Akari Takaishi plays the heroine in the NHK Asadora drama "Bakebake" (General TV, Monday to Saturday 8:00 AM and others). In the 16th week (broadcast from January 19th to 23rd), Toki (Takaishi), Heaven (Tommy Bastow), and the rest of the Matsuno family became the talk of the town after their "Heaven Sensei Diary" was serialized in the Matsue Shimpo newspaper. We spoke to Chief Producer Hashizume Kuniomi, who oversees production, about the aim of depicting this development.
◇The developments in Week 16 are inspired by historical facts
"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.
In the 16th week, the spotlight was on the daily lives of Toki and Heaven, who became famous in Matsue after being featured in the newspaper. In fact, an article about Yakumo, who served as the model for Heaven, was published in the newspaper at the time, so the story is based on historical fact.
Hashizume explains, "The episode in the film where Yakumo tries to pick up chopsticks that he dropped into a gap is entirely original to the drama, but it is a historical fact that at the time, newspapers carried records of the activities of Yakumo and Setsu on a daily basis. Even now, there are serials that follow the prime minister's day, such as 'What did the prime minister eat for lunch?' In that same way, the actions of Mr. Hearn and his family were actually reported in detail."
"I don't know to what extent the book was read by the people of Matsue, but I'm sure it was well-known in the town. Taking inspiration from that, I wanted to portray a family whose life changed drastically, who became the center of attention, and who went 'buzz' in the modern sense. I also thought that by depicting that, the contrast between Toki and Sawa (Wan Marui) would be made even stronger."
After being featured in the newspaper, Toki and Heaven began behaving differently than usual, such as conversing in English around town.
"When people are suddenly praised by those around them, they may begin to see their lives differently. Going viral can force you to change your lifestyle, or change your behavior to meet expectations. When Toki and Heaven were written about in the newspaper, they thought, 'Maybe that's what we have to do.' I'm sure there are people living similarly difficult lives today, and there may be some connections to today's society. I hope my work can suggest such things."
◇ "Express the fever" with Heaven merchandise
The "Heaven Sensei boom" accelerated to the point where the Matsuno family could no longer walk around town without disguising themselves. Merchandise even began to be sold in town. Hashizume laughs, "There are no records left, so we don't know, but it's highly unlikely that merchandise was sold in the Meiji era."
"I don't think it's 100% certain it didn't happen, but it makes you think, 'Maybe it could have happened.' I hope that when people watch the drama from a modern perspective, they see it that way. At the time, just having it in the newspaper was enough to make it that much of a big deal, but with today's sensibilities, I can't imagine it causing such a fuss. With that in mind, I decided to create some merchandise that, as part of expressing the fever that ensued, makes you think, 'It's impossible, but it could have happened.'"
Although these goods only appear on screen for a short time, they are said to have been made with great attention to detail.
"The idea for the merchandise came about during discussions between the scriptwriter Mitsuhiko Fujiki, the directors, and the producers. There were actually many different versions, and the props people had a lot of fun making them. They only appear briefly, but they are very well made and there is a wide variety of items."
Toki and Heaven have become famous in Matsue, so what will happen next? I'd like to keep an eye on their future.
