Photo: Junko Oda played by Araki by Miko Shinmin Evening News reporter Guo Xinyang
Photo: Yumiko Araki wrote an inscription for readers of the evening newspaper
"I'll be 60 years old on January 25 next year, so I want to 'dream again.'" Last night, "Junko Fawn" - Yumiko Araki revealed in an exclusive interview with this newspaper in Shanghai that she debuted as a singer before filming the TV series "Volleyball Girl" (also translated as "The Flame of Youth") - so she will sing at the China Grand Theater from January 6 next year. That year, after all Chinese audiences were ignited by her youth, she retired. Where has she been after all these years?
Took care of the mother-in-law for more than 20 years
Yumiko Araki was at home caring for her mother-in-law, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, for twenty or thirty years—and it was a week after marriage, and she didn't even have time to go on her honeymoon. Now when it comes to this, Yumiko Araki is also light and breezy. As she sat on the couch and reminisced about the past, there was still light in her eyes. Aside from a few wrinkles in the corners of her eyes when she laughed, the years hadn't stolen anything from her. Because her father once wanted to become a singer but did not succeed, when she debuted at the age of 17, she chose a singer, "which is to complete her father's dream." She found an old photo of herself in a red dress and singing on stage with a microphone in her hand, singing and dancing, full of vitality. At that time, when he was 19 years old, when he played Junko Fawn in "Volleyball Girl", he was already very close, but he had not yet combed on the "Fawn Junzi Braid", "Originally only planned to shoot for half a year, the ratings climbed steadily, a total of 71 episodes were filmed, until the age of 22".
The picture says: "Xiaolu Junzi" style is still the same Xinmin Evening News reporter Guo Xinyang photographed
At the age of 23, Yumiko Araki met true love, a famous Japanese singer Masayuki Yuhara. Only a week after marrying, the mother-in-law was paralyzed, and because she had Alzheimer's disease, the difficulty of nursing was quite high. Yumiko Araki is often "wronged" by her mother-in-law, but she does not hesitate to take on the responsibility of taking care of her mother-in-law and has since withdrawn from the acting world. In the eyes of fans, this is a "great sacrifice". However, in her opinion, "this is what I should do as a woman, a wife, and a daughter-in-law!" "She has a good relationship with her husband, who is 13 years older than her, and he is an only son, so she feels even more responsible.
What is touching is that now, she is still very optimistic when talking about this matter, laughing while saying: "I think I played Junko Xiaolu, only then did I understand the fighting spirit and never give up." Moreover, because of playing Junko Fawn, I am in particularly good health, so I have enough physical strength to take care of my mother-in-law. ”
"Volleyball Girl" collective memory
"Volleyball Girl" premiered in Japan in 1979, which is the 40th anniversary of this year. It was a time when volleyball was a big hit in Japan. In 1973, the World Volleyball Competition added women's competitions for the first time, held every four years, and the Japanese women's volleyball team ranked second after the Soviet women's volleyball team. In 1977, Japan won the second Women's Volleyball World Cup championship, which stimulated the boom of Women's Volleyball in Japan. Manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori created The Flame of Youth, which Tv Asahi adapted into a TV series to air in the evening primetime slot, separating his manga works as chapters in the TV series. The 71-episode TV series aired in Japan until July 1980. In 1981, the Chinese team led by coach Yuan Weimin competed. The team focused on Lang Ping, Zhang Rongfang and Sun Jinfang, who still looked quite outstanding and outstanding volleyball players to this day, all the way to Brazil, the Soviet Union, South Korea, the United States and Cuba, and then faced the Japanese team at home in the final. After a grueling tug-of-war, the two sides finally fought fiercely for more than 2 hours, and the Chinese team defeated the previous champion Japan 3-2. This Women's Volleyball World Cup has touched the hearts of the people of the whole country. At that time, black-and-white television sets were not yet widespread in every household, and everyone tried to watch the game live. Every Chinese team game can cause thousands of people to empty the alley.
