January 12, 2015
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Massan Plot Summary - Week 15
#85 MIL's funeral is over, and Massan's father is sorrowing over his go (Japanese chess) board. He tells Massan that even though MIL said that whiskey was awful, she was actually drinking it with the ancestors in front of the Buddhist altar. He tells Massan to take his time and pour his heart into making whiskey and everything will be all right. Sister Sumire, now a schoolteacher, praises Ellie for her improvement in Japanese and Japanese cooking. (But aren't these things that normal people do? It puts me off a bit to hear that kind of praise, as if a foreigner could never be expected to understand let alone master anything Japanese.) Sister Chikako brings in her son Satoru, who Ellie helped to deliver several years ago. He must be in about 5th grade. Toshio is running around in some kind of silly panic saying that he never wants to work with Massan making whiskey again. It sounds like some kind of man code for "ask me to come back." Massan and family return to Osaka, and he reports in to Kamoi. Selling whiskey was no easy task, but Hokkaido is a wonderful place, and Kamoi should build a second brewery there. This is financially impossible. Massan says that he is ready to make a whiskey that people will actually buy and asks to be sent back to work at the Yamasaki brewery. Kamoi says all right. Everyone is overjoyed to see Massan back.
#86 Massan has been reinstated as head of the brewery. He brings all the workers home for a Hokkaido style party. Ellie is not amused at the surprise, but Eiichiro pitches in to help in the kitchen. As promised, he attempts to make a whiskey that will turn a profit. He works six months at cutting back on the unpopular smokey aroma of peat without sacrificing the flavor. His heart is not really in making whiskey that is not authentic, but it can't be helped. Ellie is worried about Massan, and Eiichiro thinks that he should not compromise on the whiskey recipe.
#87 Massan receives a box of apples from Morino in Hokkaido, and fondly remembers the visit that he paid there. He continues to cut back on the peat aroma, and takes a sample of his newest blend to Kamoi who says the flavor is still too smokey. Massan suggests blending imported whiskey, but Kamoi says that he wants his whiskey totally made in Japan. Now who is being the artist? Massan says he will try again. He stops in at the Only Restaurant on the way home, where he is again told that his whiskey tastes awful and that he looks like his soul has been sucked out. Massan tries making a more drinkable peatless Japanese product, not his own ideal whiskey. Eiichiro has also become the artist, and is disappointed that Massan has given up on peat, but at this point Massan will do anything to make the whiskey appeal to the public. They take the peatless stuff to Kamoi for and it passes the taste test, but Eiichiro is against selling it. The office staff give three cheers for Massan, but at home Ellie worries that he is suffering because he doesn't really believe in what he is doing.
#88 The year is 1931. Ellie is worried about Massan because he always comes straight home and he doesn't get drunk anymore. It just isn't like him and maybe he should quit Kamoi's brewery. Massan gets mad at Ellie's suggestion. Kamoi puts out the new peatless Kamoi Red Label whiskey on the market complete with fancy ads and brewery tours, but even after a year it doesn't sell. The directors say that the whiskey is giving the company a bad name and that they should cut back on whiskey production and concentrate on beer, but Kamoi says no, they will cut back on beer and concentrate on whiskey. Massan goes back to the brewery to try, try again, and collapses beside the still. He is taken home in a stupor, and Ellie nurses him with some juice made from the apples sent by Morino in Hokkaido. Ellie thanks him for all of the efforts that he has made for everyone, but says that now he should begin thinking of himself. Massan breaks down and sobs that he doesn't know what to do anymore. The "guy from Mars" doesn't know how to solve the problem. Maybe whiskey will never sell in Japan and he is just wasting his life. Ellie tells him to quit Kamoi and make his own brewery in Hokkaido. There have been cats meowing on the set since yesterday. Is that to give us the impression of spring?
#89 Ellie has been working behind the scene again. She takes Massan to the home of their landlord Nonomura. You may remember that Ellie saved Nonomura's marriage. Nonomura knows an investor, Mr. Watari, who can financially assist Massan in setting up a brewery in Hokkaido. When Watari hears that the whiskey has to be aged five years before any profit can be made, he is about to turn Massan down, but Massan explains his plans to sell apple juice to get his new business started and set up a brewery with the profits. Watari agrees to lend him the equivalent of two million dollars if Massan can come up with another half million.
#90 Massan has still not figured out a way to come up with the money he needs, but submits his resignation to Kamoi. Kamoi was expecting this, that Massan would leave him just when he was most needed. He tells Massan that he is a scientist and an artist with no talent for management. Massan doesn't know anything about advertising or management and he should expect to encounter problems, the first one being that he can't come up with the money he needs. Kamoi tells Massan to ask him for the money, but Massan refuses. Kamoi angrily tells Massan that a manager will do anything for his company, including begging and borrowing. Massan does the full grovel on the floor to show Kamoi that he is sincerely earnest about setting up a new brewery, and Kamoi sits down, writes out a check, and hands it over to Massan as severance pay, not as a loan. He tells Massan to be a worthy rival in business, and gives Ellie a nice long hug. No objections this time.
