Taiga drama - WikiHQ

is the name NHK gives to the annual year-long historical drama television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white Hana no Shōgai, starring kabuki actor Onoe Shoroku II and Awashima Chikage, the network regularly hires different writers, directors, and other creative staff for each taiga drama. The 45-minute show airs on the NHK General TV network every Sunday at 8:00pm, with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 1:05pm. NHK BS, NHK BS Premium 4K and NHK World Premium broadcasts are also available.

Taiga dramas are very costly to produce. The usual procedure of a taiga drama production would have one-third of the total number of scripts finished before shooting begins. Afterwards, audience reception is taken into account as the rest of the series is written. Many times, the dramas are adapted from a novel (e.g. Fūrin Kazan is based on The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan). Though taiga dramas have been regarded by Japanese viewers as the most prestigious among dramas in Japan, viewership ratings have considerably declined in recent years.

!width="200"class="unsortable"|Supporting cast

!width="130" class="unsortable"|Notes

!width="20"class="unsortable"|Average Rating

|Hana no Shōgai 花の生涯

|Life of a Flower

|7 April 1963

|29 December 1963

|Onoe Shoroku II (as Ii Naosuke)

|Chikage Awashima Kaoru Yachigusa Kyōko Kagawa Keiji Sada

|20.2%

|Akō Rōshi 赤穂浪士

|5 January 1964

|27 December 1964

|Kazuo Hasegawa (as Ōishi Kuranosuke)

|Isuzu Yamada Osamu Takizawa Chikage Awashima Onoe Baikō VII

|31.9%

|Taikōki 太閤記

|3 January 1965

|26 December 1965

|Ken Ogata (as Toyotomi Hideyoshi)

|Shiho Fujimura Yoshiko Mita Sessue Hayakawa Kōji Takahashi

|31.2%

|Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源義経

|Minamoto no Yoshitsune

|2 January 1966

|25 December 1966

|Onoe Kikunosuke IV (as Minamoto no Yoshitsune)

|Ken Ogata Junko Fuji Osamu Takizawa Isuzu Yamada

|23.5%

|San Shimai 三姉妹

|Three Sisters

|1 January 1967

|24 December 1967

|Mariko Okada (as Mura)

Shiho Fujimura (as Rui)

Komaki Kurihara (as Yuki)

|Tsutomu Yamazaki Shinsuke Ashida Kō Nishimura Osamu Takizawa

|19.1%

|Ryōma ga Yuku 竜馬がゆく

|Ryōma Goes

|7 January 1968

|29 December 1968

|Kin'ya Kitaōji (as Sakamoto Ryōma)

|Ruriko Asaoka Yoshie Mizutani Hideki Takahashi Keiju Kobayashi

|14.5%

|Ten to Chi to 天と地と

|Heaven and Earth

|5 January 1969

|28 December 1969

|Kōji Ishizaka (as Nagao Kagetora/Uesugi Kenshin)

|Fumie Kashiyama Ineko Arima Osamu Takizawa Kōji Takahashi

|25.0%

|Momi no Ki wa Nokotta 樅の木は残った

|The Fir Tree Remained

|4 January 1970

|27 December 1970

|Mikijirō Hira (as Harada Kai)

|Sayuri Yoshinaga Komaki Kurihara Kinuyo Tanaka Kin'ya Kitaōji

|21.0%

|Haru no Sakamichi 春の坂道

|Slope of Spring

|3 January 1971

|26 December 1971

|Nakamura Kinnosuke (as Yagyū Munenori)

|Yoshio Harada Yoko Tsukasa Ichikawa Ebizō X So Yamamura

|21.7%

|10

|Shin Heike Monogatari 新・平家物語

|New Tale of the Heike

|2 January 1972

|24 December 1972

|Tatsuya Nakadai (as Taira no Kiyomori)

|Tamao Nakamura Tsutomu Yamazaki Masakazu Tamura Osamu Takizawa

|21.4%

|11

|Kunitori Monogatari 国盗り物語

|Tale of Taking Countries

|7 January 1973

|30 December 1973

|Mikijirō Hira (as Saitō Dōsan)

