55 minSeason 2 • Episode 11
LatestTsukuda Kohei was once a researcher with the Aerospace and Science Exploration Agency and now runs Tsukuda Industries, a small factory which was left by his father. Although his relationship with his teenage daughter Rina is somewhat strained, business at Tsukuda Industries has gradually started to improve. But Tsukuda puts too much effort into his dream of developing a rocket engine and business declines little by little. One day, a major client suddenly declares that it is dropping Tsukuda Industries. Then, Tsukuda Industries gets sued by a big rival company, Nakashima Industries, for patent infringement. Tsukuda Industries’ reputation is hurt and financing from banks is also in a desperate situation. In the midst of this, Teikoku Heavy Industries, one of Japan’s leading corporations, offers to buy a patent which Tsukuda Industries possesses for 2 billion yen
Acting
Hiroshi Abe's exhausted determination is devastatingly human.
Writing
Makes patent law and rocket specs genuinely suspenseful.
Hiroshi Abe
Kohei Tsukuda
Soko Wada
Haruki Ehara
Ken Yasuda
Mitsuhiko Yamasaki
Tao Tsuchiya
Rina Tsukuda
Hiroki Konno
Shigeru Sakota
Tomoya Nakamura
Shohei Asagi
Miki Maya
Saya Izumi
Koji Kikkawa
Michio Zaizen
Yusuke Yamada
Ikuma Honda
Tetsuya Sugaya
Tomoyuki Ueshima
Rio Kanno
Nanao Sakamoto
Toru Baba
Hiroki Kashiwada
Aki Asakura
Aki Kano
Kohki Okada
Akira Inamoto
Ryoko Tateishi
Kyoko Tonomura
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
'Shitamachi' refers to Tokyo's traditional working-class neighborhoods, making the title a deliberate class statement—blue-collar craftsmanship vs. gleaming corporate towers. The 2015 series sparked renewed interest in Japan's struggling SME sector.
Based on Jun Ikeido's novel; he also wrote 'Hanzawa Naoki,' explaining the shared DNA of absurdly intense business confrontations. The rocket engine depicted is loosely modeled on real Japanese aerospace efforts.
JP
