In the early 1980s, a Japanese television series called "Volleyball Girl" (aka "The Flame of Youth") came out and swept China and most of Asia. Yumiko Araki, who played the heroine of the play, Junko Ogre, became an idol in the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese audiences in that era, like Japanese movie stars such as Ryoko Nakano and Kurihara Komaki.
Based on a manga by renowned manga artist Shotaro Ishimori, released in Japan in 1979, "Volleyball Girls" tells the story of a group of female middle school students who fought hard to compete in the women's volleyball competition at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
In the play, Junko Oda, played by Yumiko Araki, is lively and cute and self-reliant, and her image of hard work is widely known in China for a while and won the love of the people.
Junko Oda made the sport of women's volleyball popular with her magical playing skills such as "Clear Sky Thunderbolt" and "Phantom Whirlwind".
The superb skills and tenacious fighting spirit of the volleyball women in the play deeply touched the hearts of the audience. Junko Fawn has also become synonymous with purity and sweetness.
Her bright smile and inspirational fighting spirit often make people's hearts and blood boil.
Junko's suspender pants and "Junko's head" hair ornament were popular among girls at the time.
Even now, the mention of Junko Fawn's signature action in the play, "Clear Sky Thunderbolt", will also evoke the sweet memories of countless people.
In early January this year, before the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, 60-year-old Yumiko Araki appeared in Shanghai, China to participate in commercial activities, allowing people to once again see the style of "Junko Kobu" 40 years ago.
Yumiko Araki burst into tears when she sang the theme song of "Volleyball Girl" at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. She first said "thank you" to the enthusiastic audience in Chinese, and then said sincerely: "Thank you for liking Junko Ogre so much for more than 40 years, I have regarded China as my second hometown." ”
At that time, "Volleyball Girl" swept China, and many young audiences were fascinated by volleyball, and difficult volleyball actions such as "clear sky thunderbolt" were also imitated by some people.
Yumiko Araki once said: "I am very grateful to the Chinese audience, this TV series actually became popular in China first, I came to China, often young friends come to me for photos, I am also very encouraged... ”
In 2004, when she came to China to record "Art Life", a Girl from Nanjing came to her and gave her two white rabbits with tears, which made her remember and moved.
In 2014, Yumiko Araki appeared on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala on Beijing Satellite TV.
Yumiko Araki was born in January 1960 in Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, and graduated from Horikoshi High School.
The teenager Araki is a crying girl. It is the tears that she often can't stop, touching the family, in her own words, this is the girl's habitual pampering, often the tears flow out, and the parents' resolute heart of stone will be inadvertently melted away. Her crying nature has helped Yumiko enter the entertainment industry and fulfill her dream of stardom.
In 1977, at the age of 17, she became famous for singing the song "Crossing the Sea". She signed up as a student in the TV station draft before rising to prominence in the Japanese television industry.
In the draft contest held by the TV station, Yumiko Araki did not perform well and did not win the competition.
After performing the final candidacy, Araki cried involuntarily, and cried very sadly.
Perhaps it was precisely because of her unstoppable tears that impressed the judges at the scene. The judges, while not giving her care on the score, gave her the consolation of a special award.
When she learned that she had won this award, Yumiko Araki, who was standing on the stage, cried with excitement. The television footage captured her tears and red eyes in its entirety.
Unexpectedly, her sad emotions conquered countless viewers in front of the TV set.
The TV station's choreographers and directors have the insight to discover that she has become a signed artist, and at the time of the new round of volleyball boom in Japan, they tailored the TV series "Volleyball Girl" for her.
Unlike the average volleyball player with a tall arm length talent, Yumiko Araki does not have a tall figure, and her actual height is only one meter and fifty-three.
In that year, in order to create the cool and heroic posture of the female volleyball player, the crew deliberately lowered the height of the volleyball net during filming, reduced the proportion of the seats on the field, and used the special skill angle of photography to shoot.
And the other actresses arranged in the play are all based on the height of the main actor Yumiko Araki,
Although the audience cannot see that the players in the "Volleyball Girl" drama are not tall enough, in fact, Junko Fawn and her teammates are a "pocket" volleyball team member.
