Jessica in Japanese "Suits" 鈴木保奈美さんでは Suits は無理かと｡｡｡

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Do you know that Suits has been adapted and is on air in Japan? This "Japanese Suits" has drawn attention because of not only the original US version being very popular in Japan, but also a completely unrelated reason. Two of the main characters, Harvey and Jessica, are portrayed by a Japanese actor and actress who played the main characters in a hit TV drama 30 years ago.

I enjoyed watching US Suits and so, as a great fan of the legal drama, want to say out loud that the adaptation of Suits for Japanese audience is impossible!

Harvey, portrayed by Yuji Oda, who played one of the two main characters in the old Japanese love story, is bearable, but Jessica played by Honami Suzuki, who played his girlfriend, is terrible. The issue is not the actress but the fact that Japanese women like Jessica, those who are beautiful, ambitious, strong-willed, but viciously manipulate people if necessary, may work at BDSM clubs, but otherwise can never climb the career ladder in Japan. Assertive girls, like Jessica, are molded by their parents or teachers into "good mother figure" shapes or crushed later on by their male or even female supervisors because here in Japan, women achieving higher positions mostly get them by being "kawaii," i.e., working hard and loyally for powerful male supervisors. You can see now why so many Japanese women in their 40s and older talk with a high-pitched voice, like teenage girls.

I can't help but find Japanese Jessica, the managing partner of a top law firm in Tokyo speaking in a cute voice, absolutely bogus. Of course, some women with power don't speak like teenagers, but sadly they are mostly daughters of powerful fathers, such as Makiko Tanaka, who is a politician but better known as the daughter of Kakuei Tanaka, one of the most powerful post-war prime ministers; Sawako Agawa, a TV celebrity who is a daughter of a famous author and currently a hanger-on of Takeshi Kitano; or Kumiko Otsuka, the president of Otsuka Furniture company, a daughter of the founder of the company.

Where are self-made women in Japan, like Jessica? 

フジテレビが日本版「Suits」をえらく番宣している。日本のドラマにはほとんど興味がないのだが、Suitsを楽しく視聴していた一ファンとして、少し心配だ。だって、織田裕二のハービー役はまだ許せたとてしても、鈴木保奈美のジェシカ役はないんじゃない？あんなかわいらしい声で、人をばっさばっさと切り倒していく法律事務所のトップ役なんて無理でしょ。というよりその前に、ジェシカみたいな女の人、日本にはいないでしょ。だって日本の女性管理職ってほとんど直属の男上司の腰巾着だから。

というわけで私は、古くは田中真紀子さん、そして作家の阿川弘之氏の娘で今はたけしの腰巾着と化している阿川佐和子さん、そして大塚久美子さんも尊敬できないのです。みんなお父さんが偉い人だけだもんね。というより、日本では女性は、お父さんが偉くないと出世できないのでしょうか。自力で頑張る女性、尊敬しています。