Carnation (TV series)

Carnation
Genre	Drama
Written by	Aya Watanabe
Directed by	Kenji Tanaka
Starring	Machiko Ono Mari Natsuki Yumi Asou Chiaki Kuriyama Chiharu Niiyama Terue Shōji Akira Takarada Yukiyo Toake Masaomi Kondō Kaoru Kobayashi
Opening theme	"Carnation" by Ringo Sheena
Country of origin	Japan
Original language(s)	Japanese
No. of episodes	151
Production
Producer(s)	Atsushi Shirotani
Running time	15 minutes
Production company(s)	NHK Osaka
Release
Original network	NHK
Original release	3 October 2011 – 31 March 2012
Chronology
Preceded by	Ohisama
Followed by	Umechan Sensei
External links
Official website

Carnation (カーネーション, Kānēshon^?) is a Japanese television drama that aired in the Asadora slot on NHK from 3 October 2011 to 31 March 2012. It is the 85th Asadora. It is based on the life of the fashion designer Ayako Koshino in Kishiwada, Osaka. Ayako was the mother of the internationally famous designers Hiroko Koshino, Junko Koshino, and Michiko Koshino.

The story begins in 1924 when Itoko Ohara is a rambunctious and free-spirited 11-year-old girl. The eldest daughter of Zensaku, who runs a small kimono fabric shop, and Chiyo, who left her rich family to elope with Zensaku, Itoko loves the Danjiri Matsuri, but is upset that girls are not allowed to participate. She finds a substitute in dressmaking after she sees Western dresses for the first time when visiting her grandparents in Kobe. After proceeding to girl's middle school, she gets her first glimpse of a sewing machine and becomes obsessed with working that device. Pressing her stern and obstinate father, who objects to Western clothing, she finally convinces him to let her leave school to pursue her dream. But she has to overcome many hurdles along the way, which she does through her persistence, creativity, and indefatigable nature. She first works at a shop that makes a form of men's underwear, but gets fired when times get hard. She finally convinces a sewing machine saleswoman to teach her Western dressmaking, and succeeds in designing and creating the uniforms of a Shinsaibashi department store, but Zensaku still makes her work at a series of establishments after he complains of her lack of business acumen. At first a tailor shop and then a fabric store, Itoko greatly increases business through hard work and innovation. Convinced that his daughter has grown and that kimono fabric is a dying business, Zensaku retires and hands the business over to Itoko, who finally opens her own Western dressmaking shop in 1934.

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