In the NHK morning drama series " Bakebake " (General TV, Monday-Saturday, 8:00 AM and other times), starring Akari Takaishi , Keiko Kitagawa plays Ushimizu Tae, Toki's (Takaishi's) "real mother" and relative. In episode 70 (broadcast January Getsuku), Toki and Heaven (Tommy Bastow) hold their wedding reception, and Heaven, who hates lies, suddenly declares, "I can't...be...a family!" Heaven points out that the Matsuno family owes money and that Tae's son, Sannojo(Rihito Itagaki), is not the company president. Heaven's words lead to Toki, Fumi (Chizuru Ikewaki), Tae, and Sannojo each revealing their true identities, a development that has become a hot topic among viewers and has been described as a "godly episode." Kitagawa spoke about Tae's feelings at that moment.
◇What is your impression of Heaven and your thoughts on Sannojo?
"Bakebake" is based on the story of Koizumi Setsu, the daughter of a fallen samurai from Matsue, and her husband Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn), and depicts the heroine, who loves ghost stories, going about her everyday life with her foreign husband.
Looking back on the scene in episode 70 where she met Heaven, Kitagawa revealed, "When Heaven yelled at Toki that he was lying, I felt a little unsatisfied, wondering why she had to say something like that to a foreigner who had suddenly arrived. I felt a little sorry for Toki, as she didn't need to get so angry in front of everyone, and I was skeptical about whether a man who could make Toki cry like that could really make her happy."
"However, Matsuno's parents approved of the marriage, and Toki herself wanted to be happy with him, so it was only natural that she should congratulate them. I felt that she had no choice but to support them. And in the end, I think she came to see Heaven, the mysterious outsider who caused everyone to unleash their frustrations and bring them together, as an interesting guy. It was a dizzying scene with a lot happening all at once."
In the same episode, Toki's son, Sannojo, who had lied and said he had become the company president and received money from Toki, was shown crying and confessing, "I'm not the company president. I was just pretending to earn money by receiving money from Toki every month... I'm a liar, a disgrace, and a useless son!" as he bowed his head to Tae.
Regarding Tae's feelings toward Sannojo, Kitagawa recalls, "I believe she once told Sannojo, 'Don't be used by others, but become someone who can use others,' but Tae herself has long since discarded that old, rigid way of thinking. ' Ushimizu Tae' had once thought she was dead, even going so far as to beg to keep her son alive, but she felt responsible that her words had stayed with him and driven him to this point."
"Tae has always thought of her son as someone who takes good care of him. Before his downfall, she thought it would be fine if he lived freely without the pressure of inheriting the family business, as he was the third son. After his downfall, she acted as a father figure to her son, doing her best to keep him alive. She knew Sannojo was lying but didn't point it out because she thought that if she hurt his pride, he would become someone who couldn't stand up. I think she wanted to give her son time and space to grow up without exposing the lies just yet. And yet, when Sannojo told her at the party that her son was a disgrace and a terrible son, it really pained her heart to make him say those words. She made him say them in front of everyone, but she is truly glad that the huge gap that had existed between Tae and Sannojo up until then has been bridged."
Tae and Fumi's relationship "thaws" Toki calls her "Mama" and she has "mixed feelings"
The scene in which Toki's foster mother, Fumi, introduces Tae to Heaven as "Toki's other mother" was also memorable, but I wonder how Kitagawa felt as she portrayed the change in the relationship between Tae and Fumi.
"Tae's basic stance has always been that claiming to be a mother would be extremely disrespectful to Tsukasanosuke (played by Takashi Okabe ) and Fumi, and that she has had to accept that Toki is the daughter she gave to the Matsuno family. However, Toki must have had a difficult time being torn between her adoptive parents and her biological parents. Fumi, who had wanted to clarify her position as adoptive parents, has now suggested that for Toki's sake, it's okay for them both to be parents, and I think this has given Tae a sense of freedom," she explained. "Until now, she has restrained herself from smiling even when cooking with Toki, but now she no longer has to suppress honest emotions like how happy she is that her daughter is so cute and how much fun she has being with her. I think this scene shows the thaw between Tae and Fumi, as she is able to thank Fumi."
Regarding the scene in which Toki calls Tae "Mama" for the first time, she revealed, "For Tae, 'Mama' was the first time she had heard that word. It's a foreign word, so it gave her very complicated feelings, as if she was being confronted with the fact that her daughter was going to marry a foreigner."
"But it was Heaven, a foreigner, who realized that Toki had been lying and keeping her family issues to herself, and who accepted her head-on. I think that when he realized that, he didn't think it was so bad to be called 'Mama-san' (a Western word). Tae is from a samurai family, but I think she was able to come to terms with it in a short amount of time, and is flexible enough to accept that it's okay to have a family like that. It seems a little strange to be called 'Mother' when she has Ofumi, so 'Mama-san' might be just right."
"Even though the word was 'Mama,' to Toki it was the same as saying 'Mother.' I think it was a very refreshing scene, where she was able to confidently say the words she had wanted to say for so long without worrying about how her mother (Fumi) would react. Tae thought how great it would have been if her husband Den ( Shinichi Tsutsumi) had been there. Den had dreamed of the day when he and Toki could act as real father and son. If he had been here, she probably would have called him 'Dad.'"
