Feb. 18th, 2016 01:58 pm
Meitantei Katherine 2015 SP: Drama Notes
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
earth_colorsHere are some notes for the SP Drama, Metantei Katherine 2015:
The Catherine Series [キャサリンシリーズ]. It is a series of mystery novels and short stories written by Yamamura Misa, centering on an American character, Catherine Fox who solves mysteries in Japan. It started off with the novel "Hana no Hitsugi" released in 1979 (which this SP is based on). It has been adapted as mystery specials on TV.
(info: ja.wiki) (pix: amazon1, amazon2)
Yamamura Misa [山村美紗] (1931-1996). The author primarily wrote mysteries and is known as the "Agatha Christie" of Japan. She was born in 1931 in Korea where her father worked as a professor in a law school. After the war, she and her family moved back to Japan, and lived in Kyoto where she graduated from Kyoto Prefectural University Women's Junior College, majoring in Language Arts. She worked as a language teacher for a while. Her first work, published in 1970, "Keijo no Shi" was a candidate of the Ranpo Edogawa Award. Her life as a famous author began since then. Most of her works has Kyoto as the main setting. She also integrates Japanese traditional arts like flower arrangement, dance, and tea ceremony into her stories. Her works have been adapted into TV specials as well as on stage, and even in the form of computer games. Incidentally, her real life daughter, Yamamura Momiji, is an actress, and appeared in this SP, playing the role of Hamaguchi's lab assistant, Mimeko (In the 1997 adaptation, she also portrayed the character of Shin-ryu schoolmaster, Yamano Hanako).
(info: ja.wiki) (pic: laughy)
Hana no Hitsugi [花の棺]. Title means "Flowers for a Coffin". It was first published in 1979, and is considered a mystery masterpiece. Differences of the SP from the book: In the SP, she is 29 years old, and is in charge of her family's flower shop chain business. In the original story, since Catherine is still a young college student, her purpose for staying in Japan is to learn ikebana. The ikebana schoolmasters are vying for her attention, because it would be beneficial for them if a high profile celebrity like her enrolls in their school. Meanwhile in the book, Hamaguchi Ichiro is a university professor's assistant (he was also introduced in this story, serving as Catherine's escort, and eventually became her boyfriend in the succeeding stories). Also, the locked room mystery of the tea house happened on a snowy day, and so the "no-footprints-in-the-snow" scenario in the book was not included in the SP.
Catherine (Katherine) Turner. In case you're wondering how it is spelled, based on the url of the websites of the dramas prior to this SP, it has always been spelled with a C. I believe in this latest adaptation, it was changed to a "K" maybe to honor actress Charlotte Kate Fox, since she is a "Kate" after all. And maybe to differentiate this TV Asahi SP from the TBS's 1996-2006 "Meitantei Catherine" series. BTW, the name "Catherine Turner" in katakana can be construed as Kathleen Turner, the actress.
Catherine is an American fictional character from New York. She is known as a lovely woman with an impeccable fashion style. She is the only daughter of a rich family, having the Vice President of the US for a father. She first appeared in the novel, "Hana no Hitsugi", as a 20 year old third year college student of Columbia University, accompanying her father on a visit to Japan. She stayed behind to study ikebana, and went on to solve the mystery behind a succession of murders. Her description according to this book, states that she has "gentle waves of blonde hair, shiny pink skin... a beautiful girl wearing an innovative orange dress."
