Carnation

Carnation retells the life of designer Ayako Koshino through Itoko Ohara, a woman from Kishiwada, Osaka who builds a dressmaking business while facing social expectations and economic hurdles. As a child she learns sewing from her mother, and over decades she develops skills, opens a shop, and trains apprentices. The series follows her steady efforts to balance family duties, community pressures, and the changing fashion world, and it shows how her persistence helps her daughters pursue careers in design. Supporting characters provide warmth, rivalry, and moral dilemmas, and the tone stays grounded, focusing on the everyday work of making clothes and sustaining a household without spoiling later plot developments. It respects cultural detail and period atmosphere throughout each episode faithfully.

Aired in NHK's Asadora slot from 3 October 2011 to 31 March 2012, Carnation was created by Aya Watanabe and adapts the life of fashion designer Ayako Koshino, serving as the 85th Asadora in the long-running morning drama tradition program.

Box office is not applicable for Carnation, which is a serialized television drama broadcast on NHK. As a morning Asadora, its success is measured by viewer ratings, cultural reach, and critical reception rather than theatrical revenue or home sales figures.

Carnation helped spotlight Ayako Koshino's life and raised public interest in postwar Japanese fashion, family-run ateliers, and women entrepreneurs. By dramatizing a real designer's career and showing three generations, it reinforced the cultural profile of the Koshino family and inspired renewed appreciation for craftsmanship and practical design across Japan widely.

The series earned warm reviews for steady performances, production design, and faithful period detail, reflected in an average user score of 8.2/10 from six votes. Themes include resilience, motherhood, vocational pride, and evolving gender roles in postwar Japan, with fashion serving as both work and personal expression and social change.