Hideki Takahashi (as Oda Nobunaga)

|Keiko Matsuzaka Shōhei Hino Shigeru Tsuyuguchi Masaomi Kondō

|22.4%

|12

|Katsu Kaishū 勝海舟

|6 January 1974

|29 December 1974

|Tetsuya Watari → Hiroki Matsukata (as Katsu Kaishū)

|Reiko Ohara Yoshiko Kuga Keiju Kobayashi Onoe Shoroku II

|24.2%

|13

|Genroku Taiheiki 元禄太平記

|6 January 1975

|29 December 1975

|Kōji Ishizaka (as Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu)

|Tōru Emori Muga Takewaki Shinsuke Ashida Hisaya Morishige

|24.7%

|14

|Kaze to Kumo to Niji to 風と雲と虹と

|Wind, Clouds, and Rainbow

|4 January 1976

|26 December 1976

|Gō Katō (as Taira no Masakado)

|Sayuri Yoshinaga Masao Kusakari Shigeru Tsuyuguchi Ken Ogata

|24.0%

|15

|Kashin 花神

|Flower Spirit

|2 January 1977

|25 December 1977

|Nakamura Umenosuke IV (as Ōmura Masujirō)

|Masatoshi Nakamura Jukichi Uno Ruriko Asaoka Hideki Takahashi

|19.0%

|16

|Ōgon no Hibi 黄金の日日

|Golden Days

|8 January 1978

|24 December 1978

|Ichikawa Somegorō VI (as Luzon Sukezaemon)

|Komaki Kurihara Jinpachi Nezu Kōji Tsuruta Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII

|25.9%

|17

|Kusa Moeru 草燃える

|Grass Burns

|7 January 1979

|23 December 1979

|Kōji Ishizaka (as Minamoto no Yoritomo)

Shima Iwashita (as Hōjō Masako)

|Ken Matsudaira Hiromi Go Keiko Matsuzaka Onoe Shoroku II

|26.3%

|18

|Shishi no Jidai 獅子の時代

|The Age of Lions

|6 January 1980

|21 December 1980

|Bunta Sugawara (as Hiranuma Eiji)

Gō Katō (as Kariya Yoshiaki)

|Reiko Ohara Shinobu Otake Minoru Chiaki Kōji Tsuruta

|21.0%

|19

|Onna Taikōki おんな太閤記

|11 January 1981

|20 December 1981

|Yoshiko Sakuma (as Nene)

|Masatoshi Nakamura Pinko Izumi Harue Akagi Toshiyuki Nishida

|31.8%

|20

|Tōge no Gunzō 峠の群像

|10 January 1982

|19 December 1982

|Ken Ogata (as Ōishi Kuranosuke)

|Ken Matsudaira Juzo Itami Nakamura Umenosuke IV Jukichi Uno

|23.7%

|21

|Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康

|Tokugawa Ieyasu

|9 January 1983

|18 December 1983

|Sakae Takita (as Tokugawa Ieyasu)

|Shinobu Otake Tetsuya Takeda Masako Natsume Kōji Ishizaka

|31.2%

|22

|Sanga Moyu 山河燃ゆ

|Burning Mountains and Rivers Future series are also broadcast in HD.

|18.5%

|40

|Hōjō Tokimune 北条時宗

|Hōjō Tokimune

|The Trusted Confidant

|7 January 2007

|9 December 2007

|Masaaki Uchino (as Yamamoto Kansuke)

|Ichikawa Kamejirō II Gackt Sonny Chiba Tatsuya Nakadai

|18.7%

|47

|Atsuhime 篤姫

|Princess Atsu

|6 January 2008

|21 December 2008

|Aoi Miyazaki (as Atsuhime)

|Eita Masato Sakai Hideki Takahashi Kin'ya Kitaōji

|24.5%

|48

|Tenchijin 天地人

|Heart of a Samurai

|4 January 2009

|22 November 2009

|Satoshi Tsumabuki (as Naoe Kanetsugu)

|Kazuki Kitamura Takako Tokiwa Hiroshi Abe Hiroki Matsukata

|21.2%

|49

|Ryōmaden 龍馬伝

|Ryōmaden: The Legend

|3 January 2010

|28 November 2010

|Masaharu Fukuyama (as Sakamoto Ryōma)

|Teruyuki Kagawa Nao Ōmori Kiyoshi Kodama Kōtarō Satomi

|18.7%

|50

|Gō 江〜姫たちの戦国〜

|Princess Go

|9 January 2011

|27 November 2011

|Juri Ueno (as Gō)

