is a 2008 Japanese historical drama television series. It is the 47th NHK taiga drama. It aired from January 6 to December 14, 2008, and ran a total of 50 episodes. The drama chronicles the life of Tenshō-in, based on Tomiko Miyao's 1984 novel . Viewership for Atsuhime was high; the series received an average rating of 24.5%, the highest rating received by a taiga drama since Hideyoshi in 1996.
Background The taiga drama is based on Tomiko Miyao's novel Tenshō-in Atsuhime. The protagonist is Tenshō-in (Princess Atsu), the wife of Tokugawa Iesada, the thirteenth shōgun of the Edo shogunate. It is the seventh taiga drama to feature a female lead, coming just two years after Kōmyō ga Tsuji in 2006.
Following Yoshitsune in 2005, this is Miyao's second work to be turned into a taiga drama. Following Shinsengumi!, it is also the second taiga drama taking place at the end of the Edo shogunate.
The character of Tenshō-in was previously taken up in the 2003 Fuji Television series Ōoku (starring Kanno Miho).
The lead role is performed by Aoi Miyazaki, for which it is her first Taiga drama lead. She is also the youngest to play the lead role. In May 2008, she won a Galaxy Award for her work in this role.Aoi Miyzaki wins Galaxy Award for NHK drama
The first half of the story predominantly takes place in Kagoshima prefecture, and as such many of the actors and music coordinators are from Kagoshima.
Cast Okatsu – Atsuhime – Tenshōin: Honoka Nagai – Chinami Iwamoto – Aoi Miyazaki
Shimazu clan Hideki Takahashi as Shimazu Nariakira Yūichirō Yamaguchi as Shimazu Tadayuki/ Shimazu Hisamitsu Hiroyuki Nagato as Shimazu Narioki Mayo Suzukaze as Oyura (Narioki's concubine, mother of Hisamitsu) Kimiko Yo as Hisahime Nakagawa Shingo as Shimazu Tadayoshi (2nd) Yuriko Yoshitaka as Otetsu Masaki Kaji as Shimazu Ukon Kondo Takatada as Shimazu Hironosuke Motokawa Ransho as Shimazu Tokunosuke Aka Marino as Osada Ebisu Reina as Ohiro Watanabe Takuto as Shimazu Torajumaru (Chujiro) Iida Shion as Teruhime
Imaizumi Shimazu family Kyōzō Nagatsuka as Shimazu Tadatake Kanako Higuchi as Oyuki Yoshinori Okada as Shimazu Tadayuki Sakai Kazuhisa as Tadayuki (child) Sumie Sasaki as Kikumoto Yasukiyo Umeno as Kurikawa Mochitsune Yūsuke Shōji as Takuma Harumichi Tanahashi Chiyo as Mine Kobayashi Asako as Shino Kono Yasuro as Shimazu Tadafuyu Fujisaki Go as Tadafuyu (child)
Shōguns clan Masato Sakai as Tokugawa Iesachi/ Tokugawa Iesada, the 13th shōgun Shōta Matsuda as Tokugawa Yoshitomi/ Tokugawa Iemochi, the 14th shōgun Takehiro Hira as Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu/ Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shōgun Shigeru Saiki as Tokugawa Ieyoshi, the 12th shōgun Reo Yoshitake as Tayasu Kamenosuke/ Tokugawa Iesato Kisaichi Yuta as Iesato (young) Kobayashi Kaito as Kamenosuke (child)
Daimyōs Tōru Emori as Tokugawa Nariaki Kenichi Yajima as Matsudaira Yoshinaga
Elite members of Shimazu clan Eita as Kimotsuki Naogorō / Komatsu Tatewaki Mikijirō Hira as Zusho Hirosato Ikki Sawamura as Komatsu Kiyomichi Rie Tomosaka as Ochika Natsuki Harada as Okoto, Komatsu Tatewaki's concubine Takaaki Enoki as Kimotsuki Kaneyoshi Takahashi Taira as Komatsu Kiyonao Nakamura Shunga as Yasuchiyo (Kiyonao as Child) Nakayama Katsumi as Shimazu Bungo Asanuma Shinpei as Shimazu Bungo Tengenji Ryu as Shimazu Shosho Ito Hiromu as Komatsu Kiyoatsu Minami Kazue as Masa Misawa Akemi as Kinu Nagasawa Dari as Shimazu Hoki Okamoto Kotaro as Kawakami Chikugo Ryuji Yamamoto as Tateyama Buhee Sakabe Fumiaki as Shimazu Hisakaze Honda Kiyozumi as Niro Hisanori Uehara Kensuke as Tanimura Masatake
