Original subtitles

This is the person

I truly admire.

ASA SHIROOKA

This is.

Chiyo said she wants to be a woman like you.

Children really don't turn out the way we want them to, do they?

That's so true.

Hatsu and Sobei's son, Ainosuke was officially

hired to work at Kano-ya.

Do you have any interest in women's education?

I'm thinking of establishing the first women's university in Japan.

IZUMI NARUSAWA

I want you to help me in establishing it.

I had no idea there was someone in this world

who would come up with such a wonderful idea.

What a surprise!

Asa ga Kita

Week 20 "What I Want To Talk About Now" Episode 115

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

Tadaoki Imai: Takeshi MASU

Ume: TOMOCHIKA

Chiyo Shirooka: Fuuka KOSHIBA

Izumi Narusawa: Koji SETO

Yukichi Fukuzawa: Tetsuya TAKEDA

Yono Shirooka: Jun FUBUKI

Did he come today?

He didn't come today either.

He didn't?

In that manuscript, Narusawa wrote that women should

be educated as a person as a woman, and as a citizen.

With higher education, women will find a purpose in life and

the possibility or becoming useful to society in many different areas.

Women need the ability to become independent and self-supporting

by being skilled in one area.

He had studied women's abilities, thought of where it could be

put to use, and taking a broader view of women's education

hundreds of years from now, he had come up with a plan...

A detailed plan to establish a policy for women's education.

Asa! What are you doing in a place like this?

What is she doing?

She went to look for him again today?

As soon as the dormitory class was over.

Why is she going out every day desperately looking for him?

What kind of man is this Narusawa?

He's a young, poor student-like man.

Young?

It seems he used to be a girls' school teacher.

A girls' school teacher?

And when you take a good look at him, he's quite handsome.

Handsome? I see!

I'm worried that he hasn't been home all this time.

That's right... I wonder if he's eating properly.

Oasa was worried that he might have collapsed

on the side of the road somewhere.

Why do all the women in this household have to

worry so much about him?

A man is made stronger than a woman, so

you should just let him sleep on the side of the road or anywhere.

That's what you say, but can you sleep on the road?

No! I couldn't!

Aunt Asa said that in the past, she slept up in the mountains.

Really? I wonder which one is made stronger.

That's probably when she was much younger.

I've heard so many of Asa's tales of heroic exploits

that it would take a lot for me to be surprised at what she does.

I'm home!

I couldn't find Narusawa Sensei again today.

I see you're all here...

What do you mean we're all here when you just got home...?

Are you going to eat?

Please.

Are you angry?

How can I not fret about you going around looking for a

young, handsome man who's good at handling women?

You know how deeply this manuscript touched me.

For the first time in a long time, I felt like something

just pierced my heart.

Pierced your heart?

To be honest, ever since I was little, I always

thought that women should learn the same as men.

When you were that little...?

That's true.

That's why when Mr. Narusawa said...

I'm thinking of establishing the first women's university in Japan.

At the time, I thought he must be a great

man to come up with an idea like that.

But no matter how much conviction he had,

it's an idea that's just a dream, so there's

no way it could come true.

He wasn't looking at reality.

Ideals are wonderful, but I don't think that you can do it.

Even someone like you doesn't understand!

Besides, what he said and his gestures seemed

just for show and exaggerated.

And this manuscript, too...

It seemed like he was saying, "I have this great idea...

"I'm on the side of women like you,

"so if you'll just loan me a little money..."

Which is like a lot of petitions and prospectuses that come to the hank lately.

Do you get a lot of those?

Yes. There are so many that even the manager

is troubled about it.

I'm surprised he thought of such a thing as a university for women...

That's so true. That really is an outlandish idea.

But this manuscript was entirely different from what I thought.

When I read this, I knew...

That in the near future, there's going to be a university for women in Japan.

If what's written here becomes a reality,

I'm sure there will be.

That man who isn't thinking of women in a dandy or

fanciful way... He's serious!

