Asian Drama

Segawa Ushimatsu tries to hide his background as someone who came from a burakumin area as instructed by his late father and his struggles while doing so.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Minato Kanae (湊かなえ).

The story is set during the high economic development time of the Showa period. Natsu lost her parents during the war so she moves to the Tokachi region in Hokkaido with her foster father who is a dairy farmer. While growing up, Natsu meets a boy at primary school who draws a very beautiful picture of a horse so she becomes interested in animated movies. Upon graduating from senior high school, Natsu moves to Tokyo and joins the budding animation industry in order to fulfill her dream of becoming an animator.

Two historical incidents that deepened the friendship between Japan and Turkey.

Story 1- In the night of September 16, 1890, the Turkish frigate Ertugrul is caught up in a typhoon and sinks off the coast of Kushimoto, Japan. With more than 500 crew members dead, it's the largest sea accident in history at that time. An extraordinary rescue effort is taken by the local residents to save the Turkish sailors.

Story 2 - In 1985, during the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq announces an indiscriminate attack over Iranian air space. More than 300 Japanese nationals are stuck in Tehran, Iran. Turkey offers to evacuate the Japanese by sending a Turkish airplane. For the remaining Turks who are still in Tehran, this means that they won't be able to board their own country's evacuation flight.

A Japanese-Turkish co-production.

The 31st NHK Asadora Drama is Oshin. Oshin tells the story of a girl born in a very poor rural family in Japan, who through hard work and perseverance eventually triumphs over pain and adversity to achieve fame and success. Broadcast in the early 1980s when Japan had finally cast off the legacy of the post-war years and the Japanese were beginning to reap the benefits of economic development, the aim of the story was to recall the hardships the older generation had endured in order to pave the way for their children to enjoy their more affluent lifestyle. Viewers were drawn to the suffering of the main character Oshin - and then drew similarities between her story and their own home lives.

Some Japanese worried that showing Oshin abroad would give the country a bad profile - and would even be shameful because it showed the seldom glimpsed, poor, unequal side of Japan. In the event, the reverse proved true. Oshin gave viewers outside Japan - whose only image of Japan was formed by Japanese cars or electric goods, or through bitter memories of Japanese treatment during World War II - a far better understanding of the modern Japan and its people.