The Ghost Writer's Wife (ばけばけ, Bakebake) is a Japanese television drama series and the 113th Asadora series, following Anpan. This is a work of fiction modeled after the life of Setsu Koizumi, wife of the Greek-Irish writer Lafcadio Hearn, known for works such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things.
Contents
Plot
Toki Matsuno is born into a prestigious samurai family, but the Meiji Restoration brings an end to the age of the samurai. Her father's new business ventures fail, and the family is forced into poverty. She finds a job as a maid to a foreign English teacher named Heavin. Though there are barriers of language and culture between them, they grow close through their shared interest in kaidan (Japanese ghost stories).
Cast
Principal
Akari Takaishi as Toki Matsuno
Miharu Fukuchi as young Toki
Tommy Bastow as Lefkada Heavin, Toki's husband
Matsuno family
Takashi Okabe as Tsukasanosuke Matsuno, Toki's adoptive father
Chizuru Ikewaki as Fumi Matsuno, Toki's adoptive mother
Fumiyo Kohinata as Kan'emon Matsuno, Toki's adoptive grandfather
Ushimizu family
Shinichi Tsutsumi as Den Ushimizu, Toki's birth father
Keiko Kitagawa as Tae Ushimizu, Toki's birth mother
Rihito Itagaki as Sannojo Ushimizu
Others
Ryo Yoshizawa as Yūichi Nishikōri
Rairu Sugita as Joe Nishikōri
Kanichiro as Ginjiro Yamane
Wan Marui as Sawa Nozu
Honami Sato as Nami
Shirō Sano as Yasumune Etō, the Governor of Shimane Prefecture
Kana Kita as Riyo Etō, Yasumune's daughter
Anna Kurasawa as Chiyo
Kono Adachi as Sen
Kenji Iwaya as Zentaro Moriyama, debt collector
Mizuki Maehara as Zenitaro Moriyama, Zentaro's son
Katsuhisa Namase as Heita Hanada
Nobue Iketani as Tsuru Hanada
Maru Nouchi as Ume
Udai Iwasaki as Goro Kajitani
Mayumi Asaka as Tatsu Ueno
Taisei Sakai as Morimichi Nakamura
Tokio Emoto as Saiji Yamahashi
Yukito Hodaka as Seiichi Masaki
Kyohei Shimokawa as Haruo Kotani
Charlotte Kate Fox as Eliza Belsland
Shogo Hama as Takichi Shoda
Hosaki Tanaka as Hatsuemon Kanenari
Voice cast
Eriko Watanabe as the Snake
Miho Kimura as the Frog
Production
Akari Takaishi was chosen for the lead role of Toki Matsuno from among 2892 auditionees. The role of Toki's husband, Lefkada Heavin, was also filled through an audition rather than a direct offer. The casting call was announced in Japan, as well as in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, attracting 1767 participants. Ultimately, British actor Tommy Bastow was selected for the part. He heard about the audition from his co-star on the American TV series Shōgun, Moeka Hoshi.