Low members of Shimazu clan Yukiyoshi Ozawa as Saigō Kichinosuke / Saigō Takamori Taizo Harada as Ōkubo Shōsuke / Ōkubo Toshimichi Koji Matoba as Arima Shinshichi Kyoko Maya as Fuku Shinya Owada as Okubo Toshiya Hiroki Miyake as Izachi Masaharu Hiroyuki Hirayama as Arima Shunsai Momosuke Mizutani as Saigo Judo Mitsutoshi Shundo as Oyama Tsunayoshi Koukichi Tanoue as Arimura Yusuke Yuya Endo as Arimura Jizaemon Kenji Takechi as Narahara Kihachiro
Ōoku 大奥 Keiko Matsuzaka as Ikushima 幾島, the tutor of Atsuhime Izumi Inamori as 瀧山 Atsuko Takahata as Honjuin Tomoko Nakajima as Shigeno Yumiko Takahashi as Karahashi Yumi Iwai as Utahashi Mayu Tsuruta as Oshiga
Ladies-in-waiting Yuka Itaya as Hirokawa Aiko Sato as Onoshima Tokie Hidari as Takayama Sawako Kitahara as Fujino Miho Matsuda as Yuki Yoshimi Oishi as Hisa
Shōguns advisors Masao Kusakari as Abe Masahiro Takurō Tatsumi as Hotta Masayoshi Nakamura Baijaku II as Ii Naosuke Akira Shirai as Andō Nobumasa Kazuyuki Matsuzawa as Matsudaira Tadakata Seishirō Nishida as Itakura Katsukiyo Tōgo Shimura as Matsudaira Katamori
Shogunate retainers Kinya Kitaōji as Katsu Kaishū Ryō Katsuji as John Manjiro
Imperial family Hideki Tōgi as Emperor Kōmei Terunosuke Takezai as Prince Arisugawa Taruhito Maki Horikita as Kazunomiya Chikako Mayumi Wakamura as Kangyōin
Kugyōs Shumpūtei Koasa as Konoe Tadahiro Tsurutarō Kataoka as Iwakura Tomomi
Others Hiroshi Tamaki as Sakamoto Ryōma Jumpei Suzuki as Katsura Kogorō
Production Production Credits Original – Tomiko Miyao (Tenshō-in Atsuhime, Kōdansha, 1984) The author of the original story, Tomiko Miyao, was born in Kōchi. She received the in 1962 with her work Ren. In 1973, she received the Dazai Osamu Award with “Kai”. In 1979, her work Ichigen no koto won the renowned Naoki Prize. The novel Tenshōin Atsuhime depicts the life of Atsuhime, who had been lost in the flow of history, and was discovered through Miyao's own research. The work Tenshōin Atsuhime is considered to be monumental among her works. This is the second time for NHK to create a taiga drama series after Yoshitsune in 2005. Script – Kumiko Tabuchi Kumiko Tabuchi was born in Shimane Prefecture. She has produced scripts for Sakura, Tsuma no Sotsugyōshiki, and Diamond no Koi, among others. She is known for vividly illustrating women who positively face their lives. She offers scripts in a wide range of areas such as films, musicals, rakugo, play, and kyōgen. This is her first script for Taiga drama. Music – Ryō Yoshimata In the process of creating the music for this drama, Yoshimata went back after 30 years to his hometown Kagoshima and stayed there for three weeks. While meeting his old friends and watching Sakurajima, he was touched by the warmness, toughness, and generosity of the homeland. His deep feelings for his homeland became the basis of the 47 songs created for this drama. Titling – Kinko Kikuchi Historical research – Manabu Ōishi Narrator – Tomoko Naraoka Production coordinator – Motohiko Sano Casting – Mineyo Satō
The usual procedure of a taiga drama production would have one-third of the expected number of scripts finished before shooting begins. Afterwards, audience reception is taken into account as the rest of the series is written.
One of the sources used for an accurate portrayal of Atsuhime and life in the Ōoku was the , a series of interviews with bakufu officials in the late-19th century.
Plot
The episodes largely fall into two parts. The first half of the series revolves around Atsuhime's life in Satsuma. The latter half mainly proceeds with the politics around the Tokugawa Shogunate after she moved to Edo to marry Tokugawa Iesada.
