is a
Japanese television drama
, also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thriller ...
series, the 92nd ''
Asadora
, colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in the mornings by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The first such series aired in 1961 with the black-and-white , starring Take ...
'' (morning drama) that was broadcast daily on
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
from March 30, 2015, until September 26, 2015, the same as 2009's ''Asadora'' series ''Tsubasa''. It is about a young woman from the
Noto Peninsula
The Noto Peninsula (能登半島, ''Noto-hantō'') is a peninsula that projects north into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The main industries of the peninsula are agricultur ...
who wants to become a
patissier
A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels ...
.
Tao Tsuchiya
is a Japanese actress, model, dancer, lyricist and singer. She is best known for her memorable role of Makimachi Misao in the movie series ''Rurouni Kenshin'', Mai Nakahara in '' The 8-Year Engagement'', Koharu in '' The Cinderella Addiction'' a ...
, who appeared in the ''Asadora'' ''
Hanako to Anne
is a Japanese television drama series, the 90th Asadora series broadcast on NHK. It debuted on March 31, 2014, and is broadcast Monday through Saturday mornings, with a scheduled to end of September 27, 2014. It is based on the novel ''An no Yurik ...
'', was cast in the lead role after an audition of 2020 women.
Plot
At age ten, Mare Tsumura has decided she has no need for big dreams—she will just live her life step by step, day by day. Her father Tōru has had nothing but big dreams, each of which has ended in failure, causing their family to flee their debts in Tokyo by escaping to a small seaside town in the
Noto Peninsula
The Noto Peninsula (能登半島, ''Noto-hantō'') is a peninsula that projects north into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The main industries of the peninsula are agricultur ...
. They are not welcome at first, especially as Tōru keeps on messing things up, but the family finally finds a place to live at the Okesaku's (Fumi and her husband Ganji, who produces salt from seawater), and Mare makes friends with the kids her age. By the time Mare is 17, Tōru has long since disappeared. Mare is a great helper, but is set on living a safe life by working at city hall. She runs into Keita, a boy whom she helped when she first arrived in Noto but who moved away, and grows to like him. But when he confesses his love for her, she reacts badly to his declaration that he will become the world's best
lacquerware
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Befor ...
artist. She cannot handle such big dreams. Toru eventually returns to Noto and is forgiven by his wife Aiko. Mare recalls her childhood memory of eating a delicious birthday cake and wanting to become a
pastry chef
A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bi ...
, and after hearing her friend Ichiko's plans to become an
idol
Idol or Idols may refer to:
Religion and philosophy
* Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents
* Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...
, decides to give it one last try by entering a cake contest. She fails miserably, and is roundly criticized by the expert judge. Resolving to give up her dream, she tries to confess her feelings for Keita, only to find out he's now going out with Ichiko. Mare starts working at city hall, with Keita's father as her section chief. Her job is to help people thinking to move to Noto, but runs into many problems, including an agent who secretly steals information about
lacquerware
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Befor ...
and gets Keita into trouble. Mare's family is also in trouble when the Okesaku's son suddenly returns to declare he wants to take over the place and start a cafe. He withdraws, however, when it is clear that the Tsumuras are as much family to his parents as he is. Things change for Mare when Aiko's mother suddenly appears for the first time since Aiko's marriage. Aiko resents her, thinking she abandoned her in order to make a famous
patissier
A pastry chef or pâtissier (; the French female version of the word is pâtissière ), is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels ...
in France. Mare helps mend their relationship and finally decides to herself become a patissier under pressure from her grandmother.