The tailor-made shooting of "Volleyball Girl" not only made up for yumiko Araki's height defect, but also met the shooting needs of the supporting roles and modified props in the play.
At this time, the crew specially strengthened the professional training of Yumiko Araki, not only allowing her to learn a lot of volleyball skills, but also specially strengthened her physical training.
Yumiko Araki, who has a strong and hard personality, consciously carries out turning back running and bouncing training every day, and her legs are sometimes red and swollen.
The high-intensity movements required by the plot often strained her leg muscles and caused joint dislocations.
But that's not all, the worst of all is that she once broke her arm and once fell off her jaw during intense rolling ball rescue exercises.
During the filming, when he felt that the pain could not last, Araki would also hide and cry his nose.
But the crying at this time is no longer a symbol of Araki's weakness, but a catharsis behind her strong personality.
The scene of Junko Oda standing upside down many times in the play is the only way for Junko Ogre to maintain her state.
She said that when people are turned upside down, their thoughts are reversed, and many things that they can't think through while standing will be understood.
In the plot, her parents love her, her coaches love her, her teammates love her, and even her opponents love her.
Nango Koo of the Hanada team said to Junko Oga, "You are my biggest competitor and my good friend, if you don't dare to compete with me, you are not qualified to be my good friend." ”
It is Junko Ogre's dedication to the cause of volleyball that has won the respect of her opponents.
In fact, more importantly, Junko Fawn has a love that is as transparent as crystal, and it is she who first dedicated her love to everyone and got the return of everyone's love.
In more than eighty episodes of the drama, Yumiko Araki survived like this.
Difficult moves like "Thunderbolt in the Clear Sky" are all shots she shot independently under hard training.
The strength and beauty are presented to the audience, and the arduous process of blood and tears behind the scenes is silently left in the heart by Yumiko Araki.
Shortly after successfully starring in "Volleyball Girl" Junko Oga, Yumiko Araki married singer Masayuki Yuhara in 1983, and after marriage, she quit the acting world and became a full-time wife.
Although she entered the life of her husband's family with a beautiful family vision, the first thing she faced was her mother-in-law who was bedridden for a long time and needed to be carefully cared for.
The mother-in-law fell ill a week after the two were married, and the Araki couple was so anxious that they gave up their honeymoon plan, and Araki stopped all his acting career and took care of the paralyzed old man in bed, and this care was 20 years.
In the end, Yumiko Araki's consistent love and true affection were exchanged for the heartfelt good wishes of the old man. Before the old man died, he held the hand of his daughter-in-law Yumiko Araki and said to her with his last strength, "Thank you, Ami, your future life will be very good..." She said this sentence and said goodbye to the world.
Yumiko Araki talked about her husband and couldn't hide her smile many times, saying, "My husband has been in the singing business for 40 years, and I grew up listening to his songs when I was a child. He was my senior and division commander. He was very famous at the time, and I really enjoyed listening to him sing, and I can say that I am a fan of him. We all think that the original acquaintance is a kind of fate, so we cherish it very much. ”
Just after arriving in China in January this year, a media reporter asked her in an interview: You took care of your mother-in-law for more than 20 years after marriage, how do you encourage yourself when you face difficulties?
Yumiko Araki replied very calmly:
It is to think about everything I decide, and I must do it well and make it one of my goals. Including my marriage and children, and the process of taking care of my mother-in-law, I have always felt that there is a voice next to me, that is, Junko Fawn is telling me to come on, you can't concede defeat!
In 2004, Yumiko Araki published a new book, "The Care of Enlightenment", created by Yumiko to take care of her mother-in-law for 20 years, and officially announced her return to the literary circle.
Many readers who read her book reflecting on nursing life were deeply moved by her 20 years of filial piety to her mother-in-law, and many Japanese television stations and schools often invited her to do programs.
Talking about the secret of her family's happiness, Yumiko Araki said that there are often two rulers to measure the happiness of a couple's feelings:
One is to see whether the two sides can understand each other psychologically and support each other;
The other is to see if the two sides can be considerate and enthusiastic about each other in life.
Actress, singer, housewife, designer, Araki Yumiko has been constantly transforming her life, and she is 60 years old, who has withstood the baptism of time and is still as radiant as she was then.
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