In a recent column of Televiews by Wm. Penn, Penn wrote:

If one measure of happiness is doing what one loves right up until the moment of death, then actor Ken Ogata was a very happy man indeed. He ended his career with a starring role in what will likely be this season’s most compelling series, the new So Kuramoto drama Kaze no Garden (Thursdays, 10 p.m., Fuji).

Ogata was 71 when he died of liver cancer on Oct. 5, just five days after the cast’s final Sept. 30 press conference and four days before the series debuted. Ironically, he had chosen to keep his illness a secret during the filming of this delicate exploration of how people choose to live the last days of their lives.

Ogata plays Teizo Shiratori, an elderly Furano country doctor whose son, Sadami (Kiichi Nakai), is dying of liver cancer. When Sadami’s wife committed suicide seven years earlier, Teizo blamed it on his son’s philandering and banished him from Furano in Hokkaido. Teizo has raised his 13-year-old autistic grandson (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and his 21-year-old granddaughter Rui (Meisa Kuroki), who has taken over her mother’s flower garden. When Sadami discovers he is dying, he decides to reestablish contact.

The drama is set predominantly in scenic Hokkaido, and each episode bears a flower name. But most of Episode 1, “Snowdrop,” was filmed in Tokyo at the major medical center where Sadami is a top anesthesiologist. Nakai gives a very convincing portrayal of a modern doctor at the peak of his career. He is confident, proud and competent with a bravado that masks his inner feelings. His cool but cheery demeanor allows him to keep patients at a comfortable distance. The one exception is Akane (Ayaka Hirahara), a former patient who is now his girlfriend. When Sadami is called in to assist with the surgery of a high-powered stock manipulator (Eiji Okuda), who is also dying and estranged from his family, it provides a telling contrast with his own situation.

After months and months of dramanga and second-rate sitcoms, Kaze no Garden is a drama of refreshing depth. Ogata’s country doctor is both kind and stubbornly unforgiving of his son. Sadami’s daughter Rui is now involved with a married man herself. Not the usual caricatures, these are complex characters who make you care about them, even though you may not always like them.

Definitely worth tuning in for the farewell performance of one of Japan’s great veteran actors. The first episode earned Video Research Co. rating of 20.1 percent. And, oh yes, it was Ogata who did the calligraphy for the title used in the intro.

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Mainichi Daily News reported, “Ken Ogata, a versatile actor who starred in a number of films, TV dramas and theater plays, died of liver cancer at the age of 71 on Sunday, his family said on Tuesday.”

“Ogata, whose real first name was Akinobu, was best known for his distinctive acting in the films “Kichiku” (”The Damon”, 1978) and “Narayama Bushiko” (”The Ballad of Narayama”, 1983) that won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Ogata received the Mainichi Film Award for best actor for his roles in both films.”

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