The fifth episode of the Fuji TV Monday Getsuku drama "Canned Mackerel Goes to Space," starring actor Takumi Kitamura , aired on May 11th. A line spoken by Ryunosuke Kamiki, played by Ryunosuke Kamiki, who is in charge of developing Japanese space food at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), resonated with viewers.
◇The following contains spoilers.
Kijima visited Obama City in Fukui Prefecture to deliver the evaluation results of the space caramel created by Miyai Megumi (Hayase Ikoi), a student at Wakasa Fisheries High School. His purpose was to directly convey that although it could not be adopted as Japanese space food at this time, "it is worth trying."
Kijima told Shunichi Asano (played by Kitamura), a teacher at Wakasa Fisheries High School, that if they continued their practical training, they might one day actually reach space. He then began to tell Asano about the time he ate space-themed caramel.
Kijima recounted that when he was in high school, his family's tofu shop was destroyed in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, but his father continued to distribute boiled tofu. He revealed that when he ate the Space Caramel, he suddenly remembered the faces of the people lining up at the soup kitchen, and reflected, "Maybe living is about distributing joy." Asano nodded in agreement.
On social media, comments included: "Maybe living means spreading joy. That might really be true, what a great quote," "What a great line," "Kijima-san said that living means spreading joy, and I really agree," "It's irresistible to see Kijima-san, who usually has a stern expression, speaking with such a gentle expression," and "Kijima-san's likeability has skyrocketed. It was already high enough."
The drama is an original coming-of-age story based on the true story of students at a fisheries high school in Fukui Prefecture who challenged themselves to achieve their big dream of "developing space food."
