November 3, 2014
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Massan Plot Summary - Week 6
#31 It has been two months since Massan quit the Sumiyoshi Brewery. Since he was asked to resign and is no longer under any obligation to Sumiyoshi, wouldn't anyone think that he could go to Kamoi for an instant job making the whiskey of his dreams? But no, they have to stretch this story out to half a year by throwing in monkey wrenches. Massan can't seem to find a job that suits him. Ellie hauls out the huge rice box to show him that it's empty. This is dramatically dumb, as a rice box does not empty overnight. Ellie says that they may not be able to live on dreams after all. Their savings are gone. Maybe Massan could get a job using English. Actually, Ellie's English is better and she wants to work to pay the rent. She consults Katherine, who tells her that no one hires women and that she can't read or write. Massan warns Ellie against gossiping about their plight with the nosy neighbors. Massan comes back from the job interview, saying that he has turned it down because the work didn't suit him. Dinner that night is a meager affair (there is rice on the table by no side dishes... wait, I thought there was no more rice - my bad), but the neighbors bring over some food, because "what goes around comes around." If they do good it will come back to them. Massan just chases them and their food out because a samurai chews a toothpick even if he has eaten nothing, and Ellie is shocked that he could be so rude. A fight starts over Ellie wanting to work. She calls Massan an idiot and he tells her to get out, but where is she to go? The next day the landlady comes and warns the couple that they have three days to pay the rent or else.
#32 The neighbors bring over some daidai (a citrus fruit with a thick peel), and everyone gets an idea to make marmalade. Massan continues dreaming of whiskey and is not seriously looking for a job that will get in the way of what he actually wants to do. Nosy neighbors scold Massan for sleeping in, and Massan says he is going out to look for a job but ends up at the only restaurant in town running up a drinkie bill. Katherine shows up and rescolds him, and everyone in the place suggests jobs, but Massan has a list of excuses for not taking them. He finally starts working at a spirits shop, but gets in a fight with the boss over the quality of the whiskey being sold. It just isn't the real thing. He gets fired, of course, and wonders where he went wrong. He remembers the sumo tussle with his father and gets an idea to write home for money. Switch the scene to Hiroshima. Massan's sister wonders how the lovely couple are doing, and Mother in Law says she could care less. Ellie, who has been taking in work putting thongs on sandals gets yelled at again for working and is again shocked by Massan's rudeness to the nosy neighbors. This woman seriously needs to read a copy of Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Massan finishes his letter home and tells Ellie that he is writing a novel. Being able to read Japanese is not a bad thing....
#33 Massan's sister in Hiroshima wants to write to him, but Mother in Law says that he is no longer part of the family. Massan has finished his letter home requesting money and finds it convenient that Ellie can't read Japanese. Ellie plays the organ for the kids' singing lessons at the local church. The local church is used for Katherine's secular activities and has nothing to do with God. One of the choir kids seems unhappy because when she goes home her mother is just going to make her practice piano. (Do I smell an extraneous side plot time filler?) After the lesson Katherine gives Ellie a bit of money as thanks for her help. Massan has finished off the marmalade and leaves off on the novel that he started that morning, and sadly remembers his days in Scotland and his dreams of making whiskey. He asks for a job at the only restaurant in town and is hired on the condition that he will give the owner shogi (Japanese horribly confusing chess) lessons. Massan can't do anything fast enough and will probably get fired. Some of the Sumiyoshi Brewery folks stop in and commiserate that business is not going well. Ellie looks for work. She has some experience as a nurse, but doesn't even know how to say stethoscope (聴診器) in Japanese. She tries for a job at a local shop, but is turned down because she can't work an abacus for calculating. Japanese reading, writing and abacus must be studied from the cradle, you know. Meanwhile, Kamoi is serious about whiskey and plans to import an expert from Scotland to assist him.
#34 Unbeknownst to Kamoi, one of his advertising staff spots Ellie on the street and says he has the perfect job for her. Massan is wandering the streets looking for a job and finds himself in front of Kamoi's. He also finds a Miss Marmalade (Ellie) dressed in a kimono singing the praises of Kamoi's products with a band. She did look very pretty and drew quite a crowd. Massan is shocked to his foundations, and tries to stop her from making a spectacle of herself, and ends up getting dragged into Kamoi's office. Kaomi apologizes and says that he really didn't know that this was going on. Ellie is angry at Massan for interfering in her work, Massan tells her to knock off the freak show and Kamoi tells both of them to take the husband-wife comedy act somewhere else. Massan sees that Kamoi has whiskey bottles lined up on the table in his office. Kamoi asks Massan how long he intends to spin his wheels. Kamoi slips Ellie her pay and Massan again ends up drinking at the only restaurant in town. Ellie tells Massan that he really should work for Kamoi, drags him home and pours him into bed. Later that night, neighbor Umeko brings over her little boy Kenta. He might have Spain Flu, and the doctor can't come. Ellie's father was a doctor, so they think that maybe she can help. She says she has seen Spain Flu, and this isn't it, and that Kenta will be all right.
#35 Ellie continues to nurse the feverish neighbor's boy Kenta. They make a hot toddy with whiskey from Massan's miraculous bottle that never empties. Umeko has been up all last night with Kenta, so Ellie tells her to leave Kenta with her because she is happy to be of help. Massan is hung over and finds Ellie asleep next to Kenta. He scolds her for being too kind to everyone. Kenta has made an overnight recovery. Ellie says that Massan complains about everything she does - no work in or out of the house, no helping people... Enter Katherine with some eggs for Ellie. I find it strange that all of the neighbors feel free to traipse into Massan's house whenever they please. The local DH would give them the heave ho so far that they would have trouble finding their way back! Massan goes out to the only restaurant in town to work (drink) and the proprietor refuses to let him run his tab up any further. Enter Katherine again. She certainly gets her exercise. Ellie has caught whatever Kenta had and has suddenly collapsed. The scenario writer packs a lot into fifteen minutes! Break out the hot toddy again. The neighbors all scold Massan for getting Ellie stressed out and exhausted. It's all his fault that she is sick. Enter the landlord reminding Massan that the rent is past due. He tells her Ellie is sick and she tells him to stop making lame excuses, but the neighbors assure the landlord that Ellie really is sick. The landlady gasps and runs off to get something, perhaps another local miracle cure.
#36 The entire neighborhood suddenly appears with meat and vegetables and takes over the kitchen to make Ellie some soup. The landlady returns with ice to sooth Ellie's fever. Everyone tells Massan that what goes around comes around. He sees how much all the neighbors love Ellie and feels badly that he has done so little for her. Ellie's fever goes down and she asks if Massan has eaten anything. Later Katherine and Ellie have a bedside chat. Ellie doesn't understand why Mr. Whiskey is always angry at Mrs. Marmalade. Katherine says that they have to punish Massan, and she tells Massan that Ellie has stopped breathing. Ellie fakes her own demise by holding her breath, and a dramatic scene ensues - We can make it! Don't die! and all that. Ellie instantly revives and she and Katherine have a good laugh. What is this, Candid Camera? Ellie is glad that she got sick, and after seeing how kind everyone is, she likes Japan more than ever. Ellie gets a letter in English from Massan's sister Sumire. Sumire says she wants to practice her English, and hopes that Ellie will write to her. The rent is still due, and Ellie and Massan are called to the Landlord's house to pay up or be thrown out on the street.
