History Series / Oshin

* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler: Kiyo's plan to break up Ryuuzo and Oshin by intercepting the letters she has sent him is undone by Kouta (who writes to Ryuuzo intending to tell him that he'll look after Oshin, which leads Ryuuzo to suspect something weird's going on) and Tsuneko (who manages to find and reconstruct Oshin's cards and show them to Ryuuzo.)]]

* SpannerIntheWorks: [[spoiler: Kiyo's plan to break up Ryuuzo and Oshin by intercepting the letters she has sent him is undone by Kouta (who writes to Ryuuzo intending to tell him that he'll look after Oshin, which leads Ryuuzo to suspect something weird's going on) and Tsuneko (who manages to find Oshin's cards and show them to Ryuuzo.)]]

* StarCrossedLovers: [[spoiler: Yu and Hatsuko fall in love, but Ryuuzo isn't exactly approving of their relationship ''and'' Yu enrolls in the Army, dying some time later.]]

* TheOphelia: Oshin spends a short time as this, [[spoiler: after her and Ryuuzo's second child Ai dies soon after birth, as the corollary to the ''terrible'' times spent in Saga. She gets better when ''[[ObnoxiousInLaws Kiyo]]'' [[PetTheDog allows Oshin to breastfeed]] ''[[PetTheDog her daughter's]]'' [[PetTheDog own newborn]].]]

* CallingTheOldManOut: [[spoiler: Ryuuzo ''finally'' tells his mother to shut the Hell up and that he won't ditch Oshin, when his sis-in-law Tsuneko tells him that Kiyo was hiding Oshin's letters.]]

* InterGenerationalFriendship: A seven year old Oshin strikes one with an already adult desertor of the army, Shunsaku, who saves her life [[SnowMeansDeath when she almost freezes to death]] and lets her into his hut, teaching her how to write and read. [[spoiler: But Shunsaku is later found and shot dead for desertion, and while Oshin survives the encounter with the Army, her reputation is initally tainted ''and'' she's broken for it.]]

* YanktheDogsChain: [[spoiler: When it looks like Ryuuzo is ''finally'' going to succeed in his Saga business, a typhoon ruins the land he's been working so hard to claim. [[ThrowTheDogABone At least he decides to finally stay with Oshin and help her wholeheartily]].]]

* Fallen Princess: [[spoiler: Kayo]]

* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: [[At the same day of Hitoshi's birth, Fuji [[SoapOperaDisease starts feeling the symptoms of the disease that would eventually kill her]].]]

** [[spoiler: Oshin's mother Fuji, who dies of possible leukemia.]]

Shin "Oshin" Tanemura is the youngest daughter of a farmer family, who has to start working at age 7 because her father Sakuzou can't make ends. She, however, can barely make it through her first work and almost dies in a snowy day, and only forging a sort-of InterGenerationalFriendship with an ex-soldier saves her. Oshin's second work fares much better and she bonds with her employer's granddaughter, Kayo, plus gets something similar to an education and decides that someday, she will forge her own future. However, since her story is set in ImperialJapan plus she's a humble CountryMouse, it will NOT be an easy task... The story itself is marked as a 80-something Oshin, now a very succesful entrepreneur, explaining her humble origins to her teenage grandson Kei.

* BreakTheCutie: The plot bends over and down to break the characters and specially Oshin herself. It ''fails'' in her case, but she does come close and so do many others [[spoiler: like Oshin's sister, best friend, eldest son, and husband.]]

* FramingDevice: The series is framed by an 80-something year old Oshin telling the story to her beloved grandson Kei.

Shin "Oshin" Tanemura is the youngest daughter of a farmer family, who has to start working at age 7 because her father Sakuzou can't make ends. She, however, can barely make it through her first work and almost dies in a snowy day, and only forging a sort-of InterGenerationalFriendship with an ex-soldier saves her. Oshin's second work fares much better and she bonds with her employer's granddaughter, Kayo, plus gets something similar to an education and decides that someday, she will forge her own future. However, since her story is set in ImperialJapan plus she's a humble CountryMouse, it will NOT be an easy task... The story itself is marked as a 60-something Oshin, now a very succesful entrepreneur, explaining her humble origins to her teenage grandson Kei.

* FramingDevice: The series is framed by an 83-year old Oshin telling the story to her beloved grandson Kei.

