Taiga drama

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Taiga drama (大河ドラマ, Taiga dorama^?, "Big River Drama") is the name NHK gives to the annual, year-long historical fiction television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white Hana no Shōgai, starring kabuki actor Onoe Shōroku and Takarazuka star Awashima Chikage, the network has hired a producer, director, writer, music director, and actors for the series. The 45-minute show airs on the NHK General network every Sunday at 20:00, with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 13:05. Satellite, HDTV digital satellite, and NHK World Premium broadcasts are also available.

Current series[]

Dear Radiance (2024)

Upcoming series[]

Unbound (2025)
Toyotomi Brothers! (2026)

List of series[]

#	Romanised Name	Kanji (or Kana) Name	Start	End	Starring	Supporting cast	Additional Notes
1	Hana no Shōgai	花の生涯	7 April 1963	29 December 1963	Onoe Shoroku II	Chikage Awashima Kaoru Yachigusa Kyōko Kagawa Keiji Sada	Black and white
2	Akō Rōshi	赤穂浪士	1 January 1964	27 December 1964	Kazuo Hasegawa	Isuzu Yamada Osamu Takizawa Jukichi Uno Chikage Awashima	Black and white. Also the most viewed taiga drama in its history.
3	Taikōki	太閤記	3 January 1965	26 December 1965	Ken Ogata	Shiho Fujimura Kōji Takahashi Yoshiko Mita Frankie Sakai	Black and white
4	Minamoto no Yoshitsune	源義経	2 January 1966	25 December 1966	Onoe Kikunosuke VII	Ken Ogata Junko Fuji Isuzu Yamada Osamu Takizawa	Black and white
5	San Shimai	三姉妹	1 January 1967	24 December 1967	Mariko Okada Shiho Fujimura Komaki Kurihara	Tsutomu Yamazaki Shinsuke Ashida Kō Nishimura Osamu Takizawa	Black and white
6	Ryōma ga Yuku	竜馬がゆく	7 January 1968	29 December 1968	Kin'ya Kitaōji	Ruriko Asaoka Masayuki Mori Keiju Kobayashi Hideki Takahashi	Black and white
7	Ten to Chi to	天と地と	5 January 1969	28 December 1969	Koji Ishizaka	Fumie Kashiyama Ineko Arima Osamu Takizawa Kōji Takahashi	Colour. Future broadcasts are in colour.
8	Mominoki wa Nokotta	樅の木は残った	4 January 1970	27 December 1970	Mikijiro Hira	Sayuri Yoshinaga Komaki Kurihara Kinuyo Tanaka Kin'ya Kitaōji
9	Haru no Sakamichi	春の坂道	3 January 1971	26 December 1971	Kinnosuke Nakamura	Yoshio Harada Yoko Tsukasa Ichikawa Ebizō X So Yamamura
10	Shin Heike Monogatari	新・平家物語	2 January 1972	24 December 1972	Tatsuya Nakadai	Tamao Nakamura Tsutomu Yamazaki Eitaro Ozawa Osamu Takizawa
11	Kunitori Monogatari	国盗り物語	7 January 1973	30 December 1973	Mikijirō Hira Hideki Takahashi	Keiko Matsuzaka Yoshiko Mita Joe Shishido Ryūtarō Ōtomo
12	Katsu Kaishū	勝海舟	6 January 1974	29 December 1974	Tetsuya Watari → Hiroki Matsukata^[1]	Reiko Ohara Yoshiko Kuga Keiju Kobayashi Onoe Shoroku II
13	Genroku Taiheiki	元禄太平記	6 January 1975	29 December 1975	Kōji Ishizaka	Tōru Emori Muga Takewaki Shinsuke Ashida Hisaya Morishige
14	Kaze to Kumo to Niji to	風と雲と虹と	4 January 1976	26 December 1976	Go Kato	Sayuri Yoshinaga Michiyo Aratama Keiju Kobayashi Ken Ogata
15	Kashin	花神	2 January 1977	25 December 1977	Umenosuke Nakamura	Masatoshi Nakamura Jukichi Uno Ruriko Asaoka Hideki Takahashi
16	Ōgon no Hibi	黄金の日日	8 January 1978	24 December 1978	Ichikawa Somegorō VI	Komaki Kurihara Yukiyo Toake Tetsurō Tamba Kōji Tsuruta
17	Kusa Moeru	草燃える	7 January 1979	23 December 1979	Koji Ishizaka	Ken Matsudaira Hiromi Go Onoe Shoroku II Shima Iwashita
18	Shishi no Jidai	獅子の時代	6 January 1980	21 December 1980	Bunta Sugawara Go Kato	Reiko Ohara Shinobu Otake Minoru Chiaki Kōji Tsuruta
