In the TV series "Volleyball Women", what makes Junko Xiaolu dream is the Olympic Games. In another week, the Olympic Games will open in front of Junko Xiaolu's home, but she is a little embarrassed, because she does not know whether to support the Japanese women's volleyball team or the Chinese women's volleyball team.
"When the Chinese team comes to Japan to play, it always feels very painful, because I hope that both the Chinese team and the Japanese team can win."
"Junko Oga" is 61 years old, more than 40 years after filming "Volleyball Girl", that TV series made her famous overnight in China, but it seems to have made the name Yumiko Araki disappear, and she has since become "Junko Oga".
Yumiko Araki was seen at a restaurant in Yokohama's Chinatown, where she wore two twisted pigtails, a beige hat, and an orange casual slip dress. Like the heroine's name, she looks lively like a fawn, and as simple and cute and beautiful as a girl, and the years seem to have stagnated on her face for decades.
For decades, Yumiko Araki was a must-see for Olympic volleyball matches. In fact, not only the Olympic Games, as long as there is a Chinese women's volleyball team to Japan to compete, she likes to watch, because "China is like another hometown of her own."
Under the epidemic, although the host built a very beautiful volleyball hall specifically for the Olympic Games, she could not go to the scene. As for the question of who can win the championship in the Chinese and Japanese women's volleyball team, she laughed: "I hope that both teams can show their full strength and play the best level." ”
In 1981, the Chinese women's volleyball team defeated the host Japan team in Osaka to win the World Cup, announcing the arrival of the Chinese era. In 1983, "Volleyball Women" began to be broadcast in China, and with the Chinese women's volleyball team winning five consecutive championships, Junko Xiaolu became an idol and eternal memory for generations. The Japanese women's volleyball team, known as the "Oriental Witch", has never returned to the peak era of the 60s and 70s.
The Olympic Games that Junko Koga dreamed of participating in in the TV series was the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, and "Volleyball Women" was originally intended to be broadcast during this Olympic Games, taking the opportunity to cheer for the Japanese women's volleyball team to defend its title. Yumiko Araki, who had just entered the show business for two years, was lucky enough to be chosen to be the protagonist, when she was only 18 years old.
However, she is only 1.53 meters tall, and in addition to being exposed to volleyball in elementary school, she does not know how volleyball is played. She believes that the reason for the victory over other opponents, in addition to "appearance and body shape", is more important that the director feels that he has a personality that does not accept defeat.
She also said that the production company hopes to make itself an idol star through the TV series. In order to take care of her height, the other characters invited by the crew were also relatively petite, and the height of the net was deliberately lowered. The company invited the player who led the Japanese women's volleyball team to win the 1964 Olympic Championship as a coach and provided her with technical training. Training is hard, and injuries are commonplace.
"We always shoot and practice at the same time, often more than 30 balls fly together, and at the same time we have to speak lines, and our jaws have been dislocated twice, and we have been taken to the hospital by ambulance. But I'm always asked to make sure my face doesn't hurt. ”
The limitations of pressure and physical condition did not overwhelm Yumiko Araki, coupled with the natural strength of good physical strength, fast running, especially with a personality that does not accept defeat, she really practiced volleyball skills. She said that the most standard action practiced was to catch the ball on the forearm pad, which was a volleyball technique invented by legendary coach Hirofumi Ohmatsu.
Of course, everyone is most concerned about the "clear sky thunderbolt" that can reverse the game scene, Araki Yumiko said, this action is actually divided into four shots to shoot, jump up, touch high, down and turn a little, and then pull the net, jump up when the body needs to be particularly straight, she practiced many times, and finally practiced this action very well.
According to Lang Ping, many of the letters she received from sack fans that year asked her to learn Junko Xiaolu and stage aerial stunts such as "Clear Sky Thunderbolt", which made her cry and laugh.
In 2006, when Yumiko Araki was doing a show in China, she met Lang Ping, who was on stage together, and "Iron Hammer" told her a lot about the past of watching "Volleyball Girl", which she still remembers vividly.
Araki said that "Volleyball Girl" was originally planned to be filmed for only half a year, but later it was filmed while broadcasting, and the number of ratings was posted on the set, and the number rose day by day, so it was filmed for two years. Due to the boycott of the Olympic Games, the later storyline shifted from volleyball to "parent-child relationship".
Yumiko Araki went to China to shoot a travel show when she was 17 years old, and her deepest impression of China was that she saw giant pandas. She couldn't imagine becoming a superstar in China one day, far more than she was famous in Japan. The ratings of "Volleyball Girl" in China at that time were shocking.
In 1983, only 23-year-old Yumiko Araki married singer Masayuki Yuhara, and then announced her retirement from the art world, after the news was announced, a Chinese television station came to Japan to interview, she learned that she was on fire in China. However, just after becoming famous, he announced his retirement, not only the company did not agree, but fans also strongly opposed it.
"Many Chinese viewers have also written to me, telling me that it is okay to get married and have children, and can I not retreat." In the eyes of everyone, my husband has suddenly become a bad person, but I still hope to continue to grow as a mother, so I am determined to retire. ”
Soon after the marriage, the husband's mother fell ill, Araki wholeheartedly took care of the paralyzed mother-in-law in bed, in the blink of an eye, 20 years, until the death of the mother-in-law in 2003, the son has grown up, she decided to make a comeback again, to meet the second spring of life.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Yumiko Araki went to China almost every year, and last year she held a concert in Shanghai, singing the theme song of "Volleyball Girl" for the first time. She is very grateful to the Chinese audience for 40 years of love, although most Chinese audiences only know her name is Junko Xiaolu. And she herself has already fused "Yumiko Araki and Junko Oda together".
For more than 40 years, Araki has treasured a thick photo album, which is a still of "Volleyball Girl", hundreds of pictures, most of which are black and white photos of different sizes, and the cover and back cover of the album are signed with the names of the crew. She said the album was unique and had never been shown to the public before.
She likes the first enlarged photo, her eyes looking into the distance, as if looking for something, and she says that may be the expression on her mother's face when she heard that she was going to see the game. Next to the photo is a message from the original author of the TV series, Shotaro Ishimori: "Yumiko has worked hard! The rest of your life will also be 'burning!' Attack'. "Burn! Attack on Attack is the original Japanese name of the TV series.
Unfortunately, the Japanese manga artist died many years ago, and over the years, the director, screenwriter and several actors have also passed away, seemingly telling Yumiko Araki that the era of youth is far away, if not to China, "Volleyball Girl" seems to be only sealed in that thick black-and-white album.
"Chinese audiences take the old stuff to heart like treasures, but Japan is different, and they quickly forget it." I cherish the love of Chinese audiences and friends and am welcomed everywhere. I also hope to be able to help everyone, and I will definitely do my best. With the Beijing Winter Olympics in February next year and the Hangzhou Asian Games after that, I hope to use these opportunities to promote friendship between the two countries. ”
Yumiko Araki said that in order to make Chinese audiences recognize herself, she always has long hair, although it is a little embarrassing to tie twisted braids at this age, but it is easy to recall things from the past. It's just that after filming "Volleyball Girl", she never played volleyball again.
The COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, and Tokyo has entered a state of emergency for the fourth time, and she only hopes that the Olympic Games will be held smoothly and safely.
"It's not been easy for the contestants this year, and I want to be quietly guarding them in front of the TV."
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Process Edit: u022