From Ikebukuro to Kitami: Shinjuku Battlefield Hospital Redefines Kudo Kankuro’s Local Drama

Kankuro Kudo’s new script, *Shinjuku Battlefield Hospital* (Fuji TV), has quickly become a must-watch.

 

The story is set at Sei Magokoro Hospital in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho. The heroine is Yoko Nishi Freeman (played by Eiko Koike), a Japanese-American former military doctor. She is bilingual in English and Okayama dialect and begins working at the hospital, which was seeking a surgeon.

 

The other main character is Takamine Toru (played by Taiga Nakano), the hospital director’s nephew and a cosmetic dermatologist. He drives his white Porsche around and spends his nights busy with pay-to-drink sessions with women from Minato Ward. He is a 30-something man often seen as a carefree yutori monster.

 

The people surrounding these two main characters are also quite eccentric. The former surgeon and hospital director, Takamine Keisuke (played by Akira Emoto), trembles when he holds a scalpel if he hasn’t had a drink. The head nurse, Shinobu Horii (played by Muga Tsukaji), is fluent in English and has an ambiguous gender identity. Internal medicine doctor Katsuaki Yokoyama (played by Takashi Okabe) is particular about distinguishing between “pay-to-drink” and “sugar daddy” arrangements. Additionally, local activist Mai Minami (played by Ai Hashimoto) also seems to have a complicated background.

 

The story further involves a diverse mix of people from Kabukicho, including organized crime figures, sex workers, illegal immigrants, and teenage girls. There have already been incidents such as shootings by former gang members and host falls. 

Yoko is a surgeon but does not hold a Japanese medical license. Although she pretends to be a support role for the hospital director, she actually takes on the responsibility of saving patients’ lives.

Yoko says, “I became a military doctor to save lives that are within my reach.” In the U.S., the disparity in wealth among patients affects the quality of medical care they receive.

On the battlefield, there is no distinction between men and women, good people and bad people when it comes to life. “Help everyone equally and roughly, that’s the doctor’s belief” This is not “Dr. X,” but “Dr. Y.” The surgeries are rough, but the skills are good.

Departing from Ikebukuro, via Kitami Riku, heading to Kabukicho

Initially, the setting was region-specific to Shinjuku and Kabukicho, which led to thoughts of a local drama like Ikebukuro West Gate Park (TBS, 2000), set in Ikebukuro. This was Kudo Kan’s first serialized drama script. 

The protagonist, Makoto Majima (played by Tomoya Nagase), is a playboy who earns spare change through gambling and bowling. He helps run his family’s fruit store and works as a troubleshooter. Teaming up with Takashi Ando (played by Yosuke Kubozuka) and other members of the street gang G Boys, he solves troublesome cases.

The cases involve social issues such as compensated dating, hikikomori (social withdrawal), abuse, stalking, and pyramid schemes. The drama turned into a remarkable hard-boiled comedy.

Now, twenty-five years later, Kudo Kan has found a new area with a similar level of chaos to that of Ikebukuro back then Shinjuku and Kabukicho.

However, while Ikebukuro was local to Majima and his friends, Kabukicho is not Yoko’s hometown. She is an outsider who has arrived and is, in a sense, an alien. Yet, this alien presence influences and changes its surroundings.

This structure is reminiscent of Kudo Kan’s morning drama Amachan (NHK, 2013). 

In typical morning dramas, the heroines grow and change through various experiences. However, Aki Amano (played by Rena Nonen) in Amachan is different. Although she may have grown, her fundamental essence remains unchanged.

Instead, it is the people around Aki, the alien element, who gradually change as they are influenced by her. This includes both the people of Kitami Riku and those she meets in Tokyo. This dynamic evokes the concept of the trickster as described by cultural anthropologist Masao Yamaguchi. 

 

Trickster with the image of a mischief-maker, “On one hand, they are excluded as a threat to order, but on the other hand, they are required as something necessary to invigorate and renew a depleted (withered) order.” (Yamaguchi, Culture and Ambivalence) 

When Aki appeared in Kitami Riku, she was merely seen as a supporting role or the daughter of Haruko Amano by the locals. Although Aki moved to Tokyo to become an idol, what was truly awaited was the cute one, Yui (played by Ai Hashimoto), while Aki, with her accent, was considered an extra. 

However, before anyone realized it, Aki had become the center of attention. “A trickster appears as a supporting role but eventually becomes the main character” (Yamaguchi, The Concept of Alienation in the Study of Cultural Signifiers).

A trickster who descended upon the local area.

If that’s the case, might Yoko also be a trickster who appeared in her local area of Kabukicho?

Yoko’s speech, a mix of English that sounds like a Japanese-American and Okayama dialect inherited from her mother (Kimiko Yo), is a unique creation of Kudokan. It has a distinctive intensity and persuasive power that draws in the audience. 

” I saw it. Injured soldiers, sick children. When they are brought in, they are different people, different lives. But when they die, when life ends, (in Okayama dialect) everyone is the same”

Then she continues, “The heart stops, the breath stops, and it becomes cold. (In Okayama dialect) When dying, it’s the same. It’s really tough. It’s incredibly tough.”

Because it’s so incredibly tough, helping equally and roughly is necessary. 

When it’s hard to decide between “Yes” and “No,” Yoko navigates with “Yeah,” a middle ground between the English “Yeah” and the Japanese “No.”

Yoko’s presence is gradually, but surely, starting to change the people around her, including Tohru, the flashy doctor, and the patients.

Kudokan’s works, from Ikebukuro in his 30s, Kitami in his 40s, to Shinjuku and Kabukicho in his 50s, reflect the evolution of Kudokan’s unique local drama over 20 years. 

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