The flight of young people from rural areas into big cities seems irreversible. Though the problem is usually discussed in terms of lifestyle choices, the fact is there isn't much money in agriculture and young women don't want to marry farmers.
NHK supposes something different in its five-part drama series, "Noka no Yome ni Naritai (I Want to be a Farmer's Wife)," which premieres Monday on NHK-G at 9:15 p.m. Kyoko Fukuda plays Kazuko, an office drone at a Tokyo trading company whose boyfriend, Makoto (Shunsuke Nakamura), is an "elite salaryman."
One day, out of the blue, Makoto breaks up with Kyoko, quits his job, and returns to his hometown in the country. Kyoko, heartbroken but undefeated, follows him and discovers that he has decided to take over his family's vegetable farm. She says she wants to stay, but Makoto and his grandmother (Nobuko Miyamoto) don't think Kazuko is cut out for the farming life, and tell her to return to Tokyo. However, Kazuko spends the night in the village drinking with some locals at a festival.