Oshin

For the Armenian king, see Oshin of Armenia. For the town in Greek Macedonia, see Archangelos, Pella.

Oshin
Created by	Sugako Hashida
Starring	Ayako Kobayashi Yūko Tanaka Nobuko Otowa Izumi Pinko Shiro Itō Masatoshi Nakamura Tsunehiko Watase
Narrated by	Tomoko Naraoka
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of episodes	297
Production
Executive producer	Yukiko Okamoto
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	15 minutes per episode, across 297 episodes
Original release
Network	NHK
Release	April 4, 1983 – March 31, 1984

Oshin (ja:おしん) is a Japanese serialized morning television drama, which aired on broadcaster NHK from April 4, 1983 to March 31, 1984. The series follows the life of Shin Tanokura (田倉 しん) during the Meiji period up to the early 1980s. Shin was called "Oshin", which is an archaic Japanese cognomen.

In total, 297 15-minute episodes were shown. In Japan, the annual average audience share was 52.6%, with a peak rating of 62.9% for a single episode. As of today, Oshin aired in 59 countries, with subtitles ranging from English to Arabic. In 1984, the earlier episodes of the drama (focused on young Oshin) were made into an animated movie by Sanrio. The movie reused Sugako Hashida's scripts and Ayako Kobayashi, who played young Oshin, did the voice of Oshin.

Summary

The story starts in 1983. Instead of attending the opening festivities of the 17th store, Oshin Tanokura decides to go on a train trip. Her family is in a frenzy, not knowing where she disappeared to. Oshin's grandson, Kei, remembers the story of the kokeshi doll she once told. Based on a hunch from the story, he goes on a trip of his own and catches up with Oshin. From there, the two of them begin a journey back, traveling through various parts of Japan including where she once lived years earlier, and starts remembering the difficult times she faced in her life.

In 1907, seven-year-old Oshin is sent off by her father to work as a babysitter to support her family. Her boss was a timber trader. Despite the physical and verbal abuse from the chief servant of the working place, Oshin insists on enduring it for the sake of her family. However, when she is unjustly accused of stealing money, she runs away and for days suffers through snow blizzards as she walks back home to be with her mother. But the blizzard is so rough on her, she nearly freezes to death. She is rescued by a man called Shunsaku, a Japanese Imperial army soldier turned deserter, a self described "hunter". She stays with him during the long winter until the snow melts. Once the blizzard subsides, they are found by an army unit and Shunsaku is shot and killed. Oshin is then escorted by the soldiers to a hut. A senior soldier then comes into the hut and says the unit will escort her home, but she declines the offer mentioning she knows the way and walks home on her own.

Upon her return to her home, Oshin is once again sent out to work as a babysitter, this time to Kaga-ya in Sakata . She makes good friends with the family's daughter, who is the same age as her, and stays at the Kaga-ya until she turns 16. During this time, she is loved by all the people and is personally taught by Mrs. Yashiro, the owner of Kaga-ya. Kayo the heir to Kaga-ya and Oshin falls in love with Kota. Their whole lives were changed by this man, who was a strong follower of socialism. After returning home she discovers that her father wants her to work as a bar maid. Realizing that the bar maid job is a cover for prostitution, Oshin runs off to Tokyo to follow her older sister Haru's dream of becoming a hair stylist. Haru died due to hard labor in a silk factory just after Oshin returned from Kaga-ya to her home.

While working as a hairstylist, she meets Ryuzo, a rich trader, and the two get married. Her teacher was madam Daka. But they go bankrupt because of the economic depression and of the incorrect trading methods Ryuzo has implemented. Their first child is a boy, Takeshi. Thanks to both their great efforts, they manage to start over again. While they survive the Great Earthquake of 1923, their house and business is destroyed, forcing them to return to her in-laws' house. Since the marriage was not approved by Kiyo, the mother-in-law, Oshin suffers greatly while living with them.

She breaks her arm while attempting to escape and suffers a miscarriage because of the hard labor she has to endure working in the fields. She finally leaves her in-laws with her child and attempts to rebuild her life. Subsequently, she finds out she can no longer be a hair stylist because of her broken arm.

She owned and operated a small bar-restaurant, worked as a pastry chef and even as a peddler of fresh fish. Finally, her business booms with her husband's help, and Oshin establishes a small but bustling raw seafood shop.

The story continues right up to 1983, and follows Oshin's adult life as she becomes a wife, raises children of her own, and experiences real-life events - including earthquakes and World War II.

Behind the scenes

The story of Oshin is based on the biography of a Japanese woman, modeled after the mother of Kazuo Wada, a Japanese businessman who created Yaohan, a Japanese supermarket chain. The structure of the story was developed through a collection of anonymous letters assembled by Sugako Hashida (橋田壽賀子 Hashida Sugako, May 10, 1925 – ). "It is the untellable past of a woman of the Meiji period, composed right on her deathbed," Hashida said. "I felt that telling of her hardships of serving as an apprentice and 'being sold at a brothel' was an obligation our generation needed to honor. However, the themes were so harsh and dark that the show was rejected by every [Japanese] television network. Even NHK was opposed to it. 'We can't confront Meiji issues,' I was told. But it was settled when (then) station director Mikio Kawaguchi (川口幹夫 Kawaguchi Mikio) gave his approval."

Beyond television

Oshin, the heroine, serves as a symbolic figure for perseverance, showing that a person should never give up - even in the most trying times. She was beloved not only by the Japanese people, but also by people from countries all over the world. In Japan, many references to Oshin were made when describing perseverance. For example, sumo wrestler Takanosato was given the name "Oshin Yokozuna", as he fought his way up to the rank of yokozuna, despite dealing with diabetes. Other terms were used during the 1980s, such as "Oshin Diet", where residents were dealing with the bubble economy and therefore were driven to eating radish and rice. And, a famous cruise line down the Mogami River was renamed "Oshin Line".

Oshin enjoyed particular popularity when broadcast in developing Asian countries. Even today, Ayako Kobayashi (小林綾子 Kobayashi Ayako) is given warm reception when she visits such countries. In Vietnamese, the term ô-sin had become a euphemism (sometimes with scorn) for domestic worker. Oshin is also shown briefly in Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, where the author notes that Oshin's original profession was as a geisha, but it was changed to a hairstylist during the dubbing.

Influences in other media

The comedy manga Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori has Tamaki Suou, leader of the club, refer to Haruhi Fujioka, the newcomer girl dressed as a boy as "Oshin", someone "sold to a mean master who'd overwork you and leave you crying into your pillow night after night." He also asks if Haruhi subsisted "on rice and horseradish?" These extravagant parallels between "Oshin" and the manga are because Haruhi is a poor but diligent student attending on scholarship, while Ouran High School is an academy for the idle rich.

External links

• Oshin - おしん at IMDb