''Age Harassment'' (エイジハラスメント) is a 2015 Japanese TV drama series focusing on harassment in the modern Japanese workplace. It is based on the novel ''Age Harassment'' by Uchidate Makiko. It is produced by TV Asahi.

Storyline

Yoshii Emiri (played by Emi Takei) is an attractive, intelligent university graduate from a rural town in

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

, who has come to work in Tokyo. Her family has failed in their business, and because of this, she gave up her dream of going to the US to earn an MBA and has had to work hard to put herself through university. She attempts to join a large Japanese trading company's graduate program. She succeeds, but is surprised when she is assigned a position to the general affairs department in the section that deals with cleaning and maintenance. She even has to wear a uniform, while the men do not. However, the company is going through a cultural change where harassment in its various forms in the company are no longer being tolerated. This includes age harassment, sexual and "power harassment" (workplace bullying). Yoshi is not the typical quiet Japanese girl, she is prone to speaking her mind, sometimes when she possibly shouldn't. However, because of this she often speaks up and brings to attention various workplace issues that need to be dealt with. Her own manager (played by Inamori Izumi) sees her as a threat, though begins to respect her abilities. Because of this, some of her office workers respect her, while others see her as disruptive. Other women resent her because the male colleagues like her. In order to survive, Yoshi has to navigate challenges of sexist management, older female management who see her as a threat, management policies, age discrimination, and friction with her fellow staff. She starts to fall for a manager from another section, Hoshina Akihiko (played by Koizumi Kotaro), not realising he is in fact in a secret relationship with her own manager, who discovers the relationship. Apart from focusing on the drama associated with Yoshi specifically, the series addresses issues in modern Japanese business like work–life balance, paternity leave, including problems associated with the

salaryman In Japan, a is a salaried worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works. Salarymen are expected to work long hours, to put in addit ...

and

office lady An office lady ( ja, オフィスレディー, Ofisuredī), often abbreviated OL (, ), is a female office worker in Japan who performs generally pink-collar A pink-collar worker is someone working in the care-oriented career field or in field ...

work culture.

Cast

* Takei Emi as Yoshii Emiri * Inamori Izumi as Osawa Yuriko * Koizumi Kotaro as Hoshina Akihiko * Ohkura Koji as Hiramoto Daisuke * Seto Koji as Ikawa Yu *

Kaname Jun is a Japanese actor and tarento. He was born in Mitoyo, Kagawa and made his drama debut as an actor in 2001 in the Tokusatsu Series " Kamen Rider Agito". He appears not only in TV dramas but also in movies, commercial messages, variety TV progra ...

as Sada Koichi *Naito Risa as Takahashi Mio *Sugimoto Tetta as Ikura Masao * Hara Mikie as Noda Mika * Fukikoshi Mitsuru as Asano Makoto *Asano Kazuyuki as Yoshii Takao *

Yumi Asō , better known by the stage name , is a Japanese actress. She is a niece of singer Chiyo Okumura. She married actor in March 2004, and they had one child. The couple separated less than two years later, and officially divorced in 2008. Biography ...

as Nakazato Keiko *

Takenaka Naoto is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. Ja ...

as Takayama Tetsutaro * Kazama Morio as Gondo Susumu *Hirose Tomoki as Yamamoto *Akizuki Mika as Eiko *Matsui Airi as Shiono Rena

References

External links

* Japanese drama television series 2015 Japanese television series debuts 2015 Japanese television series endings TV Asahi television dramas {{Japan-tv-prog-stub