Long Vacation

Long Vacation
ロングバケーション

Long Vacation title card
Genre drama, romance
Written by Eriko Kitagawa
Directed by Kōzō Nagayama
Masayuki Suzuki
Hirotsugu Usui
Starring Takuya Kimura
Tomoko Yamaguchi
Opening theme La La La Love Song (Toshinobu Kubota) with Naomi Campbell
Country of origin  Japan
Language(s) Japanese
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 11
Broadcast
Original channel Fuji TV
Original run April 15, 1996 – June 24, 1996

Long Vacation (ロングバケーション, also known as ロンバケ) is a Japanese television drama series from Fuji Television, first shown in Japan from 15 April to 24 June 1996. Takuya Kimura and Tomoko Yamaguchi played the lead characters. The series enjoyed high ratings and was the earliest of a series of hit productions starring Kimura. It features music by Cagnet.

Contents

Summary

Minami and Sena meet when Sena's apartment-mate, Asakura, jilts Minami on their wedding day. Minami learns from Sena that Asakura has left, whereabouts unknown. Sena allows Minami to move into the apartment, since she is penniless, having given all her money to Asakura, and cannot pay the rent on her apartment.

This is the beginning of a romance between Sena and Minami, although they are far apart in age and interests. Minami and Sena confide in and console each other about their relationship problems and their lack of success in life.

Minami meets a professional photographer, Sugisaki, who proposes marriage. Finally Sena has a chance of winning a piano competition and going to Boston, joining the symphony orchestra.

The characters in the series have something in common--if not jobless, they can do no better than secure a temporary job. This is a portrayal of a time when Japan was plagued by deep recession, when its people suffered profound depression from constant failure to earn a stable income. The series portrays how relationships are made and broken, and explores how people come to depend on each other for solace.

Cast

Characters

Ratings

Episode Date Rating (%)
01 15 April 1996 30.6
02 22 April 1996 28.3
03 29 April 1996 29.0
04 6 May 1996 27.6
05 13 May 1996 27.9
06 20 May 1996 25.5
07 27 May 1996 27.7
08 3 June 1996 29.9
09 10 June 1996 29.1
10 17 June 1996 28.6
11 24 June 1996 36.7

References

External links