Mare leaves for
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
to train at the pastry shop that made the cake she liked as a child. She is accepted, but then quits when she finds the cake does not taste like it used to. She walks around testing the cakes of many shops, but when she stops by the Chinese restaurant where her old schoolmate Takashi works while trying to become a musician, she tastes the cake she remembers. It is a product of Ma Chèrie Chou Chou, a shop run by acerbic chef Daigo Ikehata, who constantly closes the shop when things go wrong—the chef who happened to be expert judge who bawled out Mare. Even though she has no experience, Mare convinces him to take her on for a test period of one month. She beds in the dorm where the other employees—Kazuya and Tōko—stay, which happens to be above the Chinese restaurant, and which happens to be run by Daigo's eccentric wife Rinko. Her first night there she is even kissed by Daigo's carefree—but drunk—son Daisuke. Trouble arrives when Daigo's special Christmas cake recipe is stolen and he again closes the shop. When Mare suggests she and the staff help think of a new recipe—an insult to the elite chef—Daigo challenges them to do that or get fired. Mare thinks up a recipe that uses Noto ingredients—including Genji's salt) and lets Kazuya present it, since it turns out he was the one to lose the recipe. Daigo hates the cake but is intrigued enough by the ingredients to create a new cake for Christmas. Instead of praising Mare, however, he fires her since a real chef never shares a recipe.
Cast
*
Tao Tsuchiya
is a Japanese actress, model, dancer, lyricist and singer. She is best known for her memorable role of Makimachi Misao in the movie series ''Rurouni Kenshin'', Mai Nakahara in '' The 8-Year Engagement'', Koharu in '' The Cinderella Addiction'' a ...
as Mare Tsumura
*
Yō Ōizumi
is a Japanese actor, comedian, television personality and voice actor. He is a member of the theatrical and musical unit TEAM NACS, and is represented by Creative Office Cue. His wife Kumiko Nakajima is a drama producer at Fuji TV.
In 1995, wh ...
as Tōru Tsumura, Mare's father
*
Takako Tokiwa
is a Japanese actress.
Career
Tokiwa was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2005 for her performance in '' Akai Tsuki''.
She co-starred with Hidetoshi Nishijima in Amir Naderi's 2011 film '' Cut''.
Fil ...
as Aiko Tsumura, Mare's mother
*
Shōno Hayama as Ittetsu Tsumura, Mare's brother
*
Min Tanaka as Kanji Okesaku
*
Yūko Tanaka
is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She has won several acting awards during a long career working in both film and television, after she graduated from Meiji University.
Life and career
Early career
At the beginning of her ...
as Fumi Okesaku, his wife
*
Atsuo Nakamura
is a Japanese actor and politician. He has appeared in more than 50 films since 1964. His younger brother Katsuyuki Nakamura is a writer.
Career
Nakamura first joined the Haiyuza theatre troupe in 1962, and became famous for his starring role i ...
as Yatarō Kontani, a
lacquerware
Lacquerware are objects decoratively covered with lacquer. Lacquerware includes small or large containers, tableware, a variety of small objects carried by people, and larger objects such as furniture and even coffins painted with lacquer. Befor ...
craftsman
*
Itsuji Itao
, is a Japanese comedian and actor. He is a member of the comedy duo 130R and former cast member of one of Downtown's previous shows. He usually appears in their batsu games.
Filmography (actor)
Movies
*2001 ''Desert Moon'' ... Interviewer
* ...
as Hiroyuki Kontani, Yataro's son and a public servant
*
Kento Yamazaki
is a Japanese actor and model. He is best known for his roles in the films ''L DK'' (2014), '' Heroine Shikkaku'' (2015), '' Orange'' (2015), and '' Kingdom'' (2019), as well as the TV shows ''Death Note'' (2015), '' Kiss That Kills'' (2018), ' ...
as Keita Kontani, Hiroyuki's son and Mare's classmate and Mare's Husband
*
Eisuke Sasai as Kōichi Kuramoto, a hairdresser
*
Sawa Suzuki
, Tower Records (October 24, 2013) better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress represented by the talent agency Horipro.
