Massan
| Massan | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Daisuke Habara |
| Directed by | Yūsuke Noda Toki Kajiwara |
| Starring |
Tetsuji Tamayama Charlotte Kate Fox Saki Aibu Norito Yashima Mari Hamada Naomi Nishida Kiyoshi Nishikawa Morio Kazama Gin Maeda Pinko Izumi Shinichi Tsutsumi |
| Narrated by | Yōko Matsuoka |
| Opening theme | "Mugi no Uta" by Miyuki Nakajima |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original language(s) | Japanese |
| No. of episodes | 150 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ken Sakurai |
| Producer(s) | Akihisa Yamamoto |
| Location(s) | Japan |
| Running time | 15 minutes |
| Production company(s) | NHK Osaka |
| Release | |
| Original network | NHK |
| Original release | September 29, 2014 – March 28, 2015 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Hanako to Anne |
| Followed by | Mare |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Massan (Japanese: マッサン?) is a Japanese television drama series, the 91st Asadora (morning drama) broadcast daily on NHK from September 29, 2014, until March 28, 2015. Massan is based on the lives of Masataka Taketsuru and his wife Jessie Roberta "Rita" Cowan, a Scotswoman Taketsuru met while studying abroad. American actress Charlotte Kate Fox stars as Ellie Kameyama opposite Japanese actor Tetsuji Tamayama as Masaharu Kameyama in a fictionalized account of Rita's travels to Japan and Taketsuru's attempts to begin the Nikka Whisky Distilling company. It is the first time that NHK's Asadora series has featured a non-Japanese actor in a lead role.
When Masaharu Kameyama returned to Japan after spending two years in Scotland learning how to make whisky, he brought back with him Ellie, a woman whom he met and married there. His parents in Hiroshima are shocked to see this blonde woman arrive as their new daughter in law. Masaharu's mother, Sanae, in particular refuses to accept the marriage, but Masashi, his father, is more forgiving, even encouraging his son to pursue his dream of making real whisky in Japan, despite the fact the family has run a sake brewery for generations. Masaharu takes Ellie and returns to his job at the Sumiyoshi Brewery in Osaka, but encounters another problem: even though nothing was actually verbalized, Daisaku Tanaka, the head of the brewery, paid for Masaharu to go to Scotland on the expectation that he would later marry his daughter Yūko. Yūko initially resents Ellie, but they eventually become friends and Yūko teaches Ellie how to cook Japanese food. Meanwhile, Masaharu tries to put together a plan so that Sumiyoshi can begin making whisky, but that is put in danger when a nationwide scandal over poorly made wine hurts Sumiyoshi's wine business, even though there is no problem with their product. The flamboyant president of Kamoi Trading, Kinjirō Kamoi, seems to save the day with a revolutionary ad campaign promoting wine, but that is not enough for the Sumiyoshi board of directors: not only do they cancel Masaharu's whisky plan, they push him out of the company. Too proud to go ask Kamoi for a job, after having once rejected an offer from him, Masaharu does odd jobs while Ellie begins teaching English and singing, earning quite a reputation in the neighborhood. When Masaharu receives a telegram from his mother saying that his father is dying, they rush back to Hiroshima only to find that it is a ruse: Sanae is plotting to have Masaharu give up his dreams of whisky and take over the sake business from his father. After seeing his sister giving birth, and wondering if he can support Ellie once they have a child, Masaharu proposes to stay in Hiroshima and take over the sake business, but his father insists he should follow his dreams. After the two return to Osaka, Masaharu thinks about asking Kamoi for a job, but gets offended by what he thinks is his lack of serious dedication towards whisky. Ellie devises a number of plans to bring the two together, but in the end it is when Masaharu realizes how devoted Kamoi is to making whisky in Japan that he joins Kamoi's business. Toshio, who worked at Masashi's sake brewery, comes to help. But even then, it seems that Kamoi and Masaharu are of two minds. Masaharu insists that only Hokkaido has the right conditions to make good whisky, but Kamoi insists on building the distillery in Yamazaki near Osaka. Kamoi has good reasons for building it there, so after several years' construction, the distillery begins operations. It is at that time that Masaharu learns that Ellie is pregnant. He also begins boarding Eiichirō Kamoi, Kinjirō's son who resents his father for what he thinks he did to his mother. Ellie miscarries and finds out that becoming pregnant again might threaten her life. Seeing this human drama, Eiichirō reconciles with his father and decides to learn whisky making from Masaharu. Ellie and Masaharu adopt a baby girl named Emma. Whisky brewing proceeds well, but unfortunately their first batches do not sell well, threatening the entire Kamoi business. Masaharu insists on only making a true scotch whisky with "smokey flavor," so Kamoi, to make him understand the problem of sales, sends him out into the countryside to sell the product.
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