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In 1969, a cartoon about a traditional Japanese family premiered on Fuji TV.
More than 55 years later, Sazae-san still airs in its original time slot. It is set in a more patriarchal time when women stay at home and do the housework, and men go to work and like getting drunk.
Shun’ichi Yukimuro was one of the first writers. He tells Vicky Farncombe how young viewers watch it as a period drama and enjoy the closeness of the family.
“They get most envious when they watch the scenes where everybody gets together to have a meal,” he says. “We don’t have such scenes in current families. People eat separately these days.”
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
(Photo: Sazae-San. Credit: Hasegawa Machiko Art Museum/AFP via Getty Images)
By BBC World Service4.5
903903 ratings
In 1969, a cartoon about a traditional Japanese family premiered on Fuji TV.
More than 55 years later, Sazae-san still airs in its original time slot. It is set in a more patriarchal time when women stay at home and do the housework, and men go to work and like getting drunk.
Shun’ichi Yukimuro was one of the first writers. He tells Vicky Farncombe how young viewers watch it as a period drama and enjoy the closeness of the family.
“They get most envious when they watch the scenes where everybody gets together to have a meal,” he says. “We don’t have such scenes in current families. People eat separately these days.”
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
(Photo: Sazae-San. Credit: Hasegawa Machiko Art Museum/AFP via Getty Images)

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