[KineJapan] Asadora Tora ni tsubasa

[Aaron Gerow]

The Asadora Tora ni Tsubasa (aka The Tiger and Her Wings) ended last week. Some are calling it the best Asadora ever, and one FB friend declared it was the best production this year, be it TV drama, film, or theatrical play. 

Based on the life of Mibuchi Yoshiko, one of Japan’s first female lawyers, it was a resolutely feminist work (by Japanese TV standards) arguing not only for gender equality, but also criticizing legal definitions of family based in patriarchy (such as parricide laws and the requirement husband and wife share the same surname). Written by Yoshida Erika, it unabashedly supported the postwar constitution, including some sections the LDP wants to get rid of (even though it didn’t get into Article 9). It also took up a range of other issues such as zainichi Koreans, gay marriage, cross dressing, and transgender rights, as well as some of the darker episodes in postwar legal history such as the Blue Purge. Its weak point was, as with many Asadora (with the notable exception of Carnation), the war and the question of war responsibility. 

Ito Sairi was splendid and was probably born to play a character like Tora. One could complain the drama is a bit too positive in the end, but that is a result of both the Asadora slot and the character of Tora. Notable for me was the direction, which did quite original things with space and peripheral characters to emphasize this is not just the tale of a special character but a general problem. 

The next Asadora, Omusubi, has started and it really pales in comparison.


Aaron Gerow
Alfred W. Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film and Media Studies
Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
320 York Street, Room 108
PO Box 208201
New Haven, CT 06520-8201
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6729
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
website: www.aarongerow.com






















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