|Rie Miyazawa Asami Mizukawa Gorō Kishitani Kin'ya Kitaōji

|17.7%

|51

|Taira no Kiyomori 平清盛

|Kiyomori

|8 January 2012

|23 December 2012

|Kenichi Matsuyama (as Taira no Kiyomori)

|Hiroshi Tamaki Masaki Okada Shota Matsuda Kiichi Nakai

|12.0%

|52

|Yae no Sakura 八重の桜

|Yae's Sakura

|6 January 2013

|15 December 2013

|Haruka Ayase (as Niijima Yae)

|Hidetoshi Nishijima Hiroki Hasegawa Nakamura Shidō II Toshiyuki Nishida

|14.6%

|53

|Gunshi Kanbei 軍師官兵衛

|Strategist Kanbe

|5 January 2014

|21 December 2014

|Junichi Okada (as Kuroda Kanbei)

|Miki Nakatani Tori Matsuzaka Naoto Takenaka Kyōhei Shibata

|15.8%

|54

|Hana Moyu 花燃ゆ

|Burning Flower

|4 January 2015

|13 December 2015

|Mao Inoue (as Sugi Fumi)

|Takao Osawa Yūsuke Iseya Kengo Kora Yoshiko Mita

|12.0%

|55

|Sanada Maru 真田丸

|Sanada Maru

|10 January 2016

|18 December 2016

|Masato Sakai (as Sanada Yukimura)

|Yo Oizumi Masami Nagasawa Seiyō Uchino Masao Kusakari

|16.6%

|56

|Onna Jōshu Naotora おんな城主直虎

|Naotora: The Lady Warlord

|8 January 2017

|17 December 2017

|Ko Shibasaki (as Ii Naotora)

|Haruma Miura Issey Takahashi Masaki Suda Kaoru Kobayashi

|12.8%

|57

|Segodon 西郷どん

|Segodon

|7 January 2018

|16 December 2018

|Ryohei Suzuki (as Saigō Takamori)

|Eita Keiko Kitagawa Shota Matsuda Ken Watanabe

|12.7%

|58

|Idaten いだてん～東京オリムピック噺～

|Idaten: The Epic Marathon to Tokyo

|6 January 2019

|15 December 2019

|Nakamura Kankurō VI (as Shizo Kanakuri)

Sadao Abe (as Masaji Tabata)

|Haruka Ayase Takeshi Kitano Mirai Moriyama Koji Yakusho

|  8.2%

!colspan="9"|Reiwa era

|59

|Kirin ga Kuru 麒麟がくる

|Awaiting Kirin

|19 January 2020

|7 February 2021

|Hiroki Hasegawa (as Akechi Mitsuhide)

|Shota Sometani Mugi Kadowaki Haruna Kawaguchi Masahiro Motoki

|14.4%

|60

|Seiten o Tsuke 青天を衝け

|Reach Beyond the Blue Sky

|14 February 2021

|26 December 2021

|Ryo Yoshizawa (as Shibusawa Eiichi)

|Kengo Kora Ai Hashimoto Tsuyoshi Kusanagi Kaoru Kobayashi

|14.1%

|61

|Kamakura-dono no 13-nin 鎌倉殿の13人

|The 13 Lords of the Shogun

|9 January 2022

|18 December 2022

|Shun Oguri (as Hōjō Yoshitoki)

|Eiko Koike Koji Yamamoto Yo Oizumi Toshiyuki Nishida

|12.7%

|62

|Dousuru Ieyasu どうする家康

|What Will You Do, Ieyasu?

|8 January 2023

|17 December 2023

|Jun Matsumoto (as Tokugawa Ieyasu)

|Kasumi Arimura Junichi Okada Keiko Kitagawa Hiroshi Abe

|11.2%

|63

|Hikaru Kimi e 光る君へ

|Dear Radiance

|7 January 2024

|15 December 2024

|Yuriko Yoshitaka (as Murasaki Shikibu)

|Tasuku Emoto Akihisa Shiono Ai Mikami Yasunori Danta

|10.7%

|64

|Berabou べらぼう～蔦重栄華乃夢噺～

|Unbound

|5 January 2025

|14 December 2025

|Ryusei Yokohama (as Tsutaya Jūzaburō)

|Ken Yasuda Fuka Koshiba Toma Ikuta Ken Watanabe

|  9.5%

|65

|Toyotomi Kyōdai! 豊臣兄弟！

|Brothers in Arms

|4 January 2026

|2026

|Taiga Nakano (as Toyotomi Hidenaga)

