What Until the T-Shirt Dries Has in Common With the Landmark TV Drama Kishibe no Album: A Search for a New Family

A new form of family

The Friday-night drama “T-Shirt ga Kawaku Made (Until the T-Shirt Dries)” (TBS), which attracted the most attention among this summer’s dramas, was a completely original story by Miku Ubukata, who worked on “silent” and “Ichiban Sukina Hana”” (both Fuji TV). The drama was directed by Yasushi Doi, who directed the TV drama “Quartet” (TBS) and the film “We Made a Beautiful Bouquet.”

With each episode, the average household ratings continued to rise, and the drama has set a new all-time record for the number of free-streaming views in the history of TBS’s Friday-night drama slot.

On September 11, the love and secrets story, which began with the loss suffered by two couples caught up in a bus crash, reached its conclusion. Even now, comments both supporting and criticizing the decision made by Sakiko (Aoi Yu) and Mitsuru (Kenichi Matsuyama) continue to appear on social media. But that is not the only mark the drama has left behind.

“This production attracted attention even before it aired because three figures whom everyone in the industry was watching—lead actress Aoi Yu, screenwriter Miku Ubukata, and director Yasushi Doi—were teaming up for the first time. Once it began, however, it could not be neatly categorized into any of the existing genres, whether human drama, suspense, mystery, or romantic comedy. It successfully carved out and showcased a new genre that incorporates elements of all of these. From now on, the drama world may even come to be categorized into the eras before T-Kan and after T-Kan.” (Producer at a production company)

Sakiko had repeatedly married and divorced four times, seeking a family beyond her husband Mitsuru, who had a desire to escape and a tendency to disappear, and her mother, with whom she had a difficult relationship. After the two learned each other’s secrets, they let go of the conventional form of family in order to build a relationship in which they could feel comfortable with each other and maintain just the right distance—regardless of whether they were registered as family or even lived together.

Now that we have watched the entire series, we realize that “T-Shirt ga Kawaku Made” was a drama that explored what a new family should look like—one not bound by blood ties or marital relationships.

Watching the thrilling developments of this drama, was I the only one reminded of the masterpiece of the Friday-night drama that aired in the same time slot 50 years ago? “Kishibe no Album (Album by the Riverside),” one of the signature works of screenwriter Taichi Yamada, who won the 15th Galaxy Award.

Kaoru Yachigusa has an affair

The drama begins with a shocking opening sequence in which the banks of the Tama River collapse, accompanied by Janis Ian’s languid and melancholy theme song, “Will You Dance.” As the story unfolds, the crisis facing a couple who harbor secrets and the struggles of their children gradually come to light, ultimately leading to the breakdown of the family.

“The Album by the Riverside (Kishibe no Album)” can be described as a groundbreaking work that overturned the conventions of the family dramas of its time.

“Above all, the secrets harbored by the family were shockingly extreme by the standards of television dramas at the time. Kenzaku (Naoki Sugiura), the husband who works for a trading company, was bringing women from Southeast Asia into Japan to work as sex workers, while his wife Noriko (Kaoru Yachigusa) was having an affair with a stranger, Toru (Muga Takewaki). Their eldest daughter Ritsuko (Yoshiko Nakada) is raped by a white exchange student.

Shigeru (Tomiyuki Kunihiro), the younger son who is taking a gap year to prepare for university entrance exams, eventually learns these secrets, lays the truth bare before the family, and leaves home. Even today, it is impossible to take your eyes off Kaoru Yachigusa, who was the very picture of a virtuous woman, portraying a woman having an affair. There was no drama this shocking in prime time during that era.” (The aforementioned producer)

The prosperity of postwar Japan gradually casts a shadow over each member of a family that appears peaceful on the surface. Eventually, the home that had been a symbol of the family’s happiness is swept away when the Tama River bursts its banks. Witnessing this, the family attempts to rebuild its bonds. This story of a family trying to restore itself was equally captivating.

“At the time, producer Atsuhiro Horikawa, who selected ‘Will You Dance’ as the theme song, later recalled, ‘I struggled desperately with what to call the format of this drama and how to explain it to reporters, actors, and staff.’ Its forward-thinking nature and lofty ambition in challenging the era when bright and cheerful family dramas were at their peak may also be a point of similarity with ‘T-Shirt ga Kawaku Made.’” (Director at a production company)

“The Album by the Riverside” made viewers reconsider the meaning of family after losing their home when the Tama River burst its banks. “T-Shirt ga Kawaku Made” makes them reconsider what a family should be when the filter of a washing machine breaks.

The new drama from the staff and cast of “T-Shirt ga Kawaku Made” has only heightened anticipation and made us want to revisit “The Album by the Riverside” once again.