Episode 1: Child of Destiny (1/6/2008) The episode starts off in Satsuma in 1835, 20 years prior to the arrival of the Black Ships led by Matthew C. Perry. People in Satsuma are excited by the arrival of the heir to the domain, Shimazu Nariakira, from Edo. Meanwhile, a long-awaited daughter is born in one of the cadet families of Shimazu clan, the Imaizumi Shimazu family. The father of the girl, Shimazu Tadatake, and the mother, Oyuki, name her "Katsu", wishing the child's happiness. Okatsu grew up as a tomboy, much stronger than her brothers, yet is warm-hearted and full of curiosity.
Before long, the Satsuma Domain picks up its efforts at strict financial reform under the guidance of Karō Zusho Hirosato. Saigō Kichinosuke (Saigō Takamori), witnessing the farmers' harsh life, appeals to Tadatake. Hirosato receives this news and punishes Tadatake for allowing farmers to express their dissent, for it suggests lenient treatment of farmers on Tadatake's part. Okatsu, unable to comprehend Hirosato's action of punishing those who support farmers, recklessly decides to charge over to Hirosato's house with her close friend Kimotsuke Naogorō (Komatsu Tatewaki) to demand a reason.
Episode 2: Vow at Sakurajima (1/13/2008) By restraining himself and devoting his effort to the domain's financial reform, Tadatake manages to avoid punishment. With Karō Zusho Hirosato's reform steadily gaining results, the domain's debt, which at one point reached 5 million Ryō (Japanese coin), is cleared. Meanwhile, the lives of farmers and samurai become extremely difficult, and their plight fuels animosity among young samurai like Saigō Kichnosuke and Ōkubo Shōsuke (Ōkubo Toshimichi) toward Daimyō Shimazu Narioki, who employed Zusho and his concubine, Oyura. Amid hostilities, Shimazu Nariakira's children have died one after another. What is more, a doll, supposedly used for a curse, is found under the room of these children. The hatred toward Oyura and Zusho peaks within the domain. With this as a backdrop, Okatsu is invited by Zusho to his house. She visits him with Kimotsuki Naogorō. In his house, Zusho tells Okatsu that he wants to share ideas with her before he goes off to Edo. Subsequently, Zusho goes to Edo but is suspected by Rōjū Abe Masahiro of illegal trade. To protect Satsuma from repercussions, he kills himself by taking poison.
Episode 3: Satsuma Divide (1/20/2008) In Satsuma, Oyura—Narioki's concubine—is trying to make her son heir to the clan and antagonizing the group that stood by Nariakira. Okatsu is curious about the domain's politics, but Tadatake chides her that politics is not something children should be involved in. In connection with the family quarrel, Ōkubo Tadasuke (Toshimichi) is punished by the domain. Okatsu, who heard the news from Naogorō, worries about Tadasuke's family and starts to bring in food to the family from her home. Tadasuke is deeply moved by the kindness of Okatsu, Naogorō, and Saigō. Having seen Tadasuke's sisters busy with their side jobs, Okatsu tries to give her expensive comb and hair ornament to Tadasuke's mother, Fuku. Fuku, however, flatly refuses to accept them. To Okatsu, who is worried if her kindness hurt Fuku, Oyuki explains about the pride of women in Satsuma. Meanwhile, Nariakira, who succeeded as the head of the clan with the help of rōjū Abe, enters Satsuma with huge ambitions.
Episode 4: A Wise Lord Angered (1/27/2008) In the wake of the family quarrel, the new clan head Nariakira arrives at Satsuma from Edo and takes the lead in the reform of rice prices. The group who sided with Tadayuki (Shimazu Hisamitsu) fears how Nariakira is going to punish its members, but he does not punish anybody. Saigō and other young samurai become frustrated because Ōkubo, who should have been pardoned right away, has not received clemency. Okatsu and Naogorō go over to Komatsu Kiyomichi and Ochika's place and ask about Nariakira's true intention. Kiyomichi, however, says that faith in Nariakira is the only way of loyalty, but this does not convince Okatsu. Meanwhile, Nariakira invites the Imaizumi family to the castle to meet members of branch families. Tadatake subjects Okatsu to practice in a ladylike manner to avoid embarrassment in the meeting. On the day of Okatsu's visit, Okatsu intensely presses Nariakira on why Ōkubo has not been pardoned. Nariakira, who has a different purpose for the meeting, is amused by Okatsu's honest yet serious attitude and comes to have an interest in her.
Episode 5: The Best Man in Japan (2/3/2008)