Digital Script ArchivesDetail
Saturday Drama Taichi Yamada Series: Takushi Samba, Episode 3 “Rojo no Koya”
- No.
- ST-00250
- Year
- 1981
- Broadcated
/Created by - ＮＨＫ
- Scriptwriter
- Yamada Taichi
- Format
- drama seriese
- Awards
- TV Drama Masterpiece
- Overview
- A mini series that revolves around the life of a taxi driver. Eiichi Asada used to be an elite employee at a trading company. His busy schedule caused him to neglect his family and eventually separate from his wife and daughter. Now, however, he enjoys being a taxi driver and working with his colleagues. The scenes of interaction between the taxi drivers are filled with human warmth in the form of nosiness, which is a rare characteristics in Taichi Yamada’s works. But all of this is strategically placed to convey the series’ message: “People can’t survive alone.” The series comprises three episodes: Yoru no Shonen (Episode 1), Ai no Katachi (Episode 2), and Rojo no Koya (Episode 3). The final episode hammers home this message most persuasively. Veteran driver Tomoharu Kudo was planning to become an independent taxi driver soon. However, he gets involved in a hit-and-run incident by a foreign car and becomes a person of interest in the investigation. Consequently, he almost loses his license as an individual taxi driver. To help their friend, Kudo’s fellow drivers manage to find a witness to the accident, Junpei Okiyama, but he is hesitant to testify. This is because Okiyama does not trust anyone anymore and has been avoiding any involvement with others due to an incident in the past where he had his reputation damaged by being falsely arrested. Asada gives Okiyama the following pieces of advice: “You’re not tough enough to get through your entire life avoiding others,” “and those who have gone through truly scary experiences help each other.” “You’re not tough enough” has a similar meaning to the phrase “You’re weak” in the “Hijo Kaidan” episode of Otokotachi no Tabiji (1976). And the idea of mutual help evokes the line from Akira Hayasaka’s Yumechiyo Nikki (1981): “Though we’re just getting by, we’re not alone.”
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