January 19, 2015
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Massan Plot Summary - Week 16
#91 This week starts out with a going away party at the Only Restaurant in Town. Is this also goodbye for the cast members of the Osaka set? Katherine tells Ellie all kinds of scary stories about Hokkaido in hopes that she won't go, to the tune of Auld Lang Syne in the background. There is a lot of crying and hugging and singing Auld Lang Syne. Later, Massan gets a visit from Mr. Tanaka, his former boss from the Sumiyoshi brewery. They share a drink out on the porch, and Tanaka leaves Massan with the words, "Whiskey tastes awful!" (Um, then why did he bother to send Massan to study about it for two years?) Tanaka tells Massan to remember that his dream is Tanaka's dream, too, so Massan should do his job well. Massan promises Tanaka the first drink of the whiskey that he makes in Hokkaido. Ellie feels thankful that they have been supported by so many. Mr. Scenario Writer, it seems a bit strange that she was not thankful enough to show her face during Tanaka's visit.
Several days later Massan and family depart for Hokkaido. Ellie is sporting a new, slightly matronly hairstyle. She cannot hide her excitement over how similar Hokkaido is to her native Scotland, but when they get to Yoichi to visit Mr. Morino (the one who sent the apples) they find him brandishing a sizable hunk of firewood at some fellow for reasons we know not. Said fellow escapes, but Ellie is scared silly enough to yell at Morino in English (Don't you dare harm my daughter) and Massan is sillier yet to translate what she says into a congenial Japanese greeting. Come on, Mr. S. Writer, we all know that you have created an Ellie who can speak and understand Japanese perfectly and that such an exchange would never take place. At least she didn't sing Auld Lang Syne.
#92 Ellie has recovered from her initial shock at meeting Morino. The fellow who Morino chased out had come to borrow money from him. The fellow goes to a barbershop and demands Morino's brother in law to pay him back. Not sure what that is all about. Morino says that Massan is going to need to get some land and people to build his brewery, and that he can recommend some good workers. Ellie is used to the Osaka dialect and is having trouble understanding Morino's Japanese. In comes Morino's daughter Hana who greets Ellie in English, and Ellie is amazed at her ability. (For goodness sake, saying nice to meet you does not mean that you are fluent in English.) Morino is going to have a nice dinner for the newcomers and that means meat on the table. He tells his son Kazuma to take care of it, but Kazuma does not seem too anxious to help out. They don't really seem to get on well, and Morino says it is because Kazuma has studied too much.
#93 We are having a few of yesterday's questions answered today. Massan and Ellie go to negotiate a land purchase saying that Morino sent them, and are chased out. It seems that Morino has run up a lot of debt in town and that his name is mud. Even Morino's brother in law Susumu refuses to do business with Massan, and tells Massan to go back to Osaka. Morino's situation has taken a turn for the worse because the seasonal schools of herrings have not been coming for two years. He has no boats and cannot hire anyone to man them. He even tries to borrow the money that Massan borrowed in Osaka, promising to pay back three times the amount he borrowed in the spring.
#94 Massan pays a visit to Morino's brother in law Susumu to find out his side of the story. Susumu tells about the samurai origins of his family. After the Meiji Restoration the family was forcibly resettled from Aizu to Hokkaido. They never lost their pride, and struggled to establish an apple business from the roots up. Susumu challenges Massan to reexamine his determination. Ellie is at Morino's, and asks Morino about a picture on the wall. It is Morino's dead wife, who followed him to Hokkaido to marry in spite of the opposition of her parents. Morino's father had wanted him to continue in the family apple orchards, but Morino fell out with him when he started up the herring business. He has been considered a traitor to the family ever since. His wife married him anyway, but then died during an epidemic before she could live in the spacious house that he built for her.
#95 Brother in law Susumu and a herring business worker burst into Morino's to collect the deed to his property. Son Kazuma hands it over to them as the only way to get out of the debts that Morino's failed herring business has run up. Morino is furious and gets out an heirloom sword, but cannot even get it out of the scabbard because it has rusted in place. He and Kazuma exchange blows, and Massan tells Kazuma to stop, because it is never right for a son to hit his father. Kazuma says that Morino killed his mother with his recklessness, but Ellie tells Kazuma that his father really loved his mother. Hana tells Kazuma that he doesn't remember how much his mother looked forward to living in this house because he was too small. Morino breaks down. He wanted so much to make her happy and to make a real home for his family, but that he was not in time. His home was a part of his dream, and he never wants to give it up. He tells Massan to continue his dream by taking over ownership of his land.
#96 Morino asks Massan to inherit and continue his dream and hands him the deed to his land. Massan tells Morino that he was so inspired by Morino's words and pioneer spirit that he left Osaka for Hokkaido. Morino was the wind beneath his wings, and Massan vows to restore the property to its former glory. Yoichi is the home of herrings and apples, and soon it will be the home of whiskey! He asks Morito and his family to help him, and Massan, Ellie and Morito all do a full bow to Susumo to ask for his help with providing apples. Massan will stabilize the business by producing apple juice, and then he will turn his efforts to whiskey. Susumu is amazed that Morito has finally bowed before him, and agrees to provide the needed apples. Morito will certainly help Massan, but if the herrings return he will go back to fishing. Massan, Ellie, Morito, Kasuma and Hana all engage in a group handshake of solidarity.
Fast forward one year. The apple production is in full swing in a new factory. Morito and his family have a house on the land, and Morito's "House of Herring" has become a dining hall for the eight new workers. Massan and Ellie also move into a new home with a western kitchen and a tatami bedroom. Ellie wants to sleep Japanese style on futons on the floor. (Wait until she spends her first winter and she may change her mind.) Toshio shows up from Hiroshima to help with the whiskey business, but is so disappointed that there is nothing but apple juice that he heads out the door to buy a return ticket to Hiroshima. Of course someone has to bang him with the door, and that someone happens to be Morino's daughter Hana. It is love at first sight and Toshio decides to stay.
