"Platinum Family: A Peek into a Magnificent Family" (TV Asahi, Tuesdays at 7pm, excluding some areas) is a program showcasing the lifestyles of "magnificent families." The January 13th broadcast focuses on a family in Akita Prefecture, the birthplace of the "Suzuki" surname in Tohoku, which is said to have continued for over 800 years.
The 46th head of the family, Suzuki Mokunosuke Shigehiro, and his family of six members across three generations live in a 350-year-old house designated as an Important Cultural Property by the national government. In addition to the building itself, the vast grounds of approximately 2,600 square meters, including the forest behind it, are also designated as Important Cultural Properties.
Inside, the main space is nearly 50 tatami mats in size. Because it is an old house with a thatched roof, there is no heating, and the room temperature can drop below freezing in winter.
The forbidden room known as the "Haunted House" is said to have originated as a place where defeated warriors were hidden, and people were told to keep them away by saying that there was a monster in the room, and this rule still remains in place today.Even when it is opened to the public for three days a year for memorial services, there is a strict rule that "only people with the surname Suzuki who were born in this house are allowed to open the room."
Studio host Kotaro Koizumi also recalled the story of this closed room, saying, "It was in the Koizumi family too." Behind a door that was kept under strict security near the Buddhist altar, heirlooms unique to a political family were said to be sleeping, including a hanging scroll of former Prime Minister Reijiro Wakatsuki, whom his great-grandfather served.
The program will introduce the history of the Suzuki clan, which is said to have originated when Suzuki Saburo Shigeie, a retainer of Minamoto no Yoshitsune, fled to Akita. It will also talk about the Suzuki Summit, which brings together an estimated 1.75 million Suzukis nationwide, and the passionate desire of the head of the family to continue protecting the Tohoku Suzuki clan.
On this day, we will also take a close look at the life of writer Shinya Shirasu, grandson of Jiro Shirasu, who supported Japan's post-war reconstruction as a close aide to former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida.
