NHK's morning drama began a new story in April. The last six months have been about the life of Shizuko Kasagi, known for her lively songs, but this time it's about the birth of Japan's first female lawyer, Yoshiko Mibuchi. NHK introduces the development of the story as follows. This is the story of Torako Inozume, Japan's first female lawyer and later a judge. The story depicts her finding her way in difficult times and growing step by step despite her troubles.
The title of the drama is `Tiger with Wings.' It seems that the name came from the fact that a person blessed with talent came to possess a powerful weapon of legal expertise. However, if that were the case, wouldn't it be easier to understand the commonly used phrase `Oni ni Kanabō'(demon with iron sticks)? However, since the main character is a woman, it may not for "demon"...
Let's briefly touch on Yoshiko Mibuchi, the model for the drama. She was born in 1914 (Taisho 3) and passed away 70 years later in 1984 (Showa 59). She was one of the first female lawyers in Japan, and she also served as the first female judge and president of the family court. What I would like to note here is that she was born in 1914(Taisho 3). This year was called the ‘Year of the Five Yellow Tigers’ and attracted particular attention. This is for a similar reason to ‘Hinoeuma,’ which once caused a stir.
One type of Chinese fortune-telling is a theory called Nine Star Qiology, which has a nine-year cycle. According to this fortune-telling, people born in the year of five out of nine stars are said to have strong power. When these five stars overlap with the Year of the Tiger, which occurs every 12 years in the zodiac, it becomes an even more special year, called the "Year of the Five Star Tiger." It is said that people born in the Year of the Five star Tiger, which comes in a 36-year cycle, have extremely strong fortunes, and women in particular tend to have strong fortunes.
The main character of the new drama is called `Tomoko,' but when written in kanji it becomes `Torako.' The author must have been fully aware that she was born in the year of the Five star Tiger. The reason why she chose the word `boar' in her last name seems to be because the author was conscious of her strength. The tiger with wings is a metaphor for someone who already has great power gaining even more power. Similar idioms include `demon with iron club', `tiger with horn', `whip for galloping horse’, ‘dragon with wings’, and ‘Benkei with halberd’.
Watching that drama, you can clearly see how Japan at that time was an unequal world dominated by men and women. In such difficult times, a single woman took on the challenge of reforming a new social system. As expected, she was born in the Year of the Five stars Tiger, and she could not have done this without possessing the powerful power of a tiger and the mobility of wings. This episode is the perfect cheering song for those of us who are powerless.
On the other hand, in today's peaceful era of gender equality, isn't this idiom appropriate? ...’Otani to the Dodgers’, ‘Otani to Niizuma and Dekopin’...
（April 11, 2024 Yoshihiro Fujiwara）
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