My Life: Interview with TV Director Yasuko Isono, Part 6
Jun. 26, 2013
Entering the World of Broadcasting
by Takahiro Yamase, Staff Writer
Hoping to work in TV, a place to make use of her personal traits
A year after Ms. Isono graduated from Minami High School, she moved to Tokyo by herself. Her plan was to attend a cram school and study for university entrance exams, but she had a tough part-time job and it wore her out.
This was a time when there weren’t the kind of supermarkets and convenience stores we have today. My job involved visiting students’ houses to sell them daily necessities and food, if they didn’t want to make the effort to go shopping themselves. I carried the ingredients for simple meals and sold them to students who lived in houses in the area I covered. I had to walk three or four hours a day, in places that were unfamiliar to me. It was no fun at all.
I lived in a room in a house owned by someone my cousin knew, in Setagaya Ward. Although I was attending the cram school, my academic ability suffered because of my demanding part-time job. At the same time, I had some trouble with my bronchial tubes and I became utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.
I had come to Tokyo to open doors by showing what I could do, though I was a woman. But I suffered a setback there. So I returned to Hiroshima with the idea of reconsidering my ambitions and aspirations and starting over from scratch.
In the spring of 1955, Ms. Isono enrolled at Hiroshima University. She was a student in the Faculty of Politics and Economics.
This time I didn’t work part-time. I lived with my family, who had left the island of Etajima and were now in Itsukaichi-cho (today, a residential area on the south side of JR Istukaichi Station in Saiki Ward, Hiroshima). At the university I felt a sense of freedom in which I could do whatever I liked. It was an atmosphere which enabled me to regain my sense of self, after being liberated from the frustrating life I experienced in Tokyo.
I found renewed hope for my life, and I began to think about what I would do in the future, to express my real nature. I became convinced that working in the media was the right path for me. When I was asked what personal quality set me apart, I would respond by mentioning my sensitivity. I don’t think anyone can sense a situation more keenly. So I began to believe that the media would be the right place for me to make use of this trait.
TV, which had just been introduced to Japan, was a buzzword of the time. TV stations were being established nationwide and there were a lot of job openings. I was hoping to gather information and direct programs, but jobs in the news and production divisions were only open to men. But it was possible to apply to be a female announcer at various places.
Ms. Isono was hired as an announcer by Radio Yamaguchi (today, Yamaguchi Broadcasting Company in Shunan City) in April 1959. There were 39 new hires in all. By the end of the year, another 24 people had joined the company. That was the year the company began its TV broadcasting.
The media, which had been a world of letters, now became a world of images, too. It was a new world of journalism and I didn’t care whether I worked as an announcer or anything else. I just wanted to get my foot in the door and gain the chance to direct my own programs one day. I entered the company determined to become a female pioneer.
(Originally published on December 7, 2010)
by Takahiro Yamase, Staff Writer
Hoping to work in TV, a place to make use of her personal traits
A year after Ms. Isono graduated from Minami High School, she moved to Tokyo by herself. Her plan was to attend a cram school and study for university entrance exams, but she had a tough part-time job and it wore her out.
This was a time when there weren’t the kind of supermarkets and convenience stores we have today. My job involved visiting students’ houses to sell them daily necessities and food, if they didn’t want to make the effort to go shopping themselves. I carried the ingredients for simple meals and sold them to students who lived in houses in the area I covered. I had to walk three or four hours a day, in places that were unfamiliar to me. It was no fun at all.
I lived in a room in a house owned by someone my cousin knew, in Setagaya Ward. Although I was attending the cram school, my academic ability suffered because of my demanding part-time job. At the same time, I had some trouble with my bronchial tubes and I became utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.
I had come to Tokyo to open doors by showing what I could do, though I was a woman. But I suffered a setback there. So I returned to Hiroshima with the idea of reconsidering my ambitions and aspirations and starting over from scratch.
In the spring of 1955, Ms. Isono enrolled at Hiroshima University. She was a student in the Faculty of Politics and Economics.
This time I didn’t work part-time. I lived with my family, who had left the island of Etajima and were now in Itsukaichi-cho (today, a residential area on the south side of JR Istukaichi Station in Saiki Ward, Hiroshima). At the university I felt a sense of freedom in which I could do whatever I liked. It was an atmosphere which enabled me to regain my sense of self, after being liberated from the frustrating life I experienced in Tokyo.
I found renewed hope for my life, and I began to think about what I would do in the future, to express my real nature. I became convinced that working in the media was the right path for me. When I was asked what personal quality set me apart, I would respond by mentioning my sensitivity. I don’t think anyone can sense a situation more keenly. So I began to believe that the media would be the right place for me to make use of this trait.
TV, which had just been introduced to Japan, was a buzzword of the time. TV stations were being established nationwide and there were a lot of job openings. I was hoping to gather information and direct programs, but jobs in the news and production divisions were only open to men. But it was possible to apply to be a female announcer at various places.
Ms. Isono was hired as an announcer by Radio Yamaguchi (today, Yamaguchi Broadcasting Company in Shunan City) in April 1959. There were 39 new hires in all. By the end of the year, another 24 people had joined the company. That was the year the company began its TV broadcasting.
The media, which had been a world of letters, now became a world of images, too. It was a new world of journalism and I didn’t care whether I worked as an announcer or anything else. I just wanted to get my foot in the door and gain the chance to direct my own programs one day. I entered the company determined to become a female pioneer.
(Originally published on December 7, 2010)
