Season 1 • Episode 151
LatestThe story is about a young woman who becomes a landscape gardener following her father's wishes. Wakaba, born and brought up in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, lived happily with her parents and younger brother until the Great Hanshin Earthquake shook and destroyed the city in 1995. In the disaster, Wakaba loses her father, who was an architect and moves with her mother and brother to Obi, old castle town in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, where her grandmother lives with her uncle and aunt. Living in Obi's rich natural environment, Wakaba learns that plants can heal people's hearts. She makes a resolution to return to Kobe and reconstruct the city abundant in greenery.
Production
Obi's stunning castle town locations versus ruined Kobe.
Acting
Fukumi Kuroda anchors decades of quiet transformation.
Writing
asadora format lets grief breathe across years.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Asadora morning dramas are NHK institutions designed to accompany viewers' daily routines—Wakaba's 151-episode run let a generation process the 1995 earthquake collectively.
The real Great Hanshin Earthquake killed 6,434 people; the show's choice to make Wakaba's father an architect specifically critiques Japan's rushed post-war construction that collapsed.
JP
