The Fathers of Massan: What an NHK Asadora Tells Us about Japanese Fatherhood

ABSTRACT

The NHK morning drama Massan features a male protagonist who unrelentingly pursues his dream of making Scotch whisky with Japanese-grown ingredients. After spending two years studying whisky-making in Scotland, he returns to Japan in 1921 with his Scottish wife, Ellie. Over the course of the drama, we follow Masaharu Kameyama as he develops as a craftsman, a husband, and a father. Drawing on explicit statements made by the characters about husbands and fathers, this paper focuses on the conduct and culture of fatherhood as represented in Massan. Focused attention is given to three central male characters in the drama: merchant Kinjirō Kamoi, aspiring artisan Ei’ichirō Kamoi, and Masaharu Kameyama himself. Specific attention is given to dialog that focuses on work, work–life balance, and stereotypical roles of husbands and wives. We find that due to the presence of a foreign wife, overt communications regarding husband–wife roles and fathers’ responsibilities take place. Moreover, we discover that the story of one Japanese man and his foreign bride offer a bridge from the 1920s to present-day issues surrounding men’s non-performance in the domestic sphere.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Satoko Suzuki for her guidance in writing and submitting this manuscript as part of the special issue. A version of this paper was presented at the 115th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropology Association. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for the comments and critiques which have made the manuscript better. All remaining problems are ours.

Notes

¹ Although, as Agha (2011) reminds us, we cannot assume that all media consumers will receive a given media message in the same way.

² Ikumen is a shortened form of ikuji suru men, or men who raise their children.

³ As one example, see the ikumen enterprise award (ikumen kigyō awādo) given in 2016 (Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, 2016).

⁴ In this manuscript, Massan refers to the drama itself; the main character will be referred to as Masaharu (his first name in full). Ellie, his wife, gives him the nickname Massan, from which the title of the drama is taken.

⁵ The first 90 episodes were selected as this is when Massan and Ellie’s daughter is still young and quite dependent on her parents.

⁶ Taishō-era young men were known for their interest in egalitarianism, social democracy, and other ideologies which were radically different from those of their parents’ generation (Arakawa, 2006).

⁷ See Dasgupta (2017) for a concise tracing of the emergence of the gekkyūtori ‘salaried worker’, which was later to morph into the sararīman.

⁸ This is a nod to the widely embraced phrase ‘good wife, wise mother’.

⁹ See Ito, this volume, for a discussion of the depiction of Catherine’s English.

¹⁰ Through flashbacks the audience learns that, prior to going to Scotland, Masaharu assures Yūko’s father not to worry and that he will ‘take care of everything’. In the flashback, it is clear that Yūko and her family understand this to mean that Masaharu will repay his debt of studying in Scotland by marrying Yūko. Masaharu, however, is depicted as completely oblivious to this.

¹¹ Ellie uses the term taishō, ‘boss’, to refer to Ei’ichirō’s father, as he is Masaharu’s boss.

¹² Although beyond the scope of this article, throughout the drama, Ellie routinely brings about reconciliation between fathers and their children, including Kinjirō and his son as well as Nonomura, a salaryman, and his daughters.

¹³ Hidaka’s work with contemporary multi-generational families shows similar ideas – namely, an expression of regret on the part of sons who have been reared by absentee salaryman fathers; she is less clear on how contemporary fathers feel (Hidaka, 2011).

¹⁴ We learn through flashbacks that Ei’ichirō’s mother wasn’t disturbed by the workaholic nature of her husband; however, it is clear that Ei’ichirō was.

¹⁵ Of course, we find that Kinjirō’s goal is achieved when Ei’ichirō announces his heartfelt desire to become an artisan, following in Masaharu’s footsteps in learning to make whisky in Scotland, but also following his father’s (Kinjirō’s) footsteps in establishing a factory (Example 8).