Oshin

Oshin (おしん) is a Japanese serialized morning television drama, which originally aired on NHK from April 4, 1983 to March 31, 1984. The 297 15-minute episodes follow the life of Shin Tanokura (田倉しん, Tanokura Shin) during the Meiji period up to the early 1980s. In the work, Shin is called Oshin, an archaic Japanese cognomen.

It was one of the country's most watched serials of all time and has aired in 58 other countries, with subtitles ranging from English to Arabic. In 1984, the earlier episodes of the drama (focused on young Oshin) were made into an animated movie by Sanrio. The movie reused Sugako Hashida's scripts, and Ayako Kobayashi, who played young Oshin, did Oshin's voiceover.

Background

Oshin is based on the fictional biography of a Japanese woman, modeled after the mother of Kazuo Wada, a Japanese businessman who created Yaohan, a Japanese supermarket chain. The structure of the story was developed through a collection of anonymous letters assembled by Sugako Hashida (橋田壽賀子, Hashida Sugako). "It is the untellable past of a woman of the Meiji period, composed right on her deathbed," Hashida said. "I felt that the telling of her hardships while serving as an apprentice and being sold at a brothel was an obligation our generation needed to honor. However, the themes were so harsh and dark that the show was rejected by every [Japanese] television network. Even NHK opposed it. Hashida said she was told "'We can't confront Meiji issues.'" It was settled when then-station director Mikio Kawaguchi (川口幹夫, Kawaguchi Mikio) gave his approval.

Oshin (album)

Oshin is the debut studio album by American rock band DIIV, released on June 26, 2012 on Captured Tracks. The album was self-produced by then-primary recording artist Zachary Cole Smith.

Composition

Regarding the album's aesthetic and lyrical content, in comparison to its follow-up, Is the Is Are (2016), primary recording artist Zachary Cole Smith reflected: "[Oshin] was hiding a bit behind an image, behind a sound – the vocals being really textural, and a sort of ambient thing. I didn’t want it to be about me as a person. The lyrics were almost like universal truths, not personal."

Release

In 2014, Oshin was briefly out of print, due to legal issues with the cover art. It was reissued in 2015 with new artwork.

Reception

On lists of the top 50 albums of 2012, Oshin was listed 22nd by Stereogum and 40th by Pitchfork.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Zachary Cole Smith. 

Personnel