Original subtitles

In Wakayama, Hatsu received a letter from Asa...

Hatsu.

Don't look like that.

It's our fault for not listening more carefully to what he had to say.

No!

I...

I can't forgive Ainosuke.

Saying those terrible things to you...

And just leaving like that.

Asa ga Kita

Week 18 "Welcome to Our Bank" Episode 106

Original Story: Chieko FURUKAWA

Screenwriter: Mika OMORI

Music by: Yuuki HAYASHI

Theme Song: "365 Nichi no Kamihikouki" Sung by: AKB48

Narrator: Keiko SUGIURA

Asa Shirooka: HARU

Shinjiro Shirooka: Hiroshi TAMAKI

Sobei Mayuyama: Tasuku EMOTO

Ume: TOMOCHIKA

Eizaburo Shirooka: Akito KIRIYAMA

Chiyo Shirooka: Fuuka KOSHIBA

Miwa: Sumika NONO

Heijuro Yamazaki: Shigeo TSUJIMOTO

Kiku Mayuyama: Hisako MANDA

Eitatsu Mayuyama: Takuro TATSUMI

Yono Shirooka: Jun FUBUKI

Hatsu Mayuyama: Aoi MIYAZAKI

A marriage prospect for your daughter?

That's right. My daughter complained to me.

She said she went to a girls' high school like

I asked, but even two years after she graduated,

it wasn't of any use at all.

Oh, my!

She always had good grades in school, so

she was able to go on to a girls' high school.

But to be honest, being able to recite the Record of

Ancient Matters by memory or being good in math isn't any good.

So I want to find her a good marriage prospect before

she's too old to marry.

Is your daughter saying she wants to get married right away?

That's the problem...

Because she's gotten all this knowledge, she

says it'll just be a waste not to use that treasure.

She's gotten so sassy.

Even if a woman obtained the ticket to learn, it was a lot

harder to get her ship going on the right path than

Asa had thought.

A marriage prospect?

I'll ask our regular customers if they know of anyone.

What I think is that women work as well as any man.

That's true. There are men who say they don't want to work.

When it comes to work, whether you're good or not has nothing

to do with whether you're a man or a woman.

We have to look at each individual.

Before the Meiji era, whether a woman took care of her

home worked in the fields or in the coal mines, they

really worked hard.

But their work was only for the sake of their family business,

or in the household, or just to learn etiquette and manners.

That's true... No matter how hard she works, this country

doesn't have the concept of a woman working, does it?

That's right. With that kind of thinking, I'm amazed that

you became a shamisen teacher and came up with the idea

to open a place like this.

I'm sure you know this, but I didn't open this place

by myself... Mr. Godai and a lot of men helped me.

Thank you for waiting.

Thank you.

You have female servers here.

When I put out an ad, it didn't take long

to get women to apply.

Just as you said, it seems there are a lot of women

who want to earn money on their own.

It brightens up the place, so it's nice, isn't it?

That's right... That's an idea.

You want to hire women as bank clerks?

We'll have them work as assistants to the bank

clerks for a while, and eventually hire them

officially as female bank clerks.

You can't do that!

You, too?

Of course! You, too, Hei-san?

Yes...

I understand that you have unconventional ideas...

But I can't accept this idea.

It's going to be difficult to let women work inside a bank.

Why?

I think it's going to be difficult for a woman to handle money.

You may say that, but the female server that you

said brightens up the place also handles money.

To put it bluntly, aren't women weak when

it comes to numbers?

That's only because up until now, women never had

the chance to properly learn the practical applications.

Do you have any other reasons?

I think it's foolish.

Up until now, there has never been a woman working

in any money changer or bank.

That's because society doesn't want a woman inside a business.

If we suddenly start hiring women here, we'll lose

all the trust that we've built up with our customers.

I understand what you're saying...

But... Because it's something that's never been done

before, if we should succeed, being the first to do it,

Kano-ya will move way ahead of the other banks.

I'll carefully select the women and only hire the ones that

we can really trust.

It's not easy to have the skills to outdo the male bank clerks,

but I'll choose the ones who have the spirit to try no

matter how hard it is, and stick it out.

I want to bring out the ability of each one of them as a

person not whether they're a man or a woman...

That's quite adventurous.

That's right, but that's why I'll find the money to pay

their salaries until we're sure we can trust them.

I'll take full responsibility for this experiment,

so please, please let me do this.

Shinjiro! What do you think of this?

Me?

That's right... Didn't you object to this idea

just like we did?

I...

...was just wondering what's going to happen if we have

women working out front, and we get some bad

customers who try to touch their butts.

There are such vulgar fellows like that around.

That's what I'm worried about.

I'll make sure to protect the precious butts of the

women who work here.

You will? In that case, then that's fine.

If we have women in our bank, it'll brighten up the place.

I can't believe you said that.

Besides, the two of you forgot one thing...

That Asa is... after a fashion... a woman.

And this woman has been working inside our store,

and handled money all the time, but she's never

made a mistake once, have you?

No, I haven't... But what did you mean by I'm a woman

after a fashion?

I can't wait to see what kind of women will

come and work for us.

That's how Kano Bank started recruiting women to work in the bank.

It's really popular, isn't it?

When the rumor spread that a woman could

work at a bank, they had about 100 women

who came to apply.

This is my daughter. I hope you'll consider her.

First, they had to take a general examination...

GENERAL EXAMINATION

Followed by a practical exam for customer service.

This is where they sifted out those who came just for the

fun of it and those who just wanted the feeling of being

a working woman.

PRACTICAL CUSTOMER SERVICE EXAM

Welcome!

Only the women who were ambitious and brimming with intelligence were chosen.

What do you think is most important in a bank?

And in the end, Asa herself interviewed the women.

Why do you want to work at our bank?

I was always at the top of my class in school,

and I'm sure I'll be of use to Kano Bank

that's considered the best in Osaka.

Why do you want to work at our bank?

To be honest, I'm not really sure myself...

But I thought if I came here, it would open

up a path for me.

That's why I came.

Rather than looks and affability, she carefully

nailed down those who were serious-minded,

fearless and tough.

In the end, she chose four women.

I'm Tsuru Takagi...

I'm Suzu Suematsu...

I'm Hato Nakagawa...

I'm Sakae Kudo.

Thank you for all your efforts.

I'm going to hire the four of you as apprentices.

I'm going to hire the four of you as apprentices

for candidates for female bank clerk.

You've lived your lives as women for over 10 years,

so I'm sure you're well aware that

this world is made so life is easier for men.

There are a lot of men around you who will

pick on every little mistake you make just waiting to

say, "See? What did I tell you," or...

"That's why women are no good."

That's what it means to work among men.

That's why you mustn't make a single mistake.

Not a single one.

I may say that, but I've made a lot of mistakes.

But let's have high ambitions.

I hate to ask you this, but please come to work an

hour earlier than the male bank clerks for a while.

On the path the four of you are about take,

there are a lot of women who want to work from now...

You're going to be the first penguins of

women who work outside the home.

You're going to open the way.

After that, Asa...

...was the first one to come to work every morning

to train the four female bank clerks she hired.

Good morning! I'll be working again today.

Good morning.

Good morning!

Ainosuke sure is spirited.

Asa already started working, didn't she?

Lately, it's not just dinner, but breakfast that she

can't eat with us.

That's because Mom really loves the bank.

She must be so happy that she found a lot of women who

are worth nurturing to work in the bank.

That's the kind of person she is.

Chiyo... You...

Meanwhile...

Hatsu had come to Osaka.