＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
The 2019 NHK Taiga Drama “Idaten – Tokyo Olimpic Banashi” is suffering from the “worst low ratings in Taiga history” (the lowest rating of 7.1% in the Kanto region).
My family is watching it, and I am only glancing at it with a sideways glance while writing my blog, but it is certainly not interesting.
At NHK’s regular press conference held on May 9, 2019, Koichi Fujisawa, head of Drama Programming Department, referred to the Taiga drama “Idaten” and asked, “If there is a special cure for this, please tell me the opposite.
Therefore, I would like to consider the causes of “Idaten” low ratings and countermeasures.
１．Causes
(1) Unknown protagonists
I think it was unreasonable to set “Shiso Kanakuri” and “Masaji Tabata ” who are not famous (or rather, unknown), as the main characters in the first place.
Did they intend to go down the same route as the documentary-education program on personalities that Hiroshi Sekiguchi used to MC, “Do you know? a documentary culture program about people who are not well known to the general public.
If so, they need to add a very kind and detailed explanation about the main character, who is not a gold medalist and is not generally known to the public.
（２）Many people other than the protagonist are likewise unknown.
The only famous character in this drama is “Jigoro Kano”, the founder of Kodokan Judo, and few people know about “Yahiko Mishima” and “Hyozo Omori”.
A kind and careful explanation about them is also necessary.
For example, in the scene where Yahiko Mishima appears, the following is narrated or subtitled several times: “Son of Viscount Mishima, a wealthy man. He became Japan’s first Olympic athlete along with Shiso Kanakuri,” or, in the scene where Hyozo Omori appears, ”He was Japan’s first Olympic team coach and introduced basketball and volleyball to Japan for the first time.” You need to add narration or subtitles several times.
Otherwise, just like people who cannot study arithmetic, they will find it increasingly difficult to follow along because they do not understand the basics. Only NHK, the production side, just assumes that the viewers think they know what they are talking about.
It was a waste of time to cast Charlotte Kate Fox, who became famous for her role in the NHK morning drama “Massan,” as Mrs. Hyozo Omori.
As it is, it is like watching a “foreign film without subtitles without any prior knowledge of the synopsis,” and the “audience is left behind.
（３）Suddenly, times change to the Showa era or back to the Meiji era again.
In novels and dramas, times sometimes go back to the previous era or jump to the future, but in this idaten, the changes seem to be abrupt and extremely frequent. In this Idaten, the changes seem to be abrupt and frequent. A “pause for breath” such as “Showa 00, Tokyo” is necessary in the narration or subtitles in advance.
（４）The scenes change too fast and furious.
Maybe it is because I am old, but I think the scene changes are too fast and dizzying. I also don’t understand the sudden change to the Kouza scene of “Kokontei Shinsyo” played by Beat Takeshi.
（５）Miscasting
The navigator, Beat Takeshi, plays the role of “Kokontei Shinsyo” and seems to be performing an “Olimpic Banashi” on the Kouza. However, Beat Takeshi’s slurred speech is so bad that it is difficult to understand what he is saying. He is not a good navigator.
Moreover, it is reckless to have an amateur Rakugo performer play the role of “Kokontei Shinsyo V,” a master of Rakugo. In the past, Tsunehiko Watase played the role of a rakugo performer in the morning drama “Chiritote chin,” but this was a fictional rakugo story, and he played the main character’s master, which was an important role in the drama, so it was unavoidable.
If Kankuro Kudo, who wrote the script, insisted on including a “rakugo storyteller’s story,” the best choice would have been to have him play the role if “Kokontei Shincho III” was still alive, but now he should have used a master rakugo performer such as “Sanyutei Enraku VI” of Tokyo Rakugo.
Since Beat Takeshi was cast as “Shincho Kokontei,” people who do not know him may mistake him for a rakugo performer who is not very funny.
（６）Lead actor Kankuro Nakamura’s performance is one-note.
At first, we understand the setup of the character as “a naive country boy, Akagetto, who is out in the mountains and does not know what is right or wrong in Tokyo,” but it remains one-note forever and does not express the growth and evolution of Shiso Kanakuri.
In terms of acting, it is ironic that “Pierre Taki as a tabi maker,” who dropped out of the film midway through due to a drug incident, had a much stronger presence.
２．Countermeasures
(1) Broadcasting of the “compilation” contents of the first half of the program before entering the second half, in which “Masaji Tabata ” is the main character.
In this case, it is essential to add clear and detailed explanations about the characters.
(2) Broadcasting of the “synopsis” of the second half of the film before the main character “Masaji Tabata ” enters the second half.
In this case, too, it is essential to add a clear and detailed explanation of the characters.
(3) Stop sudden jumps in time and rapid changes in scenes.
(4) Change the navigator, Shisyo Kokontei.
Change to a professional rakugo storyteller, or use an announcer’s voice “narration,” or use a narration with entertainment value, such as “Kimimaro Ayakoji.
(5) Use subtitles in combination with explanations
Use “subtitles” in addition to narration to explain about the characters in a way that is easy to understand.
These are my personal “causes and countermeasures,” and I hope they will be of help to NHK’s production staff.
３．Question about the title back
By the way, this is a “meandering” question that has nothing to do with the ratings, but with the “title back” designed by Tadanori Yokoo that plays at the beginning of the story.
The title is a bold design with a three-legged pattern over four hiragana characters. In the actual title bak, the four three legs are spinning around.
This is an ancient European pattern called “triskelion” or “triskele,” which was adopted to represent the fast god Viktor Videten.
That one looks a lot like the flag of the “Autonomous Province of Sicily” and the flag of the “Isle of Man. Isn’t this a design parody?
（Flag of the Autonomous Province of Sicily）
（Isle of Man Flag）