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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Alice Irrazari.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm Colin Lauva. Spotlight uses a special English method

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<v Speaker 2>of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no

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<v Speaker 2>matter where in the world they live.

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<v Speaker 1>Sasei San's life has not changed for almost eighty years.

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<v Speaker 1>She her husband, and children live together with her parents.

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<v Speaker 1>She spends most of her time keeping house, as most

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<v Speaker 1>postwar Japanese women do. Her children have not aged. She

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<v Speaker 1>will stay twenty four forever.

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<v Speaker 2>Today's Spotlight is on Sasai San. Sasai San is the

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<v Speaker 2>main character of the longest running cartoon or animated drawing

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<v Speaker 2>television program in history. Her name Sasaisan gives the program

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<v Speaker 2>its title Sasai San. She represents a simpler time for

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<v Speaker 2>Japanese people, but the main character's history is anything but simple.

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<v Speaker 2>Created during a difficult time in Japan's history, Sasai San

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<v Speaker 2>was part of a wave of changes that transformed the

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<v Speaker 2>country itself.

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<v Speaker 1>Machiko Hasegawa was a Japanese artist. She made manga stories

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<v Speaker 1>with drawn pictures and words. She also created Sasai San.

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<v Speaker 1>Born in nineteen twenty Hassegawa was a strange girl in

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<v Speaker 1>Japanese society, most women were expected to be gentle. Their

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<v Speaker 1>mothers trained them that men were in charge, but Hasegawa

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<v Speaker 1>did not like to obey the rules. By the time

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<v Speaker 1>she was fourteen, Hassegawa had decided she would have her

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<v Speaker 1>own career. She was going to make a living creating manga.

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<v Speaker 2>Hasse Gowa's courage helped her succeed. She published her first

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<v Speaker 2>manga or story cartoon, called Badjamasque, when she was still

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<v Speaker 2>a teenager, but Sasaisan was her first major success. First

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<v Speaker 2>published in nineteen forty six, the manga explores the home

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<v Speaker 2>life of the main character. Unlike the sasaisan of today,

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<v Speaker 2>Hassegwa's first manga explored life in modern Japan.

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<v Speaker 1>Sazai San's Japan was a very complicated place. Much of

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<v Speaker 1>the country's traditional culture held great importance, but the Second

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<v Speaker 1>World War had just ended. Japan was on the losing side.

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<v Speaker 1>Its defeat forced many changes in Japanese culture. The United

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<v Speaker 1>States and Europe brought different technology and ideas. Philip Lu

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<v Speaker 1>studied these changes and taught about them.

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<v Speaker 3>He said, the nineteen fifties were very disorganized, changing times.

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<v Speaker 3>They subjected the Japanese people to shifts in beliefs and

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<v Speaker 3>changes in old ideals.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the greatest changes was a shift toward democracy.

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<v Speaker 2>The new Japan promised that everyone would have the right

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<v Speaker 2>to vote on their government. This included women, who had

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<v Speaker 2>very few rights in traditional Japanese culture. Though Sazai San

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<v Speaker 2>was still traditional in many ways, its main character was

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<v Speaker 2>a good example of a free Japanese woman. Sometimes she

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<v Speaker 2>worked outside of the house to make money. She made

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<v Speaker 2>her opinions known, especially to her husband.

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<v Speaker 1>Hasegawa's original manga also examined other changes in everyday life.

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<v Speaker 1>In one Sasai San is waiting in line for rations,

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<v Speaker 1>a small amount of food given to people in times

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<v Speaker 1>of hardship. This was a real situation many Japanese people

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<v Speaker 1>lived through during the war.

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<v Speaker 2>While Sazai San contained many of these situations, it was

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<v Speaker 2>not about them. At its center. The manga was about

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<v Speaker 2>f family and the humor that comes from it. It

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<v Speaker 2>showed the difficulty of everyday life in Japan, but it

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<v Speaker 2>also gave readers a way to laugh at themselves and

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<v Speaker 2>their situation. Hassegwa worked through the seriousness of her age,

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<v Speaker 2>but she understood it through laughter.

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<v Speaker 1>Hassegwa's manga changed her life. Soon after she first published

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<v Speaker 1>Saseei San, the manga became a national sensation. Everyone knew

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<v Speaker 1>about and read Sasei San. By the time Hassegawa retired

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen seventy six, she was the best known female

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<v Speaker 1>manga artist in the country. Sasei San is still one

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<v Speaker 1>of the best selling manga of all time.

