Hello. I'm Murakami, a library committee member.
A while ago, the news came out that the final TV series of Onihei Hankacho would be broadcast.
I had assumed that the broadcast of "Onihei Hankacho" had already ended, so as a fan of period dramas, I was quite moved when I heard there would be a sequel.
As some of you may already know, "Onihei Hankacho" is a representative series by novelist Ikenami Shotaro, and has been adapted into a television drama several times.
The main character is a real person who existed in the Edo period, Hasegawa Heizo, commonly known as "Onihei", who was the chief of the Arson and Theft Control Department, which controlled crimes. The name "Onihei" comes from the fact that he was feared as "Oni no Heizo" (Demon Heizo) because of the strictness of his control.
I haven't read all of it so I feel a little hesitant to call myself a fan, but it's one of my favorite works.
Although I can say that I like it now, it was different when I was younger.
My father, who loved period dramas, and I, who wanted to watch variety shows, would often fight over the channel, so when "Onihei" started on TV I would think, "Something boring is starting."
Now, however, people have begun to watch them of their own volition.
This time, I would like to tell you how I came to realize that Onihei, which I had thought was boring, was interesting, and why.
The beginning of my love for historical novels
What first got me interested in history was that when I was little, my parents had a complete set of "Educational Manga: History of Japan," which I found so interesting that I read it over and over again. From there, I gradually started reading biographies for children, and when I was living in a dormitory in junior high and high school, I got seriously into historical novels.
Of course, there were no games in the dorm, and although manga wasn't prohibited, I thought it was "irresponsible," so I rarely read them in the dorm.
During this time, I would visit my grandmother's house, which was just a few minutes' walk from the dormitory, several times a week and become engrossed in reading the large number of books my grandfather had left behind. Among them were historical novels such as Yoshikawa Eiji's "Shinsho Taikoki," "Miyamoto Musashi," and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," as well as Yamaoka Shohachi's "Tokugawa Ieyasu."
I read on, filling in the gaps in the kanji I couldn't read and words I didn't understand with my imagination, and it's doubtful how much of the content I actually understood, but when I stayed over at my grandmother's house I would stay up late and get so engrossed in the story that I would suddenly realize it was morning.
A reunion with Onihei Hankacho, which he had found boring
After finally finishing reading the 26 volumes of "Tokugawa Ieyasu" over the course of several years, one of the things I picked up next was Ikenami Shotaro's "Onihei Hankacho," which I had found boring as a child.
There was no particular reason for me to start reading, just that "it has several volumes so I'll be able to enjoy it for a long time," but as I continued reading I became more and more absorbed.
The works I had read up until then tended to be large-scale stories relating to the state and the nation, whereas each episode of "Onihei" focused on ordinary people living in the world, that is, people in positions close to me, which may have been fresh to me at the time.
The main character, Hasegawa Heizo, is also a master swordsman, and the sword fighting scenes are of course fascinating, but the humanity of the characters is also what makes them so appealing.
For example, one of Onihei's subordinates has a family member who falls ill and is in financial difficulty. While on stakeout, he suddenly imagines something bad and thinks, "How would I steal from him?", but then he comes to his senses and gets back to work.
I felt a sense of affinity with the character's determination to be right while showing his weaknesses at times, and it may sound exaggerated, but I continued reading and found myself drawn into the story, thinking, "I want to be like that."
So, I used to compete with my father for TV, but now I watch "Onihei" willingly. It's unfortunate that I don't have many opportunities to watch TV with my father, but not only "Onihei" but also history and period dramas are common topics of conversation between my father and me.
I haven't read many historical novels in recent years, but I'd like to take this opportunity to reread them and experience the action and adventure of Onihei and the kind of person I would like to be.
I hope to discover new things that I didn't understand before.
MURAKAMI Isao