Date: From 9.00 p.m., 29 September 2013
Cast: Higashiyama Noriyuki, Pham Huynh Dong, Takei Emi, Nguyen Lan Phuong, Ashida Mana, Fukiishi Kazue, Nguyen Binh Minh, Le Hong Dang, Takeda Tetsuya, Emoto Akira, Nakamaru Yuichi, Toake Yukiyo
Synopsis: Suzuki Tetsuya (Higashiyama Noriyuki), a Japanese trading company employee, lives with his daughter Sakura (Ashida Mana). He is a widower. In the not too distant future, Suzuki plans to marry Lien (Nguyen Lan Phuong), a Vietnamese whom he met through work. However, Sakura who cherishes memories of her late mother and cannot come to terms with her father’s remarriage, feels lonely. Although Lien is gentle with the girl, it is difficult to get her to open up. Meanwhile, Suzuki goes on a business trip to Vietnam with his junior, Hatakeyama Noriaki (Nakamaru Yuichi). The project which Suzuki has worked on for many years is finally drawing to a close. However, if he cannot get a contract within a month, he will have to pull the plug on the Vietnam business. The negotiating partner makes a proposition to Suzuki and Hatakeyama. Showing them a photograph, he says, “I’ll cut a deal with you if you bring the treasure that lies in this stone monument. In addition, he even tells them that the name of the person who took the photograph of the monument is Phan Bội Châu. Suzuki and Hatakeyama are not sure if they understand the negotiating partner’s true meaning. Nevertheless, the two of them immediately check up on Phan. But the only information they are able to obtain is that he was a revolutionary involved in Vietnam’s independence. However, it turns out that this stone monument is in Japan and the name ‘Asaba Sakitaro’ is inscribed on the monument. What was the relationship between Phan and Asaba? Returning to Japan, Suzuki and Hatakeyama find out the location of this monument. They meet an old lady called Kinoshita Machi (Toake Yukiyo) who has been looking after Vietnamese exchange students and enquire about the treasure, but cannot get an answer. However, Hatakeyama discovers descriptions of Phan and Asaba in the town’s local history. What is written in there are surprising historical facts about Japan and Vietnam which are not even in history textbooks … … About 100 years earlier, Asaba Sakitaro (Higashiyama Noriyuki) ran a hospital near the coast and lived with his wife Masa (Fukiishi Kazue) and daughter Yukie. One day, Asaba was told by the nurse Oiwa Akane (Takei Emi) about a foreign man who had washed ashore. This man was Phan Bội Châu（Pham Huynh Dong, a patriot of the Vietnamese independence movement. Phan confessed that he came to Japan because Japan’s military assistance was necessary for Vietname’s independence. His fervour moved Asaba to let him gain access to the influential politicians Inukai Tsuyoshi (Takeda Tetsuya) and Okuma Shigenobu (Emoto Akira). Instead of military assistance, Phan obtained the promise of support for human resource development. Phan returned to Vietnam for a while in order to recruit comrades and covertly kept up with his activities under the close surveillance of the French. He met Cường Để（Nguyen Binh Minh, a descendant of royalty, and asked him to come to Japan for the sake of Vietnam. Then Phan entered Japan again and began to study with his comrades as exchange students. Their numbers gradually increaased. This was a big breath of something new in a period of upheaval. On the other hand, Asaba was seized with an illness. Not wanting to drag Phan down, he continued to act courageously. In the midst of this, the activities of Phan and others were suppressed because of pressure from the French. Phan sends a letter to Asaba while hiding from Japanese authorities but … … In the present day, Suzuki and Hatakeyama have trouble figuring out their negotiating partner’s real intent. A flustered Suzuki heads for the stone monument again.
Official Website: www.tbs.co.jp/partner_tbs
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