| Shinseki-tachi (Relatives) |
| July 4 - September 26, 1985 |
 |
| Main Cast: Yakusho Koji: Kusunoki Kumotaro Tanaka Yoshiko:Kimura Junko Hidaka Sumiko: Kusunoki Mitsuyo Tanabe Yasuo: Kusunoki Masao Takabe Tomoko: Kusunoki Misa Shinoda Saburo: Murayama Manabu Shimomoto Tsutomu: Kusunoki Ryuzo Mabuchi Haruko: Kusunoki Tomiko Tezuka Satomi: Kusunoki Nobuko Satoh B-saku: Kusunoki Ko-ichi Nakada Yoshiko: Kusunoki Yuriko Yamaguchi Ryo-ichi: Hashimoto Ganji Sakura Kinzo: Yonezaki Genta Nezu Jimpachi: Yagami Shiro Matsukane Yoneko: Nurse Numata Baku: Sumie Sasaki: Nagatsuka Kyozo: Kudo Ishimaru Kenjiro: Nagai (Mitamura) |
| Playwright: Ichikawa Shin-ichi Directed by Kawamura Yutaro Suzuki Keigo Sasamoto Izumi * Fuji Television * Duration: 13 episodes |
 |
|
 |
| The story of the first episode |
| One fine spring day in 1985, all the Kusunoki families gathered at a church near Mt.Unzen close to Isahaya city in Nagasaki prefecture. Their purpose was to attend the wedding of Nobuko, the eldest daughter of one of the Kusunokis. Surprisingly, however, Nobuko's fiance did not show up; it duly turned out that her fiance was a notorious marriage dissimulator. Amid a great tumult, Nobuko's father, Ryuzo collapsed with a heart attack. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, there lived a young man called Kumotaro Kusunoki (Koji Yakusho). He was one of Nobuko's cousins and had the nickname, "Fuhkemon", meaning "Stupid man" in Isahaya dialect. He had not been informed of Nobuko's wedding nor the latest news about her. One day, a strange man, speaking a funny Isahaya dialect, came to see this Kumotaro, and they decided to head for Isahaya in this man's car together. And so the story continues... |
| This serial drama was filmed mainly in Isahaya city, Koji Yakusho's hometown from April to August, 1985. Yakusho commented about this drama in a magazine interview in 1985, saying, "I was quite at a loss at first when the filming of this drama started. Since I previously had been performing the role of a samurai with a solem look, I had actually no idea about what my facial expressions should be. I might have looked more sloppy than required for the role. Or I would rather say that I acted quite naturally. |
| Pymmik's comment |
| I would say that "Shinseki-tachi" was very significant for the sake of Koji Yakusho's future career, since the role of Kumotaro led to the role of the man in a white suit in "Tampopo" (1985) As for the casting of "Tampopo", the Kinema Jumpo" (No.924, 1985) reported that the director Juzo Itami had decided on Koji yakusho as the man in a white suit in "Tampopo", on seeing Yakusho in a TV drama. The TV drama in question must be "Shinseki-tachi" because it started on July 4, 1985 and ended on September 26, 1985; and in that drama Kumotaro does wear a white suit on some occasions. Those who have seen "Shinseki-tachi" praise Koji Yakusho's acting, commenting that he portrayed the amiable villain figure, Kumotaro very well and that the local Isahaya area dialect he spoke was most attractive. No doubt about that! For Isahaya is, in fact, Koji' Yakusho's own hometown in Nagasaki prefecture. I have read the scenario by Shinichi Ichikawa, who is also from Isahaya and is one of Yakusho's closest friends. That scenario depicts very well the lives of ordinary Kusunoki clan people and how their lives are disturbed by Kumotaro's returning home. Actually, the latter's real purpose is to purchase the vast piece of reclaimed land which belong to the Kusunokis, without announcing the true purpose, which is that, after that land has been purchased, it will be made into a great amusement park, where Kumotaro has been promised the position of chief manager. The fact is that Kumotaro was hired to fulfill this purchasing mission by the owner of a large supermarket in Isahaya, named Yagami (Jimpachi Nezu), who was the very man who went up to Tokyo in a van to collect Kumotaro. |
| Kumotaro and Nobuko |
 |
 |
 |
| Kumotaro and Junko |
| Click the photo for enlargement. |
| Koji Yakusho as Kumotaro |