Sazae-san/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Executive Meddling: Necessary example. Sazae used to end every episode by throwing a bean in the air and swallowing it. When a child choked to death imitating her, this was changed; she now ends every episode by challenging the viewer to jan-ken-pon (rock/paper/scissors).
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: In the first three months of the show's broadcast Katsuo was voiced by Nobuyo Ōyama, best known as the voice of Doraemon.
  • Keep Circulating the Tapes: Despite its long run not one episode was ever officially released on VHS or DVD. This was from a request the creator Machiko Hasegawa made before she died. In fact, episodes broadcast before VCRs became the norm are extremely difficult to find because they've never been shown again since its original broadcast. This is partly the reason why the 40th anniversary special from 2009 was a big event: they pulled out some old episodes from the 1970s and broadcast them again for the first time in decades.
  • The Other Darrin: Despite its long run this trope is averted with Sazae, Tara, Namihei, and Fune, whose voices are still performed by the same actors after more than 40 years.[1]. However, there has been changes with voice actors for Katsuo (3 actors), Masuo (2), and Wakame (3).
  • Outlived Its Creator: Machiko Hasegawa died in 1992.
  • Recycled Script: Most of the stories are based on the original run of the comic strip, and are rotated through every few years, only slightly updated with current clothing and technology. New stories based on current events are a rare treat.
  1. One 2009 episode had someone else perform Fune, only because the voice actress was sick that day.