Inochi

Contents

Details

• Title: いのち
• Title (romaji): Inochi
• Also known as: Life
• Format: Renzoku
• Genre: Historical
• Episodes: 50
• Viewership ratings: 26,6% (1st ep), 36,7% (highest ep), 29,3% (average)
• Broadcast network: NHK
• Broadcast period: 1986-Jan-05 to 1986-Dec-14
• Air time: Sunday 20:00

Synopsis

The 24th NHK Taiga Drama is Inochi.

The drama is set on August 18, 1945, three days after the end of the Pacific war. A freight train completely jam-packed with passengers heading for Aomori from devastated Tokyo. Among those weary-looking passengers, It’s the heroine of this drama: Miki Takahara (20) and also her sister Sachi (16). When there is apparently no more room for any extra passengers at the railway station, Miki hears a woman shouting to the passengers to let her in because her mother is dying. Miki impulsively extends her hand to help the woman to get on board the train; the woman then introduces herself to Miki and Sachi as Haru Muranaka (20). Miki and Sachi are the daughters of a wealthy landlord living in a village in the Tsugaru area in Aomori prefecture but they have been living in Tokyo since before the war to attend school. A few days after Miki and Sachi have safely come home, a young man wearing a naval officer’s uniform, suddenly visits the Takaharas’ house with Haru late in the evening. He says that he rescued Haru when she threw herself into the sea. Miki finds, however, that Haru’s real intention in coming to Aomori was to see her wartime lover who had returned to his parents’ home in Aomori, in order to tell him that she is expecting his baby; but Haru’s lover had refused her, saying that there was no evidence that the baby was actually his.

Cast

Main Cast

Takahara family

• Mita Yoshiko as Miki
• Tanba Tetsuro as Masamichi (father)
• Kuga Yoshiko as Chie (mother)
• Ishino Mako as Sachi (younger sister)
• Watanabe Toru as Nakagawa Kuniyuki
• Ishida Taro as Hiromichi (uncle)
• Osaka Shiro (大坂志郎) as Kudo Seikichi (servant)
• Akagi Harue as Kudo Ine (servant)

Iwata family

• Ibu Masato as Gozo
• Sugai Kin as Teru
• Yamazaki Senri (山咲千里) as Hatsuko
• Kobayashi Daisuke → Kato Akihito (加藤明人) → Uchida Shinichi (内田慎一) → Shindo Eisaku (新藤栄作) as Tatsuo
• Sato Omi (佐藤央望) → Shimizu Ai (清水愛) → Nikaido Chihiro (二階堂千寿) → Takagi Miho as Noriko
• Takamatsu Ryoko (高松涼子) → Miyahara Nami (宮原永海) → Kobayashi Ayako → Kishimoto Kayoko as Seiko
• Kusami Junpei (草見潤平)
• Sugawara Chineko (菅原チネ子) as Hisako

Others

Production Credits

• Original writing: Hashida Sugako
• Screenwriter: Hashida Sugako
• Producer: Shibuya Yasuo (澁谷康生)
• Directors: Iyoda Shizuhiro (伊豫田静弘), Tomizawa Masayuki (富沢正幸), Fuse Minoru (布施実), Kanazawa Koji (金沢宏次), Komiyama Yoshinori (小見山佳典), Abe Yasuhiko (阿部康彦)
• Music: Sakata Koichi
• Narration: Naraoka Tomoko (奈良岡朋子)