19	Onna Taikōki	おんな太閤記	11 January 1981	20 December 1981	Yoshiko Sakuma	Masatoshi Nakamura Yōko Asaji Frankie Sakai Toshiyuki Nishida	Based on the novel Taikōki (which formed the basis of the 3rd Taiga Drama of the same title), with the story told from a feminist perspective.
20	Tōge no Gunzō	峠の群像	10 January 1982	19 December 1982	Ken Ogata	Ken Matsudaira Juzo Itami Muga Takewaki Nakamura Umenosuke IV
21	Tokugawa Ieyasu	徳川家康	9 January 1983	18 December 1983	Sakae Takita	Shinobu Otake Tetsuya Takeda Masako Natsume Kōji Ishizaka
22	Sanga Moyu	山河燃ゆ	8 January 1984	23 December 1984	Matsumoto Kōshirō IX Toshiyuki Nishida	Reiko Ohara Keiko Tsushima Kiyoshi Kodama Toshiro Mifune	First (and so far) only Taiga drama set in the Shōwa period of World War II
23	Haruno Hatō	春の波涛	6 January 1985	15 December 1985	Keiko Matsuzaka	Masatoshi Nakamura Morio Kazama Chikage Awashima Keiju Kobayashi
24	Inochi	いのち	5 January 1986	14 December 1986	Yoshiko Mita	Tetsurō Tamba Mako Ishino Koji Yakusho Ken Utsui	First (and so far) only Taiga drama set in postwar Japan.
25	Dokuganryū Masamune	独眼竜政宗	4 January 1987	13 December 1987	Ken Watanabe	Tomokazu Miura Shima Iwashita Kin'ya Kitaōji Shintaro Katsu
26	Takeda Shingen	武田信玄	10 January 1988	18 December 1988	Kiichi Nakai	Kyōhei Shibata Misako Konno Toshiyuki Nishida Ryōtarō Sugi
27	Kasuga no Tsubone	春日局	1 January 1989	17 December 1989	Reiko Ōhara	Aiko Nagayama Shinji Yamashita Tetsurō Tamba Yoshiko Sakuma	Earliest premiere for a Taiga drama.
28	Tobu ga Gotoku	翔ぶが如く	7 January 1990	9 December 1990	Toshiyuki Nishida Takeshi Kaga	Yūko Tanaka Sumiko Fuji Hideki Takahashi Yūzō Kayama
29	Taiheiki	太平記	6 January 1991	25 December 1991	Hiroyuki Sanada	Yasuko Sawaguchi Frankie Sakai Ken Ogata Takao Kataoka
30	Nobunaga	信長 KING OF ZIPANGU	5 January 1992	13 December 1992	Naoto Ogata	Momoko Kikuchi Ken Utsui Shinsuke Ashida Mikijiro Hira
31	Ryūkyū no Kaze	琉球の風	10 January 1993	13 June 1993	Noriyuki Higashiyama	Atsuro Watabe Tomoyo Harada Youki Kudoh Kenichi Hagiwara	First part of a 3-part series.
32	Homura Tatsu	炎立つ	4 July 1993	13 March 1994	Ken Watanabe Hiroaki Murakami	Yūko Kotegawa Kō Nishimura Tsunehiko Watase Kōtarō Satomi	Second part of a 3-part series. Also had the latest premiere for a Taiga drama.
33	Hana no Ran	花の乱	3 April 1994	25 December 1994	Yoshiko Mita	Ichikawa Danjūrō XII Takako Matsu Yorozuya Kinnosuke Machiko Kyō	Conclusion of the 3-part series. Also the least viewed Taiga Drama in NHK history.
34	Hachidai Shōgun Yoshimune	八代将軍吉宗	8 January 1995	10 December 1995	Toshiyuki Nishida	Hitomi Kuroki Kōji Ishizaka Kiichi Nakai Masahiko Tsugawa	About the Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune.
35	Hideyoshi	秀吉	7 January 1996	22 December 1996	Naoto Takenaka	Yasuko Sawaguchi Hiroyuki Sanada Tatsuya Nakadai Tetsuya Watari	49 episodes about the life of Hideyoshi.
36	Mōri Motonari	毛利元就	5 January 1997	14 December 1997	Hashinosuke Nakamura	Yasuko Tomita Nobuko Miyamoto Keiko Matsuzaka Ken Ogata
37	Tokugawa Yoshinobu	徳川慶喜	4 January 1998	13 December 1998	Masahiro Motoki	Bunta Sugawara Ayako Wakao Hikari Ishida Reiko Ohara
38	Genroku Ryōran	元禄繚乱	1 January 1999	12 December 1999	Nakamura Kanzaburo	Shinobu Otake Noriyuki Higashiyama Ken Matsudaira Machiko Kyō