Other actresses who portrayed Catherine. Charlotte Kate Fox is the first real American actress to portray Catherine/Katherine. The other actresses were Japanese or were of mixed ancestry. These are (with pics above from left to right):Shelley. As mentioned above, she was the first "Catherine". She was a singer with a Japanese mother and French father. (info: ja.wiki) (pic: urbigfatmom)
Marian. A talent and model. She portrayed Catherine in a 1988 drama special "Kyōezara no Himitsu Satsujin" under Kansai Fuji TV. She is half Japanese and half American. (info: ja.wiki) (pic: tv-ranking)
Hiroko Grace. She is a talent with a Japanese mother and Dutch-American father. She played the said role in the 1990 SP drama "Shi wo Yobu Daigo no Sakuragari 401-gōshitsu no Onna" under Kansai Fuji TV. (info: wiki) (pic: from her blog eigotown)
Katase Rino. Among the four, she is the actress best known to have portrayed the character (although it has been changed from American to Japanese). She played Kiasa Rinko (which sounds like "Catherine-ko" so she is nicknamed "Catherine"), the daughter of the president and works as a photographer. She played that role for 10 years (1996-2006), in several drama SPs under Fuji TV, called "Meitantei Catherine". Above last pic is from the 1997 3rd installment SP, "Hana no Hitsugi" with Katase as Catherine and Tokoshima Yoshiko as Kujo Reiko. (info: wiki) (pic: tbs)
"Ai San San" [愛燦燦]. The song that was sung in this SP, befitting Maiko and Kazuhiko's love story. It was a 1986 single of Misora Hibari, composed and written by Ogura Kei. It has also been sung by other artists. It has a gentle melody and wonderful lyrics, with a clever play on the word "san-san". To watch Ms. Hibari perform it, go here. For a discussion on the lyrics translation: go here.
(info: ja.wiki)
Hanakotaba [花言葉]. In Japanese, it means the language of flowers. In this episode, the flower "Bergamo" referred to here, as symbolizing "forbidden love" is fiction (it actually looked like Star Gazer lily to me, above pic). In the west, flowers that may mean "forbidden love" are said to be tuberose, honeyflowers, and pansies.
(info: wiki, ecbdflowerstore, wiki2) (pic: wiki3)
Horikawa Dori [堀川通り]. The street or avenue that was featured prominently in this story. It is one of the major north-south roads in Kyoto City. There are several landmarks located here, including several shrines and temples. More prominently known places are Nijo Castle and Modoribashi bridge at Ichijo-Horikawa. Recently, the Horikawa River which was buried in concrete for 55 years (for fear it may cause flooding), has been "resurrected" in 2006 as a small brook, adjacent to Horikawa-dori.
(info/pic: ja.wiki)
For SP synopsis and subs: (link)
The Catherine Series [キャサリンシリーズ]. It is a series of mystery novels and short stories written by Yamamura Misa, centering on an American character, Catherine Fox who solves mysteries in Japan. It started off with the novel "Hana no Hitsugi" released in 1979 (which this SP is based on). It has been adapted as mystery specials on TV.
(info: ja.wiki) (pix: amazon1, amazon2)
Yamamura Misa [山村美紗] (1931-1996). The author primarily wrote mysteries and is known as the "Agatha Christie" of Japan. She was born in 1931 in Korea where her father worked as a professor in a law school. After the war, she and her family moved back to Japan, and lived in Kyoto where she graduated from Kyoto Prefectural University Women's Junior College, majoring in Language Arts. She worked as a language teacher for a while. Her first work, published in 1970, "Keijo no Shi" was a candidate of the Ranpo Edogawa Award. Her life as a famous author began since then. Most of her works has Kyoto as the main setting. She also integrates Japanese traditional arts like flower arrangement, dance, and tea ceremony into her stories. Her works have been adapted into TV specials as well as on stage, and even in the form of computer games. Incidentally, her real life daughter, Yamamura Momiji, is an actress, and appeared in this SP, playing the role of Hamaguchi's lab assistant, Mimeko (In the 1997 adaptation, she also portrayed the character of Shin-ryu schoolmaster, Yamano Hanako).
(info: ja.wiki) (pic: laughy)
Hana no Hitsugi [花の棺]. Title means "Flowers for a Coffin". It was first published in 1979, and is considered a mystery masterpiece. Differences of the SP from the book: In the SP, she is 29 years old, and is in charge of her family's flower shop chain business. In the original story, since Catherine is still a young college student, her purpose for staying in Japan is to learn ikebana. The ikebana schoolmasters are vying for her attention, because it would be beneficial for them if a high profile celebrity like her enrolls in their school. Meanwhile in the book, Hamaguchi Ichiro is a university professor's assistant (he was also introduced in this story, serving as Catherine's escort, and eventually became her boyfriend in the succeeding stories). Also, the locked room mystery of the tea house happened on a snowy day, and so the "no-footprints-in-the-snow" scenario in the book was not included in the SP.
