" that she heard about from her ex-husband, Ginjiro (played by Kanichiro). In episode 59 (broadcast on December 18th), Toki tells the "story of child abandonment," and Heaven recalls her own upbringing, in which she was abandoned by her own father. Heaven revealing her sad past to Toki was a scene that brought the two closer together.
"I thought that simply telling a ghost story and then both of us saying, 'That's scary,' wouldn't add depth to the story, and wouldn't express the emotional attraction between the two characters. That's when Fujiki came up with this story. When Toki tells 'The Futon in Tottori,' Heaven learns that she had been married in the past, and through 'The Story of Abandoned Child,' Toki learns of Heaven's tragic childhood. If you read Yakumo's books, you'll see that ghost stories aren't just scary, they're also about empathy. That's how we see them, and I think Yakumo did too. I looked at ghost stories from that perspective, and then I talked with Fujiki about them to create the story."