Just thinking about it...

Why are you crying while you talk?

But to have a man who thinks so much about women and

the future of women like this...

Asa... You really must have wanted to learn, didn't you?

No wonder she wants Chiyo to study.

This is no time to be crying.

I have to take the time to talk to him again

in the near future.

But I have to go to the coal mine again from tomorrow.

But for now...

This brings back memories...

When you were young, and sat here reading all those books about business.

It does bring back memories.

Doesn't it?

If that's what you have to say about this...

I guess I'll have to read it, too.

You mean you haven't read it yet?

How am I supposed to read it when you're

always carrying it around with you?

That's true. Pardon me.

What do you think?

About a women's university?

Yes.

I think it's a novel and eye-opening idea...

It's good to have people who want to learn,

learn as much as they want.

Whether it's a man or a woman...

It doesn't make a difference, does it?

That's true.

Come to think of it, there was a strange

man I met in Tokyo a long time ago...

If a man wants to learn a lot, and be of use

to society, then a woman should learn, a lot and

want to be of use to society...

This is inevitable.

Men and women are the same.

A woman must become independent financially

in order to live her life free from her husband and her family.

Have her own assets and take on a bigger responsibility in society.

That's what he said...

At the time, I thought it was a really eye-opening

idea, and it shook me up, but when I returned

to reality, I realized it was a still a long way off.

And now, it just hit me that Yukichi Fukuzawa

who I looked up to as my mentor, wrote in his new book...

I've seen this face before.

But, Asa... In any era, most of the people in society

are so caught up in protecting what they have now that

they turn away from any idea that's novel.

As they say, if a nail sticks out, it's hammered down...

Anything that's ahead of its time will be resented and

have obstacles thrown in its path.

So I think that it's going to be really difficult to make this idea come true.

You're right. No matter how novel the idea this young

teacher has, if it's caught in the flow of the era, it'll

just end up buried in no time at all.

That's what it is.

My husband...?

No... Advisor...

What's this? What do you need advice on?

While I'm away at the coal mine, will you

go out and find this teacher?

Don't be ridiculous!

Why would I give up my precious hobby...

I mean my precious business time,

and do something like that?

I see... I guess you couldn't do it.

Meanwhile in Kyoto, Chiyo was...

Aren't you going home?

They're telling me to come home, but...

I have a bad feeling...

That my parents are going to start asking me what

I intend to do after I graduate...

That really is troublesome, isn't it?

Every time we have a break, you always go home to Osaka, don't you?

Grandma always looks forward to my coming home.

What about Asa-Sensei... Your mother?

Mom?

When you go home, to think that Asa-Sensei is there...

No matter how many times I hear it, I don't believe it.

Let me come and visit you someday.

Sure... Come and visit.

I don't know if Mom will be there or not.

She's always going to the coal mine in Kyushu or

traveling all over the place.

I guess that's true... You must be lonely.

I'm not lonely at all.

It's normal for her to be gone, so if she's home

all of a sudden, I don't know what to talk to her about.

You mustn't say things like that.

The book I read, Asa-Sensei said that being a working

woman in Japan right at the start of the Meiji era was very difficult.

You read something Mom wrote again?

She said that the cave-in at that coal mine long

ago was her fault. She blamed herself.

That happened just when I was born.

Because of that accident, the family business

started to fail and it was only after they paid

back the debt that they finally opened the bank.

She said that the reason she couldn't devote her time to

working at that coal mine when that accident happened was

because she was pregnant and stayed home in Osaka.

She was probably talking about you.

Until then, she was working at the coal mine, but she

was busy with her baby in Osaka and just at that

time, they were shorthanded at the coal mine...

So she thinks that might have had something to

do with the accident, and she regretted.

It's probably really difficult to work harder than anyone

else and have a child to take care of, too.

You should be more grateful, Chiyo.

Chiyo felt a tightness in her heart when Nobu told her the story.