Picture: Stills of "Volleyball Girl" Network Diagram
In the same year, "The Flame of Youth" was broadcast in Hong Kong and became very popular. Many girls will put themselves into the role between classes and practice slaming. In 1983, CCTV translated and produced the TV series, which was named "Volleyball Women" and broadcast later. Junko Koggo jumped up in Hokkaido to slam the ball, and as a result, the ball was broken, and a piece of paper fell out, and the shot of "Tokyo" was written, so that many Chinese girls would also hang a paper ball on the beam to practice slaming. Coupled with the still popular "women's volleyball spirit", the ratings of the drama in China even far exceed japan. Junko, a positive and optimistic, striving for the upstream, and working hard, crossed the border and became the common tear point and collective memory of a generation.
"Clear Sky Thunderbolt" does not require a stand-in
"In Hokkaido, the shots of carrying logs and tires forward, and racing with thoroughbred horses, were taken by yourself?" Yumiko Araki is only 1.60 meters tall, and she can't believe that her small body contains such explosive power and endurance.
"I did it all myself!" She frequently nodded: "At that time, when filming film and television dramas, there were almost no stunts, and there was no stand-in, so all the actions were done by myself." She laughed again: "Because shooting for 3 years is equivalent to 3 years of exercise." So, later the TV station held an actors' games, and I was the first place, hahaha! ”
Picture said: "Junko Fawn" became a national idol network map
Although there were no stunts in the TV series at that time, because Yumiko Araki's height was actually far less than that of the volleyball players in life, the other actors and even the props in the whole drama were based on her height and "scaled down". For example, the net of volleyball has been reduced a lot, and the length, width and height of the stadium seats have also shrunk. The rest of the team just "looks taller". However, the front flip in "Clear Sky Thunderbolt" was turned by Yumiko Araki herself.
Photo: Clear Sky Thunderbolt Network Diagram
She explained as she drew a line: "'Clear Sky Thunderbolt' was shot in four steps. The first step is my jumping posture; the second step is my flip forward flip in the air; the third step is mid-air; the fourth step is the landing action. Then, connect the four steps. "So, apart from not jumping to the top of the volleyball net, everything else is real. The attraction of this TV series also lies in the cool ball skills that do not actually exist in real life - "shooting stars catching the moon" and "phantom whirlwind", because the emotions of the TV series are so real that the audience even suspects that these magical "big moves" seem to exist. In fact, when Araki transformed from Miko to Junko Oga, the big moves that seemed impossible were all realized by herself. So much so that she once broke her jaw...
60 re-to the stage in the near year
Therefore, when serving her mother-in-law, she felt that even the "impossible difficulties" of Junko Xiaolu could be overcome, and the immediate suffering could also be overcome. More than twenty years later, the last words before her mother-in-law's death were: "Thank you, Ami..." I thought that if she no longer took care of her mother-in-law, she could live according to her personal wishes, but she was found to have a tumor again, which once made her give up her belief in life. However, at this time, she remembered Junko's attitude of never giving up and plucked up the courage to walk into the operating room. It was later shown that the tumor was benign. She rekindled the flame of youth and wrote a book called "The Awakening of Nursing", which recalled her years with her mother-in-law and the realizations during them.
Photo: Yumiko Araki was interviewed exclusively by this newspaper Xinmin Evening News reporter Guo Xinyang
This time, at the invitation of her friend and Shanghai singer Xie Ming in Japan, she joined hands with Liu Mingkang, a young pianist with "Yamaha Future Artist" and autism, to hold the "Century Singing, Music Bridge" concert, in addition to Shanghai Station, she also plans to tour Ningbo and other places. Yumiko Araki sings the theme song of "Volleyball Girl". Shanghai singer Xie Ming happened to be recording with Masayuki Yuhara in Tokuma, so he became friends with Yumiko Araki. Because of her mother-in-law's illness, Yumiko Araki is particularly caring for those who are not treated well by fate but still want to be their own masters. That's how this concert was combined.
"I'm almost 60 years old, and I still have to work hard!" As she spoke, Yumiko Araki smiled youthfully and cheered herself on! (Xinmin Evening News reporter Zhu Guang)