Biography
After dropping out of Joshibi University of Art and Design Junior College, Suzuki became a research s ...
as Hana Kuramoto, his wife
*
Fumika Shimizu
is a Japanese actress, gravure idol and model. In February 2017, she announced her temporary retirement from the entertainment industry to join the controversial Happy Science religion, declaring she had been a member of the group since childhood ...
as Ichiko Kuramoto, their daughter and Mare's classmate
*
Guts Ishimatsu
, better known as is a Japanese actor, comedian, tarento and former professional boxer who competed in the Lightweight division from 1966 to 1978. He is a one-time former WBC Lightweight Champion and an OPBF Lightweight Champion.
As a boxer ...
as Shin'ichirō Kado, a fisherman
*
Yuta Takahata as Yōichiro Kado, his son and Mare's classmate
*
Muga Tsukaji
is a Japanese comedian and actor. He performs '' boke'' (sometimes '' tsukkomi'') in the comedy duo Drunk Dragon. His partner is Taku Suzuki. He is nicknamed .
Tsukaji was born in Hannan, Osaka. He graduated from Hannan Municipal Tottori Junior ...
as Makoto Teraoka, a postman
*
Eri Fuse
Eri may refer to:
People
* Eri (biblical figure)
* Eri (given name), a Japanese feminine given name, including lists of people and fictional characters
* Eri (king), the progenitor of the Umu-Eri and Umu-Nri-Igbo ancient Nigerian city-states
* ...
as Kumi Teraoka, his wife
*
Seiji Rokkaku
is a Japanese actor from Hyōgo Prefecture.
He was born in Himeji and raised in Takasago. Rokkaku is the vocalist of Rokkaku Seiji Band. He dropped out of Gakushuin University.
Rokkaku became famous in Japan for his role as Mamoru Yonezawa in ...
as Anzai
*
Mugi Kadowaki
is a Japanese actress.
Biography
In 2011, Kadowaki debuted in the television drama, ''Misaki Number One!!''. At the time of her debut she was signed to Blooming Agency.
In 2013, Kadowaki became a hot topic because of a commercial for "Chocola ...
as Minori Teraoka, their daughter and Mare's classmate
*
Daichi Watanabe Daichi may refer to:
* the JAXA's Advanced Land Observation Satellite (aka ''Daichi'')
* Daichi (given name), a Japanese given name
* Daichi, Iran (disambiguation)
Daichi ( fa, دايي چي, link=no) may refer to:
* Daichi, Kermanshah
* Daichi, ...
as Takashi Futaki, Mare's classmate
*
Fumiyo Kohinata
is a Japanese actor.
Filmography
Film
* '' Begging for Love'' (1998)
* '' Give It All'' (1998)
* '' Ring 2'' (1999) - Dr. Kawajiri
* '' Audition'' (1999) - Television producer
* ''Minna no Ie'' (2001)
* '' Turn'' (2001)
* '' Dark Water'' (2002 ...
as Daigo Ikehata, an expert patissier
*
Ryō
The was a gold currency unit in the shakkanhō system in pre- Meiji Japan. It was eventually replaced with a system based on the '' yen''.
Origins
The ''ryō'' was originally a unit of weight from China, the ''tael.'' It came into use in Jap ...
as Rinko Ikehata, a Chinese restaurateur
*
Yūya Yagira
is a Japanese actor. In 2004, he became the youngest winner of the Best Actor award in the history of the Cannes Film Festival for his portrayal of 12-year-old Akira in the highly acclaimed ''Nobody Knows''.
Career
Yagira was 12 years old and no ...
as Daisuke Ikehata, their son
*
Yurika Nakamura
(born 1 April 1986 in Fukuchiyama) is a Japanese long-distance runner. Nakamura grew up in the Hyōgo Prefecture.
She finished seventh at the 2006 World Road Running Championships, helping the Japanese team win the bronze medal in the team co ...
as Minami Ikehata, their daughter
*
Kaoru Mitsumune as Yukari Adachi
References
External links
*
*
{{Asadora
2015 Japanese television series debuts
Asadora
2015 Japanese television series endings
Live-action shows scored by Hiroyuki Sawano
Television shows written by Eriko Shinozaki
Television shows set in Yokohama
Television shows set in Ishikawa Prefecture