39	Aoi ~Tokugawa Sandai~	葵徳川三代	9 January 2000	17 December 2000	Masahiko Tsugawa Toshiyuki Nishida Onoe Shoroku IV	Kirin Kiki Mayumi Ogawa Isuzu Yamada Shima Iwashita	First series to be broadcast in High Definition. Future series are also broadcast in HD.
40	Hōjō Tokimune	北条時宗	7 January 2001	9 December 2001	Motoya Izumi	Atsuro Watabe Ken Watanabe Sumiko Fuji Kin'ya Kitaōji
41	Toshiie to Matsu	利家とまつ～加賀百万石物語～	6 January 2002	15 December 2002	Toshiaki Karasawa Nanako Matsushima	Takashi Sorimachi Teruyuki Kagawa Bunta Sugawara Tetsurō Tamba
42	Musashi	武蔵 MUSASHI	5 January 2003	7 December 2003	Shinnosuke Ichikawa	Ryoko Yonekura Shinichi Tsutsumi Tsunehiko Watase Makoto Fujita
43	Shinsengumi!	新撰組!	11 January 2004	12 December 2004	Shingo Katori	Koji Yamamoto Tatsuya Fujiwara Masato Sakai Kōji Ishizaka
44	Yoshitsune	義経	9 January 2005	11 December 2005	Hideaki Takizawa	Ken Matsudaira Kiichi Nakai Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari
45	Kōmyō ga Tsuji	功名が辻	8 January 2006	10 December 2006	Yukie Nakama Takaya Kamikawa	Tetsuya Takeda Gin Maeda Yoshiko Sakuma Hiroshi Tachi
46	Fūrin Kazan	風林火山	7 January 2007	9 December 2007	Masaaki Uchino	Ichikawa Kamejirō Gackt Sonny Chiba Tatsuya Nakadai
47	Atsuhime	篤姫	6 January 2008	21 December 2008	Aoi Miyazaki	Eita Masato Sakai Hideki Takahashi Kin'ya Kitaōji
48	Tenchijin	天地人	4 January 2009	22 November 2009	Satoshi Tsumabuki	Kazuki Kitamura Takako Tokiwa Hiroshi Abe Hiroki Matsukata
49	Ryōmaden	龍馬伝	3 January 2010	28 November 2010	Masaharu Fukuyama	Teruyuki Kagawa Nao Ōmori Kiyoshi Kodama Kōtarō Satomi
50	Gō	江〜姫たちの戦国〜	9 January 2011	27 November 2011	Juri Ueno	Rie Miyazawa Asami Mizukawa Kōji Ishizaka Kin'ya Kitaōji
51	Taira no Kiyomori	平清盛	8 January 2012	23 December 2012	Kenichi Matsuyama	Hiroshi Tamaki Masaki Okada Shota Matsuda Kiichi Nakai
52	Yae no Sakura	八重の桜	6 January 2013	15 December 2013	Haruka Ayase	Hidetoshi Nishijima Hiroki Hasegawa Joe Odagiri Toshiyuki Nishida
53	Gunshi Kanbei	軍師官兵衛	5 January 2014	21 December 2014	Junichi Okada	Miki Nakatani Shōsuke Tanihara Naoto Takenaka Kyōhei Shibata
54	Hanamoyu	花燃ゆ	4 January 2015	13 December 2015	Mao Inoue	Takao OsawaYūsuke IseyaKengo KoraYoshiko Mita
55	Sanadamaru	真田丸	10 January 2016	18 December 2016	Masato Sakai	Yo OizumiMasami NagasawaSeiyō UchinoMasao Kusakari
56	Onna Jōshu Naotora	おんな城主直虎	8 January 2017	17 December 2017	Ko Shibasaki	Haruma MiuraIssey TakahashiMasaki SudaKaoru Kobayashi
57	Segodon	西郷どん	7 January 2018	16 December 2018	Ryohei Suzuki	EitaKeiko Kitagawa Shota MatsudaKen Watanabe
58	Idaten	いだてん～東京オリムピック噺～	6 January 2019	15 December 2019	Nakamura Kankurō VISadao Abe	Haruka AyaseTakeshi KitanoMirai MoriyamaKoji Yakusho
59	Kirin ga Kuru	麒麟がくる	19 January 2020	7 February 2021	Hiroki Hasegawa	Shota SometaniMugi KadowakiHaruna KawaguchiMasahiro Motoki
60	Seiten o Tsuke	青天を衝け	14 February 2021	26 December 2021	Ryo Yoshizawa	Kengo KoraAi HashimotoTsuyoshi KusanagiKaoru Kobayashi
61	Kamakura-dono no 13-nin	鎌倉殿の13人	9 January 2022	18 December 2022	Shun Oguri	Eiko KoikeKoji YamamotoYo OizumiToshiyuki Nishida
62	Dousuru Ieyasu	どうする家康	8 January 2023	17 December 2023	Jun Matsumoto	Kasumi ArimuraJunichi OkadaKeiko KitagawaHiroshi Abe
63	Hikaru Kimi e	光る君へ	7 January 2024	15 December 2024	Yuriko Yoshitaka	Tasuku EmotoAkihisa ShionoAi MikamiYasunori Danta
64	Berabou	べらぼう～蔦重栄華乃夢噺～	5 January 2025	2025	Ryusei Yokohama	Shota SometaniHio MiyazawaKataoka Ainosuke VIKen Watanabe
64	Toyotomi Kyōdai!	豊臣兄弟！	2026		Taiga Nakano	Sosuke IkematsuMei NaganoRiho YoshiokaMinami Hamabe

