A janitor with no license teaches kids better than the system ever could — and falls for the rebel mom who wants to burn it all down.
Season 1 • Episode 5
LatestOshima Goro, a janitor of an elementary school, becomes a gifted teacher who teaches children that have fallen behind even though he has no licence. Single mother Akasaka Chiaki opposes formal education in schools during the war and sees the potential in a school to give coaching for a free, well-rounded education. The two of them become a couple both at work and at home, and create new history in the industry in this story depicting a family’s 50 years, set against the backdrop of the Showa to Heisei era.
Acting
Issey Takahashi's quiet dignity carries 50 years of hope.
Production
Showa-to-Heisei era detail that feels lived-in, not museum-piece.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on a novel by Hirochi Takeda, who drew from real postwar educational experiments in rural Japan.
The Showa-to-Heisei framing mirrors Japan's own identity crisis around tradition versus modernization — the school becomes a microcosm of national anxiety.
JP