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<v Speaker 2>Machiko Hasegawa died in name nineteen ninety two, but her

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<v Speaker 2>creation would last much longer, and it would change in

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<v Speaker 2>ways that Hasseigwa could never have expected. Shortly before she retired,

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<v Speaker 2>the company Fuji Television talked to Hasseigawa. They requested her

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<v Speaker 2>permission to make a television program based on the manga.

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<v Speaker 2>The show, also called Sasai San, first aired in nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>sixty nine. It has been running ever since.

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<v Speaker 1>At first, the Sasai San show was very similar to

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<v Speaker 1>the manga, but it was different in one very important way.

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<v Speaker 1>It stopped being about modern life. Its showrunners. The directors

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<v Speaker 1>and creators of the show wanted Sasai San to be

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<v Speaker 1>as close as possible to the original Jano manga, so

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<v Speaker 1>its characters did not change much. Even today, Sasei San's

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<v Speaker 1>main character has the same haircut that was popular in

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen forties and fifties. The show's family does not

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<v Speaker 1>use modern technology. The family all still lives together. This

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<v Speaker 1>is different than most current Japanese families.

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<v Speaker 2>The Sasaisan show was most popular in the nineteen seventies,

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<v Speaker 2>but even today it holds a wide viewership. Many of

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<v Speaker 2>its viewers are older sixty years old or more. For

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<v Speaker 2>many of these people, watching Sasaisan is like looking into

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<v Speaker 2>the past. Japan has changed even more since the manga

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<v Speaker 2>was published. The show offers comforting memories. It is a

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<v Speaker 2>reminder of a time when things seemed simpler. Deborah Shamoun

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<v Speaker 2>is a teacher at the National University of Singapore. She

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<v Speaker 2>told The New York.

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<v Speaker 4>Times Sasai San is like a box where you store memories.

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<v Speaker 4>It has become a warm, colored memory of how things

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<v Speaker 4>used to be.

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<v Speaker 1>The Sazai San show is not just popular with old people.

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<v Speaker 1>The television series makes the past seem like a pleasant place.

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<v Speaker 1>Some younger viewers are drawn to the sense of happiness

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<v Speaker 1>it gives. Watching this show is like comforting yourself with

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<v Speaker 1>a warm blanket. But its current popularity can be explained

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<v Speaker 1>by one Japanese word, natsuka Shi. Erika Hobart is a

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<v Speaker 1>writer whose family is Japanese.

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<v Speaker 5>She explains in Japan, nats Kashi is a reminder that

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<v Speaker 5>you are lucky to have had the experiences you have

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<v Speaker 5>had in life. You cannot return to those experiences, but

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<v Speaker 5>this makes these memories even more touching.

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<v Speaker 2>Sasai San's show creates this feeling of Natsukashi in viewers.

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<v Speaker 2>It is recognizing the life you have lived. Japan's population

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<v Speaker 2>is aging, Fewer young people are being born each year.

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<v Speaker 2>Not as many people watch the show, but as long

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<v Speaker 2>as there are people who remember, there will be people

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<v Speaker 2>who watch Sasai Sa. This may be why the show

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<v Speaker 2>is the longest running animated television show in history. It

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<v Speaker 2>helps people feel happy about what they have done, and

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<v Speaker 2>it lets younger people dream of a simpler, easier time.

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<v Speaker 1>Midori Kato is a voice actor. She has been the

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<v Speaker 1>voice of Sasai Sun since she was in her twenties.

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<v Speaker 1>She has a different theory about why the show is

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<v Speaker 1>so popular. She told The New York Times.

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<v Speaker 4>This is the worst thing people are afraid of.

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<v Speaker 3>All women say this is good. The characters live forever.

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<v Speaker 2>Holding on to something which remains the same can be

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<v Speaker 2>a comfort in a constantly changing modern world Sasai San

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<v Speaker 2>and her story offers Japanese audiences the joy of an

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<v Speaker 2>earlier time of life.

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<v Speaker 1>What makes you happy about the things you have experienced?

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<v Speaker 1>What creates natsukashi for you? A good memory of an

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<v Speaker 1>earlier time in your life. We want to hear your thoughts.

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<v Speaker 1>You can leave a comment on our website at www

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<v Speaker 1>dot Spotlight English dot com. You can also find us

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<v Speaker 1>on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue Sky, and x. You can

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<v Speaker 1>also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or

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<v Speaker 1>Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

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<v Speaker 2>The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer

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<v Speaker 2>was Michyo Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the

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<v Speaker 2>United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted

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<v Speaker 2>for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is

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<v Speaker 2>called Sasa is sa. Life never changes.

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<v Speaker 1>We hope you can join us again for the next

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<v Speaker 1>Spotlight program. Goodbye,