December 22, 2014
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Massan Plot Summary - Week 13
#73 It's 1928, and whiskey production is in full swing. Massan wants to make whiskey that is even better than the famous Highland Celt brand from Scotland. The Yamasaki whiskey is all in barrels and ready for the five year aging process. Economic times are rough, and Komoi's company has got to come up with some quick money by stopping the production of unprofitable whiskey and starting up production of Taiyo Beer. Beer does not have to be aged and can be produced quickly. Meanwhile on the home front, Ema, now four years old had decided that she does not like carrots, much to Ellie's consternation. Ellie does her best to put all kinds of carrot cooking on the table and Massan does his best to eat Ema's carrots himself. Ema is very good at playing her parents against each other. Japanese children traditionally do not like carrots for some silly reason. It is also a major sin in this culture to be a picky eater, but good grief, is eating carrots going to be this week's major issue? Carrots are best raw, anyway.
Sonny B did not like tomatoes, and they showed up in a school lunch. His teacher decided that he was going to stay after school and finish them. Sonny B made a valiant attempt to choke them down only to barf them back up. Teacher left him alone after that. LOL
#74 Today begins with Massan tenderly holding a bottle of Highland Celt, remembering the brewery where he studied. This is the kind of whiskey that he wants to make, not the blended type that Kamoi wants to produce for a quicker profit. Ellie tells him that the Highlend Celt brewery probably had problems to overcome, too, and that he should just keep trying. Massan draws samples from all his barrels to decide on the best way to blend the underaged whiskey for a uniform flavor. Kamoi comes to check on things. He bangs Toshio on the nose with the door again - this gag is really getting old, especially considering Toshio could have easily seen Kamoi coming through the pane of glass in the door. Kamoi is anxious to start selling, but whiskey artist Massan would rather sell an A+ product in 10 years rather than a D- product now. Kamoi says that is financially impossible. Meanwhile MIL suddenly shows up from Hiroshima for a visit and proceeds to spoil Ema with caramel before dinner. Ellie tells Ema to say thank you for the little kimono that she has received, and Ema tells her in English. MIL says this is Japan and Ema should not speak in English. Ellie, are you still at work teaching English? Doesn't Massan support you? Ema should be learning abacus and calligraphy, not English. MIL also disses the chandelier and the stew Ellie has made for supper. Ema plays Grandma against her mother. What a delightful child. Massan continues to wrestle with the blending problem after he comes home, and Ellie asks him if things are going badly at work. MIL is eavesdropping.
#75 Financial times are tough, and the Yamasaki Brewery is forced to blend and sell the whiskey before it has been properly aged. Kamoi calls in a Mr. Sawada, a spiritual expert from one of Japan's top department stores to sample the brew, and he declares that it is a mere imitation of the real thing, and that all of Kamoi's products are nothing but mere imitations. Ouch. Ellie encourages Massan by telling him that if the whiskey must be sold prematurely in order for the business to survive, then that is what he has to do. MIL tells Massan that he should return to Hiroshima because as a foreigner, Ellie cannot bring Ema up properly. She still wants Massan to come back and take care of the family sake business and reminds him that his parents are not getting any younger. Massan reminds MIL that she has disowned him.
#76 MIL is still visiting and offering helpful advice about Massan moving back to Hiroshima. She asks Ellie what will happen if Kamoi's company goes belly-up, and worries about what will happen to "Massan's daughter." She still refuses to recognize Ellie as Massan's wife, but will consent to keeping her around for Ema's sake. Ellie says she will work, but MIL sneers that the only work for a foreigner is teaching English, and that Ellie is wrong to encourage Massan in a hopeless cause. Japanese wives let their husbands solve their own problems at work. Ellie says that she and Massan always support each other. After all, everyone is equal, right? (As narrow minded as MIL may be, imposing present Western values on the past values of a different culture is not really helpful.) MIL concedes that being a mother has made Ellie stronger. Meanwhile, as Kamoi works on an ad campaign for whiskey, Massan is also in hard labor. He doesn't come home and hardly sleeps. He perfects the final blend, and as we are reminded of all the past encouragement from his Dad, Takana of Sumiyoshi Brewery, the pot still crafts man, one final push and whiskey is born!
#77 Massan's dream has come true, and his whiskey is being produced. "Yes," the ad posters tout, "The age of imported whiskey is passed because Made in Japan whiskey has arrived." Toasts take place over the dinner table, at Kamoi's office and at the Only Restaurant. Massan has sent a bottle to Hiroshima, but MIL says nobody can try it because if Massan was a decent son he would have brought the bottle in person. A financial depression is in full swing, and the whiskey is not selling well. (Hello? Everyone is trying to drink it straight!) The Japanese palate is just not ready for the taste of peat. Massan empties the contents of the unsold (like 80%) returned bottles into barrels for further aging. Kamoi Beer sales are not going well either, and Kamoi proposes selling off some of his business investments to redouble the effort invested in producing beer and whiskey. (Upon checking the label of the Nikka hip flask in the kitchen drawer, I noticed that it says "peatless." Hmmm. I don't savor even the thought of imbibing the stuff, but that is interesting.
#78 Massan the impractical artist and Kamoi the practical businessman continue to butt heads over peat and the unpopular smoky flavor that it instills in the distillery. Hello? The product is not selling because people don't like it. Massan insists that the recipe cannot be changed and Kamoi insists on profit over art. Kamoi asks who Massan is making whiskey for, and Massan replies it is for "those who understand." He says that he doesn't want anyone messing with his whiskey. But alas, it is not Massan's whiskey, it is the Kamoi Distillery's whiskey. Kamoi declares the situation hopeless and hires a new person, Kugayama, to oversee the blending that Massan will not do. Toshio supports Massan, and even sets up a barricade when Kamoi brings Kugayama to the distillery. Kamoi fires the entire staff. Toshio says he will go back to Hiroshima if the rest can stay. Ellie asks Massan what he is going to do, and Massan yells back that he doesn't know. Ema says she will eat her carrots if they will stop fighting. Next day Kamoi tells Massan that he is being transferred from the distillery to horror of horrors, financial management. Maybe he will learn something.