* TheOphelia: Oshin spends a short time as this, [[spoiler: after her and Ryuuzo's second child Ai dies soon after birth, as the corollary to the ''terrible'' times spent in Saga. She gets better when ''[[ObnoxiousInLaws Kiyo]]'' [[PetTheDog allows Oshin to breastfeed]] ''[[PetTheDog her daughter's]]''[[PetTheDog own newborn]].]]

* TheOphelia: Oshin spends a short time as this, [[spoiler: after her and Ryuuzo's second child Ai dies soon after birth, as the corollary to the ''terrible'' times spent in Saga. She gets better when ''[[ObnoxiousInLaws Kiyo]]'' [[PetTheDog allows Oshin to breastfeed ''her daughter's'' own newborn]].]]

* TheOphelia: Oshin spends a short time as this, [[spoiler: after her and Ryuuzo's second child Ai dies soon after birth, as the corollary to the ''terrible'' times spent in Saga. She gets better when her sister-in-law, Atsuko, allows Oshin to breastfeed ''her'' own newborn.]]

Oshin (おしん, ''Oshin'') is a TV morning drama (''asadora'') aired in 1983 by NHK. It lasted 273 episodes, each one 15 minutes long. Its script writer, Sugako Hashida, said that the story's based on the real life of a woman named Katsu Wada, the mother of the Japanese entrepreneur Ryouhei Wada, founder of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaohan Yaohan supermarket chain.]]

Shin "Oshin" Tanemura is the youngest daughter of a farmer family, who has to start working at age 7 because her father Sakuzou can't make ends. She, however, can barely make it through her first work and almost dies in a snowy day, and only forging a sort-of InterGenerationalFriendship with an ex-soldier saves her. Oshin's second work fares much better and she bonds with her employer's granddaughter, Kayo, plus gets something similar to an education and decides that someday, she will forge her own future. However, since her story is set in ImperialJapan plus she's a humble CountryMouse, it will NOT be an easy task...

* CallingTheOldManOut: [[spoiler: Ryuuzo ''finally'' tells his mother to shut the Hell up and that he won't ditch Oshin, when Tsuneko tells him that Kiyo was hiding Oshin's letters.]]

* ImperialJapan: The story begins in 1907 (Meiji era) and goes through the Taisho and Showa ones, including the 1923 Kanto earthquake [[spoiler: (where Ryuuzo and Oshin lose their first business and are forced to live with Ryuuzo's family afterwards, with his mother treating Oshin like crap)]] and WorldWarTwo (where among many other hardships, [[spoiler: the family's eldest son Yu dies in the war itself, their business collapses ''again'', their hometown of Ise is bombed and Ryuuzo commits suicide in despair]])
* INeverGotAnyLetters: Oshin believes that Ryuuzo has dumped her when she stops receiving letters from him after moving to Sakata. [[spoiler: It turns out Kiyo intercepted their correspondence, however, so he didn't even ''know'' she had left Tokyo.]]
* InterGenerationalFriendship: A seven year old Oshin strikes one with an already adult desertor of the army, Shunsaku, who saves her life [[SnowMeansDeath when she almost freezes to death]] and lets her into his hut, teaching her how to write and read. [[spoiler: But Shunsaku is later found and shot dead for desertion, and while Oshin survives the encounter with the Army, her reputation is initally tainted.]]

* ParentalMarriageVeto: Ryuuzo's parents Daigoro and Kiyo didn't like their son marrying beneath his station, whereas Oshin's dad Sakuzou didn't approve of her marrying Ryuuzo as he feared to lose her economic help ''and'' later got very angry on her behalf when [[IdiotBall Genji badmouthed Oshin in the middle of his visit.]]

* StarCrossedLovers: [[spoiler: Yu and Hatsuko fall in love, but Ryuuzo isn't exactly approving of their relationship ''and'' later Yu enrolls in the Army, dying some time later.]]

* ActualPacifist: Oshin is this, thanks to her friendship with Shunsaku [[spoiler: and its tragic end.]] Not only she's increasingly disturbed as ImperialJapan becomes more militarized, when [[spoiler: Takeshi is drafted into the military itself]], she breaks down in tears and thinks that she's failed to her first friend.

* CallingTheOldManOut: [[spoiler: Ryuuzo ''finally'' tells his mother to shut the Hell up and that he won't ditch Oshin, when Atsuko tells him that Kiyo was hiding Oshin's letters.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Genji dies protecting little Takeshi in the Kanto earthquake, shielding the boy with his own body.]]

