Scappy's Pilgrimage to Sacred Sites: "The Flower That I Love Most" Edition
Can friendship between men and women really exist?
This is the theme of the eternal question explored in this season's Fuji TV Thursday 10 PM drama, "The Flower That I Love Most".
The drama is a reunion between producer Ken Murase and screenwriter Miku Ubukata, who worked together on last year's hit drama "silent". It also generated significant buzz before airing due to its "quattro-starring" cast featuring Mikako Tabe, Kohei Matsushita, Mio Imada, and Fuju Kamio. Now that it is airing, it has become a drama that is tearing at the hearts of many viewers, as it is not only a "story of four people" but also features situations and lines that peel back the scabs of the wounds we have carried throughout our lives.
In this Scappy's pilgrimage, I would like to visit the sacred sites of "The Flower That I Love Most"!
"The Flower That I Love Most" Synopsis
Four men and women who have lived separate lives: Yukue Ushio (Mikako Tabe), Tsubaki Haruki (Kohei Matsushita), Yoyo Miyuki (Mio Imada), and Momiji Sato (Fuju Kamio).
These four people, who differ completely in age, gender, and upbringing, one day face human relationships involving "friendship" and "love" in their daily lives: "The only friend of the opposite sex I could confide in stopped being a friend after getting married," "The girl I was thinking of marrying was taken by her male friend," "I just want to be friends, but because I'm the opposite sex, it's automatically perceived as romance," and "I thought my friends' friends were all my friends, but I realized I had no one I could speak my true feelings to."
It is a story about these people, who differ not only in their circumstances but also in their ways of thinking, meeting by chance and naturally confronting the themes of "friendship" and "love."
*The following contains some spoilers.*
Let's go! To the sacred sites of "The Flower That I Love Most"!
A frequent location in this drama is the home of Tsubaki Haruki (Kohei Matsushita), who lives alone in a large house after his relationship fell through just before marriage.
The four, who happened to be together one day and have since become each other's emotional support, often gather at Tsubaki's house.
The setting for this story, including the location of that house, is Sakurashinmachi in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, and its surrounding area.
#いちばんすきな花 の舞台は桜新町。この街を中心に物語が展開します。#silent で皆さんが感じて下さった様に、桜新町に行けばこのドラマの登場人物たちに会えるような…そんな気持ちになれる作品にできればと思っています#すき花#多部未華子 #松下洸平 #今田美桜 #神尾楓珠https://t.co/56S33KqxRP
— 村瀬健「いちばんすきな花」💐「silent」Blu-ray発売中 (@sellarm) October 2, 2023
However, the location of the Haruki house is not revealed even when watching the drama, and there is a high possibility that the house does not actually exist in Sakurashinmachi, so this time I will be visiting sacred sites that can be identified by the town's scenery.
First, I tried getting off at Sakurashinmachi Station.
It's about 10 minutes from Shibuya Station on the Tokyu Den-en-toshi Line.
I have arrived at Sakurashinmachi Station.
This is the north exit of Sakurashinmachi Station, where in episode 3, after the four parted ways, Yukue and Tsubaki, who remained there, struggled to add each other on LINE for the first time in a while (I love how realistic the "Where do I bring up the QR code?" part was), and Momiji, who already knew everyone's contact information, created a group LINE for the four of them.
Since I'm here, I'll take a walk around Sakurashinmachi Station.
I visited "Sakura Jingu," which is said to be called "Setagaya's Ise-san."
As the name suggests, cherry blossoms are said to bloom in the precincts in the spring, but on the day of my pilgrimage, it was bustling with visitors, partly because it was the Shichi-Go-San season.
The "En-musubi (Love Knot) Tree" at the entrance of the shrine.
They say that if you write your wish on a pink ribbon and tie it to the tree, it will come true.
Maybe it will become a filming location someday! I leave with that expectation in mind.
Sakurashinmachi is a town already famous as the setting for Sazae-san.
There are Sazae-san motifs all over the town.
Although it appears as Sakurashinmachi in the drama, some spots are actually located elsewhere.
For example, the bus stop and bus where Yukue and Yoyo talk after leaving Haruki's house in the second episode.
Yoyo, who has been "treated" as a popular and central figure to the point where even her close friends tell her, "There are plenty of guys who would be happy to come if you said you wanted to see them. Like a free first-time trial stock," says,
"I was desperate not to be left out of the group. I would write a lot on the day the exchange diary came around, and pass it to the next person the next day."
This is an impressive scene where she opens up her inner feelings to Yukue.
Since it's near the Haruki house, it might be a bus stop in Sakurashinmachi in the story, but the actual filming location seems to be a bus stop near Todoroki in Setagaya Ward.
If you're curious, please go and visit it.
Next, to Sangen-jaya Station
Another place I headed to was Sangen-jaya Station on the Tokyu Setagaya Line and Den-en-toshi Line.
The area around Carrot Tower, which is directly connected to this Sangen-jaya Station, is where Momiji is called by the nickname "Panda!" by his friends after creating a LINE group at the aforementioned Sakurashinmachi Station.
The origin of "Panda" comes from "attraction panda," meaning someone used to pick up people for hookups or group dates.
He's handsome, has many friends, and is sociable. But who can he really trust?
As the episodes progress, I've been noticing the feelings Momiji keeps hidden in his heart, so I'm looking forward to what happens next.
It's true, the station building looks like something from overseas and is stylish!
While I was at it, I also stopped by the sacred sites of "silent"
Finally, since it has the same director and screenwriter, I also stopped by the sacred sites of "silent".
A year has passed since it aired, but it seems that drama fans and fans of the cast still visit Setagaya-Daita Station on the Odakyu Line, which served as the setting.
Daita Fujimi Bridge, the place where Sou first conveyed his situation and feelings to Tsumugi using sign language.
I tear up every time I remember it.
▼ If you want to watch "silent"
Click here for programs related to Haruna Kawaguchi!
Click here for programs related to Ren Meguro!
As of now, four episodes of "The Flower That You Love the Most" have been broadcast.
Since the drama is still ongoing, there will surely be more locations that become sacred sites in the future.
I will add more updates once Scappy visits new pilgrimage sites later on.
Click here for catch-up streaming
Click here for programs related to Mikako Tabe!
Click here for programs related to Kohei Matsushita!
Click here for programs related to Mio Imada!
Click here for programs related to Fuju Kamio!
Click here for previous sacred site pilgrimage articles
(Reporting by Scappy, Writing by Tantan)