|Sosuke Ikematsu Riho Yoshioka Minami Hamabe Shun Oguri

|66

|Gyakuzoku no Bakushin 逆賊の幕臣

|TBA

|2027

|Tori Matsuzaka (as Oguri Tadamasa)

|Mone Kamishiraishi Kyōka Suzuki Masatoshi Nakamura Takao Osawa

|67

|John Mung ジョン万

|TBA

|2028

|Kento Yamazaki (as John Manjirō)

|TBA

</div>

NHK Special Drama

Clouds Over the Hill was originally set for a 2006 broadcast as "21st Century Taiga Drama". However, the scriptwriter of the series committed suicide, causing a delay in production. The series was aired as "NHK Special Drama" in three parts, each part airing from late November to late December of each year.

{| class="wikitable"

!width="150"|Title

!width="50"|season

!width="70"|Episodes

!width="133"|Start

!width="133"|End

!width="170"|Starring

!width="150"|Supporting cast

|rowspan="3"|Clouds Over the Hill

|5 eps

|29 November 2009

|27 December 2009

|rowspan="3"|Masahiro Motoki Hiroshi Abe Teruyuki Kagawa

|rowspan="3"|Miho Kanno Gō Katō Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari

|4 eps

|5 December 2010

|26 December 2010

|4 eps

|4 December 2011

|25 December 2011

Fantasy taiga drama

{| class="wikitable"

!width="240"|Title

!width="40"|season

!width="50"|Episodes

!width="133"|Start

!width="133"|End

!width="120"|Starring

!width="150"|Supporting cast

|rowspan="3"|Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit

|4 eps

|26 March 2016

|9 April 2016

|rowspan="3"|Haruka Ayase

|rowspan="3"|Masahiro Higashide Mizuki Itagaki Mikijirō Hira Tatsuya Fujiwara

|9 eps

|21 January 2017

|25 March 2017

|9 eps

|25 November 2017

|27 January 2018

New Large-scale Historical Drama Series

From 1984 to 1986, NHK aired three Taiga dramas covering modern and contemporary history. To satisfy traditional jidaigeki fans during this period, NHK produced three special period dramas. Many viewers consider these productions to be virtually equivalent to Taiga dramas.

{| class="wikitable"

!width="20"|#

!width="150"|Romanised Name

!width="100"|Kanji Name

!width="50"|Episodes

!width="133"|Start

!width="133"|End

!width="170"|Starring

!width="150"|Supporting cast

|Miyamoto Musashi

|宮本武蔵

|45 eps

|4 April 1984

|13 March 1985

|Koji Yakusho

|Yūko Kotegawa Eiji Okuda Kōji Naka Tetsurō Tamba

|Sanada Taiheiki

|真田太平記

|45 eps

|3 April 1985

|19 March 1986

|Tsunehiko Watase

|Masao Kusakari Kurara Haruka Misako Konno Tetsurō Tamba

|Musashibō Benkei

|武蔵坊弁慶

|34 eps

|9 April 1986

|12 December 1986

|Nakamura Kichiemon II

|Tarō Kawano Keiko Oginome Bunta Sugawara Yorozuya Kinnosuke

Series overviews

thumb|The set of Ryūkyū no Kaze (1993) is now a park in Okinawa.

武蔵 MUSASHI (2003). Kabuki actor Ichikawa Shinnosuke VII (now Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII) held the lead role as the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, whose lives spanned the end of the sengoku and the beginning of the Edo periods. The series was based on the Yoshikawa Eiji novel that forms the basis for most modern fiction based on the events of Musashi's life. This was the first Taiga Drama to have its title in both kanji and the Latin alphabet.
Toshiie and Matsu (2002). Toshiaki Karasawa as Maeda Toshiie and Nanako Matsushima as Matsu recounted the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate from the point of view of an outside daimyō.
Hōjō Tokimune (2001). Kyōgen actor Izumi Motoya played the lead character, heading a cast that included Watanabe Ken. Major events in the series included the Mongol Invasions of Japan.
Genroku Ryōran (1999). Kabuki actor Nakamura Kankurō V played Ōishi Kuranosuke in this story set in the Genroku period, during which the events of the Forty-seven rōnin occurred.

References

External links

Official Site

NHK Special Drama

Fantasy taiga drama

New Large-scale Historical Drama Series

Series overviews

See also

References

External links