* ImperialJapan: The story begins in 1907 (Meiji era) and goes through the Taisho and Showa ones, including the 1923 Kanto earthquake [[spoiler: (where Ryuuzo and Oshin lose their first business and are forced to live with Ryuuzo's family afterwards, with his mother treating Oshin like crap)]] and WorldWarTwo (where among many other hardships, [[spoiler: the family's eldest son Takeshi dies in the war itself, their business collapses ''again'', their hometown of Ise is bombed and Ryuuzo commits suicide in despair]])

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler: Two of Oshin and Ryuuzo's kids, Takeshi and Ai, perish through the story.]]

** [[spoiler: Kouta]] offers to be one for [[spoiler: Oshin's son Takeshi]], believing that [[spoiler: Ryuuzo has ditched the two of them. Oshin isn't too kin on the idea, and later it turns out Ryuuzo has ''not'' ditched his wife and kid.]]

** [[spoiler: Hatsuko works in one of these after the war, as a way to cope with Takeshi's death. Oshin gets her out of it, too.]]

* {{Seppuku}}: [[spoiler: Ryuuzo's suicide counts as this since he shoots himself dead after the death of his and Oshin's son Takeshi ''and'' his definitive economic ruin at the end of WorldWarTwo, believing that he has failed to Oshin in absolutely unforgiveable ways.]]
* SpannerIntheWorks: [[spoiler: Kiyo's plan to break up Ryuuzo and Oshin by intercepting the letters she has sent him is undone by Kouta (who writes to Ryuuzo intending to tell him that he'll look after Oshin, which leads Ryuuzo to suspect something weird's going on) and Atsuko (who manages to find Oshin's cards and show them to Ryuuzo.)]]
* StarCrossedLovers: [[spoiler: Takeshi and Hatsuko fall in love, but Ryuuzo isn't exactly approving of their relationship ''and'' later Takeshi enrolls in the Army, dying some time later.]]

* WorldWarTwo: Oshin is not only troubled by the increasing militarization of her country and Ryuuzo's involvement in right-wing circles, but because she's always been a pacifist ''and'' [[spoiler: has never forgotten her first friend Shunsaku's death.]] For worse, [[spoiler: her older sons Takeshi and Hitoshi want ''badly'' to enroll in the military, and not only Takeshi does but he ''dies'' of malaria in the Philippines.]]

* ShippingTorpedo: Not only Oshin ''and'' Ryuuzo's parents oppose to their wedding, but the OldRetainer Genji also thinks she's not worthy of his "young master". He even gets into a hug verbal spat with Oshin's father Sakuzou [[KickTheDog when he insults Oshin to her face]].

Shin "Oshin" Tanemura is the youngest daughter of a farmer family, who has to start working at age 7 because her father can't make ends. She, however, can barely make it through her first work and almost dies in a snowy day, and only forging a sort-of InterGenerationalFriendship with an ex-soldier saves her. Oshin's second work fares much better and she bonds with her employer's granddaughter, Kayo, plus gets something similar to an education and decides that someday, she will forge her own future. However, since her story is set in ImperialJapan plus she's a humble CountryMouse, it will NOT be an easy task...

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: The OldRetainer Genji dies protecting little Takeshi in the Kanto earthquake, shielding the boy with his own body.]]

* ImperialJapan: The story begins in 1907 (Meiji era) and goes through the Taisho and Showa ones, including the 1923 Kanto earthquake [[spoiler: (where Ryuuzo and Oshin lose their first business and are forced to live with Ryuuzo's family, with his mother treating Oshin like crap)]] and WorldWarTwo (where among many other hardships, [[spoiler: the family's eldest son Takeshi dies in the war itself, their business collapses ''again'', their hometown of Ise is bombed and Ryuuzo commits suicide in despair]])

* ParentalMarriageVeto: Ryuuzo's parents Daigoro and Kiyo didn't like their son marrying beneath his station, whereas Oshin's dad Sakuzou didn't approve of her marrying Ryuuzo as he feared to lose her economic help ''and'' later got very angry on her behalf when [[IdiotBall Genji badmouthed Oshin in the middle of a visit.]]

** Ken is intending to sell a little girl named Hatsuko into cleaning work to [[WorkOffTheDebt work off her parents' debts]], but the Tanokuras take her in and with time she pretty much becomes another daughter.

* KimonoIsTraditional: Oshin, as a YamatoNadeshiko and CountryGirl, always wears kimonos and arranges her hair in the traditional Japanese style. This also offers a contrast with her LoveInterest Ryuuzo, who almost always dresses in [[SharpDressedMan Western suits.]]

