In April 2020, the Japanese actress Kumiko Okae passed away. It was reported that she died of COVID-19 while undergoing treatment for cancer. This sudden news saddened the whole of Japan. Okae was a familiar face on Japanese television as well as a Pokémon voice actress. She had been affectionately dubbed the “Mother of Japan.”

The word for “mother” in Japanese is okaasan. Thanks in large part to her acting, Okae embodied the image of okaasan for many in Japan. Indeed, it was the long-running TV drama Ten made todoke (“Reach up to Heaven”) which catapulted her to stardom. This highly popular drama ran throughout most of the 1990s, wherein Okae played the role of a devoted mother of no less than 13 children. It is based on a true story.

Ten made todoke depicts the happy and peaceful life of a large family. But the drama takes a sharp turn when Okae’s character　Sadako’s thirteenth pregnancy is discovered. At the same time, Sadako is diagnosed with an incurable disease. Her doctor recommends an abortion. 

The older children, now in junior high and high school, beg their mother to do as the doctor recommends. But Sadako gently smiles at them and says that she has no intention of aborting. Her moving words “I think God will decide in the end” [最後は神様が決めてくれると思うの] lead them to embrace her way of thinking.

In the drama, Sadako leaves everything to God, gives birth, and survives. She returns to good health, and…