October 20, 2014
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Massan Plot Summaries - Week 4
#19 Massan has finally gotten grudging permission to make whiskey. But where is he going to put the huge pot still? Meanwhile reports have been coming in that bottles of wine seem to be exploding throughout the country because the contents have not been properly purged of fermentation yeast and have become bubbly. Even though Mr. Bossmann Tanaka's Taiyo brand wine bottles have never exploded, Kamoi demands proof of their safety before he will sell any more of them. Massan gets the assignment and whiskey will have to wait. Meanwhile again, Ellie is chatting with the neighbors and Katherine talks about man's tendency to stray. Massan arrives home to pick up some books, announces that he will be sleeping at work tonight and runs off with no huggy. Katherine overhears and tells Ellie to be careful. Ellie takes him a lunch and change of clothes, only to catch Massan and Yuko having a chummy discussion in the lab. Yuko explains that Massan is only putting on a typical Japanese happy face in front of others, but that Ellie is the only one to whom he reveals his true feelings, happy or sad. Yuko's parents appear on the scene to announce a meeting with the aforementioned bank employee and his family to decide on a marriage. Yuko smiles, but Ellie suspects that she is just putting on a happy face.
#20 Yuko's omiai (meeting of families for arranging a marriage) is coming up, and her kimono is chosen. She looks lovely, of course. Marriage is not a matter of individuals, but a uniting of houses. Since love is blind, it is better for parents to decide such things since one cannot live on love alone. This marriage will inject new life into her father's floundering company. Massan successfully completes his experiments to prove to Kamoi that his company's Taiyo Wine bottles will not explode. The company staff complains that the lunches are not up to previous standards, but since wine problems started, the kitchen staff has had to cut expenses. When Yuko gets married everything will improve. Kamoi shows up to hear the favorable wine report. Kamoi drags Massan off to the different wine sellers to apologize for the worry caused by wind that his company did not make and ask them to put Taiyou Wine back on their shelves. Yuko tells Ellie that her upcoming marriage is her life's work, but Ellie asks her if this is the job that she really wants. Yuko says that she knows a bit of English and would like to give being an English typist a try. This must have been a rare skill back in 1920. Ellie tells her that it is better not to marry if she really doesn't want to do so.
#21 Kamoi and Massan go around the city trying to save the reputation of Taiyo Wine, but no one wants to put it on the shelf. Later at home, Ellie tells Massan that Yuko really doesn't want to get married, but might like to try working instead. Massan says it is none of their business and Ellie should stay out of it. Yuko's grandfather arrives to celebrate the upcoming meeting of families. (omiai) Ellie brings in tea. (This scenario is strange. Why is Ellie hanging around the company kitchen? On such an occasion tea should be brought in by one of the maids.) The family is congratulating Yuko on the great match, and Ellie cannot keep her mouth shut. She asks Yuko why she doesn't tell her parents her true feelings. Yuko's mother says that Ellie is neither family nor Japanese and should stay out of what she doesn't understand. Mom definitely has a point, and asks Ellie to go home. The marriage is off, and Ellie apologizes to Yuko. Massan was right, she should have minded her own business. Yuko admires Ellie's ability to say what she thinks, and the two become friends. (The scenario writer imposes today's liberated Western values on the Japanese culture of 100 years ago. This is one of the reasons that I don't care much for drama. The scriptwriter can and does twist things anyway he wants.) Ellie's name may become mud at the company (as well it should), as she has thrown a monkey wrench into a marriage that would have been financially beneficial to the floundering business. Again, no comeuppance. Ellie should have been told on no uncertain terms to mind her own business!
#22 Massan attends a meeting to discuss ways to save the reputation and future of Taiyo Wine at Kamoi's office. Rather than changing the contents, Kamoi decides to embark on a new ad campaign. At dinner that night, Ellie mentions that even though Massan appears to be angry over his work, she knows that he is actually finding it fun to throw himself into his job. (One must suspend disbelieving that Ellie totally understandings Massan rattling off Hiroshima dialect Japanese with his mouth full.) He may not have a job long, though, because now that the marriage between Yuko and the bank employee is off, the bank is not so eager to lend Mr. Bossmann Tanaka's company the money that it needs. Yuko's grandfather comes over and wants to know what happened to the match, and insists to the family that they apologize and go through with the marriage. Ellie can see that the pressure is building for Yuko to save the family company.
#23 Kamoi starts a new ad campaign for Taiyo Wine using a nude model. He also invites Massan to quit working for the Sumiyoshi Brewery and Mr. Bossmann Tanaka and to come work for him instead. Kamoi sweetens the offer by saying that he is ready to start brewing whiskey as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the rescheduled omiai takes place and the marriage between Yuko and the bank employee is declared a match. Ellie is listening in the wings and looking distressed. Why is she hanging around and why is she so against this marriage? It is none of her business anyway. Sometimes the "live your dreams" thing makes me want to hurl.
#24 Massan mulls over Kamoi's offer. Bossmann Tanaka suspects something and advises Massan to take Kamoi up on the offer, but Massan feels obligated to Tanaka since Tanaka was the one who made Massan's study in Scotland possible. Massan decides to continue working for Tanaka. Kamoi seems unfazed by Massan's decision and asks Massan for Ellie's help in the ad campaign. Massan storms out angrily Ellie hears of Massan's decision not to work for Kamoi and is angry that Massan did not even consult her in the matter because he assumed that as a foreigner she would not understand the Japanese sense of obligation.