* CareerEndingInjury: [[spoiler: Oshin suffers one in Saga, which hinders her from retaking her initial hairdressing work.]]

* ParentalMarriageVeto: Oshin's dad Sakuzou didn't approve of her marrying Ryuuzo as he feared to lose her economic help, whereas Ryuuzo's parents Daigoro and Kiyo didn't like him marrying beneath his station.

* ActualPacifist: Oshin is this, thanks to her friendship with Shunsaku [[spoiler: and its tragic end.]] Not only she's increasingly disturbed as ImperialJapan becomes more militarized, when [[spoiler: Yuu is drafted into the military itself]], she breaks down in tears and thinks that she's failed to her first friend.

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: The OldRetainer Genji dies protecting little Yuu in the Kanto earthquake, shielding the boy with his own body.]]

* ImperialJapan: The story begins in 1907 (Meiji era) and goes through the Taisho and Showa ones, including the 1923 Kanto earthquake [[spoiler: (where Ryuuzo and Oshin lose their first business and are forced to live with Ryuuzo's family, with his mother treating Oshin like crap)]] and WorldWarTwo (where among many other hardships, [[spoiler: the family's eldest son Yuu dies in the war itself, their business collapses ''again'', their hometown of Ise is bombed and Ryuuzo commits suicide in despair]])

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler: Two of Oshin and Ryuuzo's kids, Yuu and Ai, perish through the story.]]

** [[spoiler: Kouta]] offers to be one for [[spoiler: Oshin's son Yuu]], believing that [[spoiler: Ryuuzo has ditched the two of them. Oshin isn't too kin on the idea, and later it turns out Ryuuzo has ''not'' ditched them.]]

** [[spoiler: Hatsuko works in one of these after the war, as a way to cope with Yuu's death. Oshin gets her out of it, too.]]

* {{Seppuku}}: [[spoiler: Ryuuzo's suicide counts as this since he shoots himself dead after the death of his and Oshin's son Yuu ''and'' his definitive economic ruin at the end of WorldWarTwo, believing that he has failed to Oshin in absolutely unforgiveable ways.]]

* StarCrossedLovers: [[spoiler: Yuu and Hatsuko fall in love, but Ryuuzo isn't exactly approving of their relationship ''and'' later Yuu enrolls in the Army, dying some time later.]]

* WorldWarTwo: Oshin is not only troubled by the increasing militarization of her country and Ryuuzo's involvement in right-wing circles, but because she's always been a pacifist ''and'' [[spoiler: has never forgotten Shunsaku's death.]] For worse, [[spoiler: her older sons Yuu and Hitoshi want ''badly'' to enroll in the military, and not only Yuu does but he ''dies'' of malaria in the Philippines.]]

Oshin (おしん, ''Oshin'') is a TV morning drama (''asadora'') aired in 1983 by NHK. It lasted 273 episodes, each one 15 minutes long. Its script writer, Sugako Hashida, said that the story's based on the real life of a woman amed Katsu Wada, the mother of the Japanese entrepreneur Ryouhei Wada, founder of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaohan Yaohan supermarket chain.]]

The series itself was this close to not be aired since it included a not very flattering view of ImperialJapan's classism, lack of free speech and increasing militarization through the first part of the 19th century. The head of NHK, however, gave it his seal of approval, which turned out to be a great idea since the series itself was a hit in Japan and in many other countries, specially in the Middle East and some parts of Latin America. The actresses Ayako Kobayashi, Yuuko Tanaka and Nobuko Otowa portrayed the main character through the years.

* INeverGotAnyLetters: Oshin believes that Ryuuzo has dumped her when she stops receiving letters from him after moving to Sakata. [[spoiler: It turns out Kiyo intercepted their correspondence, however.]]

* MiddleChildSyndrome: A big part of Ryuuzo's mindset seems to come from this trope, as he's the third son of the Tanokura family and feels that he needs to prove himself to his parents.
* MistakenForCheating: [[spoiler: When Oshin is working in a Tokyo food stall with her ''yakuza'' friend Ken (who secretly loves her), Ken's girlfriend mistakenly believes that she's his lover. Oshin decides to leave since she doesn't want to get in trouble ''again''.]]

