Long Vacation

Long Vacation is a Japanese television drama from Fuji Television, first shown in Japan from 15 April to 24 June 1996. Takuya Kimura played the male lead. The show enjoyed high ratings and would be the first in a series of big hits starring Kimura. It features music by Cagnet.

Scriptwriter

• Eriko Kitagawa

Cast

• Hidetoshi Sena…Takuya Kimura
• Minami Hayama…Tomoko Yamaguchi
• Shinji Hayama…Yutaka Takenouchi
• Ryoko Okusawa…Takako Matsu
• Momoko Koishikawa…Izumi Inamori
• Rumiko Himuro…Ryo
• Professor Sasaki…Leo Morimoto
• Takako Saito…Ryoko Hirosue
• Mr. Sugisaki…Kosuke Toyohara

Characters

• Hidetoshi Sena (24)…A once-ambitious pianist. After graduating from music school, he teaches at a children's piano school to earn a small income. He lives alone in an apartment with a baby grand piano in the living room. Sena practices for piano competitions throughout the series. Despite his seemingly very adept technical ability and Sasaki's high opinion of Sena's playing, Sena constantly meets with failure. The reason for this becomes clearer as the story evolves.
• Minami Hayama (31)…An independent and uninhibited 30-year-old woman. Once a highly in-demand model, she now works as a small time model on more and more infrequent jobs. She is unlucky in love; her fiance runs away on her with a younger girl on their wedding day. Through a series of circumstances, Minami comes to stay in Sena's house. Their deepening relationship is a main thread of the drama.
• Shinji Hayama…Minami's younger brother. A loafer and notorious womanizer, he is also a talented pianist who is later revealed to have had a promising piano career. He comes to Tokyo with his girlfriend Rumiko, relying on pachinko winnings to foot the bill. He later buys over a bar and runs it with her.
• Ryoko Okusawa…A very talented pianist but shy with a sheltered upbringing. She is a student in the same music school that Sena graduated from and considered a future star. Sena develops a crush on her but she seems indifferent towards him.
• Momoko Koishikawa…Minami's junior in the modelling company, and a close friend of Minami. Despite her ditzy manner, she sometimes makes insightful observations and offers useful advice.
• Rumiko Himuro…Shinji's girlfriend.
• Professor Sasaki…Sena's mentor and former professor. He often encourages Sena to apply to piano competitions.
• Takako Saito…A child prodigy who is taught by Sena for a brief time. Initially, her attitude towards Sena is disrespectful.
• Tetsuya Sugisaki…A dashing professional photographer who later falls for Minami.

Touching Moments

• There was one point Sena entirely gave up on playing piano, he even went to the extent of selling his most beloved piano, forcing him to totally give up on his love of piano and dreams. Sena then went to a department store to be a tie salesman. Knowing this, Minami wants to bring Sena back to the world of piano, helping him to realise his dream, she went to Sena's working place and look for him...talked to him...But Sena just commented back.. "It's just like a Hot Spring..places that are warm will be warm..places that are not will just be it. Implying that, since he got no talent, he should just admit that it is the way things are..it will never change..so he might as well gave up. Trying to prove him wrong, Minami decided to learn to play piano.. One night...Sena went back home as usual after work, he heard a familiar piano melody as he is approaching his house..upon hearing this..he rushed back immediately, as for what he knew, the piano should already be collected by the intereted buyer today. When he opened the door, he stunned... seeing Minami..playing the music piece Sena played for her before..Minami, who knows almost nothing about playing piano, learnt the music piece in a few days...though bad but...it touches Sena deeply..tears flow from his eyes..

Summary

Minami and Sena meet when Sena's apartment-mate, Asakura, jilts Minami on their wedding date. Minami learns from Sena that Asakura has left, whereabouts unknown. Sena allows Minami to move into the apartment, since she is penny-less from having given all her money to Asakura and cannot pay the rent on her apartment.

This is the beginning of a beautiful romance between Sena and Minami, although they are far apart in age and interests. Minami and Sena confide in and console each other about their relationship problems and their lack of success in life .

Minami meets a professional photographer Sugisaki who proposes marriage. Finally Sena has a chance of winning a piano competition and going to Boston joining the symphonic orchestra troupe.

One commonality among the characters in the series is that they, if not jobless, can only at best secure a temporary job. This is a portrayal of a time when deep and serious recession plagued the economy of Japan, in which Japanese often found themselves depressed after repeated failure in securing a stable income. The social setting of the TV series is not only an important catalyst in the formation and dissolution of various relationships in the TV series; it also paints a time when the necessity of people in finding solace in each other's presence becomes apparent.

Theme song

"La La La Love Song" by Toshinobu Kubota and Naomi Campbell