Mare

is a Japanese television drama series, the 92nd Asadora (morning drama) that was broadcast daily on NHK from March 30, 2015, until September 26, 2015, the same as 2009's Asadora series Tsubasa. It is about a young woman from the Noto Peninsula who wants to become a patissier. Tao Tsuchiya, who appeared in the Asadora Hanako to Anne, was cast in the lead role after an audition of 2,020 women. Plot At age ten, Mare Tsumura has decided she has no need for big dreams—she will just live her life step by step, day by day. Her father Tōru has had nothing but big dreams, each of which has ended in failure, causing their family to flee their debts in Tokyo by escaping to a small seaside town in the Noto Peninsula. They are not welcome at first, especially as Tōru keeps on messing things up, but the family finally finds a place to live at the Okesaku's (Fumi and her husband Ganji, who produces salt from seawater), and Mare makes friends with the kids her age. By the time Mare is 17, Tōru has long since disappeared. Mare is a great helper, but is set on living a safe life by working at city hall. She runs into Keita, a boy whom she helped when she first arrived in Noto but who moved away, and grows to like him. But when he confesses his love for her, she reacts badly to his declaration that he will become the world's best lacquerware artist. She cannot handle such big dreams. Toru eventually returns to Noto and is forgiven by his wife Aiko. Mare recalls her childhood memory of eating a delicious birthday cake and wanting to become a pastry chef, and after hearing her friend Ichiko's plans to become an idol, decides to give it one last try by entering a cake contest. She fails miserably, and is roundly criticized by the expert judge. Resolving to give up her dream, she tries to confess her feelings for Keita, only to find out he's now going out with Ichiko. Mare starts working at city hall, with Keita's father as her section chief. Her job is to help people thinking to move to Noto, but runs into many problems, including an agent who secretly steals information about lacquerware and gets Keita into trouble. Mare's family is also in trouble when the Okesaku's son suddenly returns to declare he wants to take over the place and start a cafe. He withdraws, however, when it is clear that the Tsumuras are as much family to his parents as he is. Things change for Mare when Aiko's mother suddenly appears for the first time since Aiko's marriage.