NHK Special Drama[]

Saka no Ue no Kumo 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 will air as "NHK Special Drama" in three parts, each part airing from late November to late December of each year.

Title	Episodes	Start	End	Cast
Saka no Ue no Kumo pt1 坂の上の雲	5 eps	29 November 2009	27 December 2009	Masahiro Motoki Hiroshi Abe
Saka no Ue no Kumo pt2	4 eps	5 December 2010	26 December 2010
Saka no Ue no Kumo pt3	4 eps	Late November or early December 2011	Late December 2011

↑ (main role actor changed as of 10th story

Recent series[]

File:Ryukyu no Kaze.jpg

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

Ryomaden (2010) – Covering the life of Ryoma Sakamoto, who played a pivotal role in the end of the Tokugawa rule of Japan in the mid-nineteenth century.
Tenchijin (2009) – The storyline focuses on Naoe Kanetsugu, who during the 16th and 17th centuries served two generations of the Uesugi clan.
Atsuhime (2008) – Starring Aoi Miyazaki. Aoi plays the role of Tenshōin, the wife of Tokugawa Iesada (1824–1858), the 13th Shogun. She is also the youngest lead artist in taiga drama history, beating Hideaki Takizawa's record when he starred in Yoshitsune.
Fūrin Kazan (2007). Based on Inoue Yasushi's best-selling historical novel, this drama is the story of Yamamoto Kansuke, a warrior who has achieved high rank in warlord Takeda Shingen's army by not-so-honorable means.
Kōmyō-ga-tsuji: Yamauchi Kazutoyo no Tsuma. Takaya Kamikawa plays the role of Yamauchi Kazutoyo, the military commander and daimyo who took over the Tosa han and built Kochi Castle. Nakama Yukie plays the role of Chiyo, the ever-supporting wife of Kazutoyo. The story by Shiba Ryotaro spans the closing years of the Sengoku period, the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and the beginning of the Edo period.
Yoshitsune (2005). Takizawa Hideaki stars in the title role as Minamoto no Yoshitsune; Matsudaira Ken plays Musashibō Benkei. The screenplay is by Kaneko Naruto, based on the original by Miyao Tomiko. Vladimir Ashkenazy conducted the NHK Symphony Orchestra in the theme music by Iwashiro Tarō. NHK's first Taiga drama on the subject was in 1966.
Shinsengumi! (2004). Katori Shingo appeared as Kondō Isami; Yamamoto Kōji played Hijikata Toshizō; Fujiwara Tatsuya played the tragic young Okita Sōji.
武蔵 MUSASHI (2003). Kabuki actor Ichikawa Shinnosuke VII (now Ichikawa Ebizō XI) 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). Karasawa Toshiaki as Maeda Toshiie and Matsushima Nanako as Matsu recounted the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate from the point of view of an outside daimyo.
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.
Aoi Tokugawa Sandai (2000). Veteran actor Tsugawa Masahiko, who turned sixty in the year 2000, reprised the role of Tokugawa Ieyasu, which he had assumed in the 1987 Taiga drama and has played on other occasions. Nishida Toshiyuki played his son Hidetada. Nishida has nine other roles in Taiga dramas to his credit, including the lead in Hachidai Shogun Yoshimune. Charles Dutoit conducted the NHK Symphony Orchestra in the performance of the title music.
Genroku Ryōran (1999). Kabuki actor Nakamura Kankurō V played Oishi Kuranosuke in this sweeping story of the Genroku period during which the events of the Forty-seven Ronin occurred.

External links[]

References[]

[1] (main role actor changed as of 10th story

[1]