Details
Title: Wakaba / わかば
Episodes: 151 episodes x 15 minutes
Genre: Morning drama / asadora / Family
Air time: Monday thru Saturday mornings 8:15am
Viewership: Ep1=18.9, High=19.9, Avg=17.0
Broadcast network: NHK
Broadcast period: 2004-Sep-27 to 2005-Mar-26
Theme Song: Naitari Shinaide by Fukuyama Masaharu
Synopsis
The 71st Drama Serial is titled Wakaba. The story is about a young woman who becomes a landscape gardener following her father’s wishes. Wakaba, born and brought up in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, lived happily with her parents and younger brother until the Great Hanshin Earthquake shook and destroyed the city in 1995. In the disaster, Wakaba loses her father, who was an architect and moves with her mother and brother to Obi, old castle town in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, where her grandmother lives with her uncle and aunt. Living in Obi’s rich natural environment, Wakaba learns that plants can heal people’s hearts. She makes a resolution to return to Kobe and reconstruct the city abundant in greenery. After graduating from university, she returns to Kobe and starts working as a gardener with help of her grandfather on her father’s side who is an experienced arborist and gardener. Her goal is to realize her father’s dream to have housing surrounded by plants and trees. Through Wakaba’s experiences in Miyazaki and Kobe, the story portrays her struggle and challenge at work and the key events in life, together with the "recovery‿ of the Kobe city and her family.
Cast
Harada Natsuki as Takahara Wakaba (heroine)
Tanaka Yuko as Takahara Utako (Wakaba's mom)
Naitou Takashi as Takahara Koichi (Wakaba's dad)
Sakimoto Hiromi as Takahara Hikaru
Minamida Yoko as Murakami Nobu
Saigo Teruhiko as Murakami Kotaro
Saito Keiko as Murakami Yukie
Azuma Chizuru as Ou Shigemi
Ayado Chie as Hitomi Shizuku
Tsukamoto Takashi as Tani Jyunichi
Ishimoto Kouji as Ou Seijyun
Yamaguchi Sayaka as Fujikura Aki
Orimoto Junkichi as Takahara Eizo
Kamo Sakura as Fujikura Nagisa
Kyo Nobuo as Fujikura Masaya
Uchino Kenta as Murakami Keita
Yamanouchi Meibi as Yamashita Atsuko
Fujisawa Siho as Sano Takako
Nihei Yuko as Yoshimura Eri
Kuroda Fukumi as Fujikura Noriko
Tanaka Ryuzo as Fujikura Tamotsu
Melanie Green as Judy
Sakaguchi Azusa as Ou Mika
Sumita Takashi Osaki Shinpei
Shofukutei Matsunosuke as Mishima Hidekazu
Banba Hirofumi as Igawa Kazuyuki
Asahina Kiyoko as Igawa Toshiko
Yamanishi Atsushi as Yamaoka Tetsuo
Koyabu Kazutoyo as Sugimoto Yasuhiru
Matsuda Miyuki (guest)
Production Credits
Scenario: Bisai Kenichi
Production: Watanabe Yoshio, Kurosaki Hiroshi, Fukui Mitsuhiro
Producer: Kobayashi Chihiro
Notes
NHK aired a four-part encore Wakaba Highlights series in late December 2005. Air dates: 2005-12-29 (Part 1) 8:15-9:00, 2005-12-29 (Part 2) 9:10-9:55, 2005-12-30 (Part 3) 9:10-9:55, and 2005-12-31 (Part 4) 9:10-9:54. All times JST. No repeats are scheduled.