This story was first made into an SP drama in 1979 under TV Asahi (pic above) but the main protagonist was changed to a detective (originally Hamaguchi's character) portrayed by Fujita Makoto, and the character of Catherine was played by Shelley. Next, in 1997, it was one of the series of drama SPs, starring Katase Rino, as Kiasa Rinko.
Catherine (Katherine) Turner. In case you're wondering how it is spelled, based on the url of the websites of the dramas prior to this SP, it has always been spelled with a C. I believe in this latest adaptation, it was changed to a "K" maybe to honor actress Charlotte Kate Fox, since she is a "Kate" after all. And maybe to differentiate this TV Asahi SP from the TBS's 1996-2006 "Meitantei Catherine" series. BTW, the name "Catherine Turner" in katakana can be construed as Kathleen Turner, the actress.
Catherine is an American fictional character from New York. She is known as a lovely woman with an impeccable fashion style. She is the only daughter of a rich family, having the Vice President of the US for a father. She first appeared in the novel, "Hana no Hitsugi", as a 20 year old third year college student of Columbia University, accompanying her father on a visit to Japan. She stayed behind to study ikebana, and went on to solve the mystery behind a succession of murders. Her description according to this book, states that she has "gentle waves of blonde hair, shiny pink skin... a beautiful girl wearing an innovative orange dress."
Other actresses who portrayed Catherine. Charlotte Kate Fox is the first real American actress to portray Catherine/Katherine. The other actresses were Japanese or were of mixed ancestry. These are (with pics above from left to right):
Marian. A talent and model. She portrayed Catherine in a 1988 drama special "Kyōezara no Himitsu Satsujin" under Kansai Fuji TV. She is half Japanese and half American. (info: ja.wiki) (pic: tv-ranking)
Hiroko Grace. She is a talent with a Japanese mother and Dutch-American father. She played the said role in the 1990 SP drama "Shi wo Yobu Daigo no Sakuragari 401-gōshitsu no Onna" under Kansai Fuji TV. (info: wiki) (pic: from her blog eigotown)
Katase Rino. Among the four, she is the actress best known to have portrayed the character (although it has been changed from American to Japanese). She played Kiasa Rinko (which sounds like "Catherine-ko" so she is nicknamed "Catherine"), the daughter of the president and works as a photographer. She played that role for 10 years (1996-2006), in several drama SPs under Fuji TV, called "Meitantei Catherine". Above last pic is from the 1997 3rd installment SP, "Hana no Hitsugi" with Katase as Catherine and Tokoshima Yoshiko as Kujo Reiko. (info: wiki) (pic: tbs)
"Ai San San" [愛燦燦]. The song that was sung in this SP, befitting Maiko and Kazuhiko's love story. It was a 1986 single of Misora Hibari, composed and written by Ogura Kei. It has also been sung by other artists. It has a gentle melody and wonderful lyrics, with a clever play on the word "san-san". To watch Ms. Hibari perform it, go here. For a discussion on the lyrics translation: go here.
(info: ja.wiki)
Hanakotaba [花言葉]. In Japanese, it means the language of flowers. In this episode, the flower "Bergamo" referred to here, as symbolizing "forbidden love" is fiction (it actually looked like Star Gazer lily to me, above pic). In the west, flowers that may mean "forbidden love" are said to be tuberose, honeyflowers, and pansies.
(info: wiki, ecbdflowerstore, wiki2) (pic: wiki3)
Horikawa Dori [堀川通り]. The street or avenue that was featured prominently in this story. It is one of the major north-south roads in Kyoto City. There are several landmarks located here, including several shrines and temples. More prominently known places are Nijo Castle and Modoribashi bridge at Ichijo-Horikawa. Recently, the Horikawa River which was buried in concrete for 55 years (for fear it may cause flooding), has been "resurrected" in 2006 as a small brook, adjacent to Horikawa-dori.
(info/pic: ja.wiki)
For SP synopsis and subs: (link)