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The series is more or less set as one, since it begins in 1983 with an old Oshin who's now a very prosper entrepreneur, who tells her beloved grandson Kei about the story of her life...
* WorldWarTwo: Oshin is not only troubled by the increasing militarization of her country and Ryuuzo's involvement in right-wing circles, but because she's always been a pacifist ''and'' [[spoiler: she's never forgotten Shunsaku's death.]] For worse, [[spoiler: her older sons Yuu and Hitoshi want ''badly'' to enroll in the military, and not only Yuu does but he ''dies'' of malaria in the Philippines.]]

* YanktheDogsChain: [[spoiler: When it looks like Ryuuzo is ''finally'' going to succeed in his business in Saga, a typhoon ruins the land he's been working so hard to claim. [[ThrowTheDogABone At least he decides to finally stay with Oshin and help her wholeheartily]].]]

* ActualPacifist: Oshin is this, after her friendship with Shusaku [[spoiler: and its tragic end.]] Not only she's increasingly disturbed as ImperialJapan becomes more militarized, when [[spoiler: Yuu is drafted into the military itself]], she breaks down in tears.

* ImperialJapan: The story begins in 1907 (Meiji era) and goes through the Taisho and Showa ones, including the 1923 Kanto earthquake [[spoiler: (where Ryuuzo and Oshin lose their first business and are forced to live with Ryuuzo's family, with his family treating Oshin like crap)]] and WorldWarTwo (where among many other hardships, [[spoiler: the family's eldest son Yuu dies in the war itself, their business collapses ''again'', their hometown of Ise is bombed and Ryuuzo commits suicide in despair]])

* MeddlingParents: While Ryuuzo's father Daigoro eventually warms up to Oshin, his mother Kiyo ''really'' hates her and makes her life VERY hard [[spoiler: when Ryuuzo and Oshin are forced to live with his parents in Saga and work the fields to earn their keep.]] She later goes as far as [[spoiler: hiding Oshin's letters to Ryuuzo when she works on her own in Tokyo and then in her natal Sakata, which leads Oshin and Kayo to believe that he's abandoned her.]]

* TheOphelia: Oshin spends some time as this, [[spoiler: after her and Ryuuzo's second child Ai dies soon after birth, as the corollary to the ''terrible'' times spent in Saga. She gets better when her sister-in-law, Atsuko, allows Oshin to breastfeed ''her'' own newborn.]]

* {{Polyamory}}: Discussed by Ryuuzo and the family retainer Genji, who tells Ryuuzo to marry two women as a way to dodge the ParentalMarriageVeto. Ryuuzo refuses, however, as he considers it immoral. [[spoiler: This is actually what causes Mr. Tanokura to approve of Oshin.]]

** [[spoiler: Kouta]] offers to be one for [[spoiler: Oshin's eldest son Yuu]], believing that [[spoiler: Ryuuzo has ditched the two of them. Oshin isn't too kin on the idea.]]
** [[spoiler: After Kayo's death, Oshin takes Kayo and Masaru's orphaned son Nozomi into the Tanekura household. Nozomi doesn't learn his origins until later.]]
** Ken is intending to sell a little girl named Hatsuko into cleaning work, but Oshin and Ryuuzo take her in and with time she pretty much becomes another daughter.

* RebelliousPrincess: Kayo is this since she develops a interest in the arts, doesn't want to take over the family business, and wants to MarryForLove. [[spoiler: It doesn't work well for her, [[KilltheCutie sadly]].]]
* RedLightDistrict: Oshin and her yakuza friend Ken find [[spoiler: Kayo]] in one of these, working as prostitute after [[spoiler: her husband has gambled the family's fortune away and killed himself ''and'' her parents have died, leaving her destitute.]]

* {{Seppuku}}: [[spoiler: Ryuuzo's suicide counts as this since he shoots himself dead after the death of his and Oshin's son Yuu ''and'' his definitive economic ruin at the end of WorldWarTwo.]]
* SpannerIntheWorks: [[spoiler: Kiyo's plan to break up Ryuuzo and Oshin by intercepting the letters she has sent him is undone by Ryuuzo's sister Atsuko, who manages to find Oshin's cards and show them to Ryuuzo.]]

* YamatoNadeshiko: Oshin is one of the most perfect incarnations of the archetype, as she's strongwilled and plucky but also kind, sweet and duty-bound.

Oshin (おしん, ''Oshin'') is a TV morning drama (''asadora'') aired in 1983 by NHK. It lasted 273 episodes, each one 15 minutes long. Its script writer, Sugako Hashida, said that the story's based on the real life of a woman amed Katsu Wada, the mother of the Japanese entrepreneur Kazuo Wada, founder of the Yaohan supermarket chain.