is a 2014 Japanese historical drama television series and the 53rd NHK taiga drama. The series was broadcast from January 5 to December 21, 2014, and ran a total of 50 episodes. The drama depicts the life of Kuroda Kanbei (played by Junichi Okada), a retainer of daimyō Kodera Masamoto of Harima Province, and a strategist for daimyō Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

In 2026, this series became the first Taiga drama to be streamed on Netflix.

Plot The drama tells the story of Kuroda Kanbei, a son of Kuroda Mototaka, chief retainer of Kodera Masamoto who ruled Harima Province (currently Hyōgo Prefecture) in the 16th century. In troubled times, Kanbei persuades Kodera to join forces with the all-powerful Oda Nobunaga. Though imprisoned by Araki Murashige and lamed for life, Kanbei endures hardships and later becomes a strategist for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His son Kuroda Nagamasa serves Tokugawa Ieyasu after the death of Hideyoshi.

Production

Screenwriter – Yoichi Maekawa Music – Yugo Kanno Titling – Shoshu Narrator – Shiho Fujimura→Shuko Hirose Historical research – Tetsuo Owada Sword fight arranger - Kunishirō Hayashi Architectural research – Kiyoshi Hirai Clothing research – Kiyoko Koizumi Production coordinator – Takashi Nakamura Director – Kenji Tanaka, Kazuhiro Motoki Performed by Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra Theme performed by NHK Symphony Orchestra Yoichi Maekawa, NHK Taiga Drama Story Gunshi Kanbei vol.1, Tokyo: NHK Publishing Co., Ltd., 2014

Cast

Kuroda family Kuroda Kanbei: Junichi Okada Young Kanbei: Kirato Wakayama Kushihashi Teru: Miki Nakatani Kuroda Nagamasa: Tori Matsuzaka Young Nagamasa (Shōjumaru): Kirato Wakayama Kuroda Mototaka: Kyōhei Shibata Kuroda Kyumu: Daisuke Ryu Kuroda Shigetaka: Raita Ryū Kuriyama Zensuke: Gaku Hamada Mori Tahei: Mokomichi Hayami Inoue Kuroemon Yurifusa: Issei Takahashi Gotō Matabei: Takashi Tsukamoto Mori Kohei: Sansei Shiomi Mori Buhei: Masaru Nagai Ito: Mitsuki Takahata Omichi: Rila Fukushima Eihime: Miyu Yoshimoto

Ibuki Ibuki Zenemon: Isao Bito Tatsu: Nao Minamisawa

Kodera Clan Kodera Masamoto: Tsurutaro Kataoka Kon: Saki Takaoka Kushihashi Sakyonosuke: Toru Masuoka Kushihashi Sayonoshin: Nobuaki Kaneko Ogō Yoshitoshi: Tsutomu Isobe

Oda Clan Oda Nobunaga: Yōsuke Eguchi No: Yuki Uchida Akechi Mitsuhide: Shunputei Koasa Niwa Nagahide: Hiroshi Katsuno Shibata Katsuie: Yoshimasa Kondo Dota Gozen: Naoko Otani Yasuke: Bernard Ackah Oichi: Kyoko Uchida Oda Nobutada: Tomoya Nakamura Oda Nobutaka: Masei Nakayama Oda Nobukatsu: Shōta Kosakai Mori Ranmaru: Hayato Kakizawa

Toyotomi Clan Toyotomi Hideyoshi: Naoto Takenaka One: Hitomi Kuroki Takenaka Hanbei: Shosuke Tanihara Hachisuka Koroku: Pierre Taki Ishida Mitsunari: Kei Tanaka Cha-cha: Fumi Nikaidō Toyotomi Hidenaga: Noritoshi Kashima Fukushima Masanori: Hideo Ishiguro Katō Kiyomasa: Shinnosuke Abe Toyotomi Hidetsugu: Akiyoshi Nakao Konishi Yukinaga: Shugo Oshinari Magdalena: Mako Ishino Sassa Narimasa: Ryosuke Otani Ukita Hideie: Kouhei Takeda Kobayakawa Hideaki: Yosuke Asari Ōtani Yoshitsugu: Shingo Murakami Ōno Harunaga: Yasuhito Shimao

Tokugawa Clan Tokugawa Ieyasu: Akira Terao Ii Naomasa: Mikihisa Azuma Honda Tadakatsu: Masayuki Shionoya Sakakibara Yasumasa: Ikuji Nakamura

Mōri Clan Mōri Terumoto: Kota Miura Kobayakawa Takakage: Shingo Tsurumi Kikkawa Motoharu: Kazutoyo Yoshimi Ankokuji Ekei: Kazuhiro Yamaji Ukita Naoie: Takanori Jinnai Shimizu Muneharu: Takashi Ukaji Kikkawa Motonaga: Masayuki Deai

Amago Clan Yamanaka Shikanosuke: Tetsuya Bessho Amago Katsuhisa: Kinihiro Suda Kamei Korenori: Takaaki Seki

Others Araki Murashige: Tetsushi Tanaka Dashi: Mirei Kiritani Ashikaga Yoshiaki: Mitsuru Fukikoshi Sen no Rikyū: Masatō Ibu Takayama Ukon/Dom Justo Takayama: Toma Ikuta Maeda Toshiie: Tadashi Yokouchi Yoshida Kanemi: Masami Horiuchi Otsuru: Yui Ichikawa Ōtomo Sōrin: Tsunehiko Kamijō Utsunomiya Shigefusa: Takehiro Murata Hōjō Ujimasa: Goro Ibuki Hōjō Ujinao: Masayoshi Haneda Matsunaga Hisahide: Mickey Curtis Gnecchi-Soldo Organtino: Bob Werley Luís Fróis: Oziel Nozaki Gaspar Coelho: Ricardo Teixeira

TV schedule EpisodeOriginal airdateTitleDirected byRating1Kenji Tanaka18.9%216.9%318.0%4Kazuhiro Motoki16.5%516.0%6Kenji Tanaka15.0%715.2%816.1%9Kazuhiro Motoki15.4%1015.7%11Taku Ōhara15.8%1215.8%13Kenji Tanaka12.9%14Kazuhiro Motoki14.8%15Taku Ōhara14.9%16Kenji Tanaka16.2%17Kazuhiro Motoki15.6%18Taku Ōhara12.3%19Kenji Tanaka13.7%20Kazuhiro Motoki15.0%21Taku Ōhara14.8%22Kenji Tanaka16.6%23Kazuhiro Motoki16.0%24Taku Ōhara17.5%25Kenji Tanaka16.4%26Kazuhiro Motoki14.9%27Taku Ōhara16.7%28Kenji Tanaka17.5%29Kazuhiro Motoki19.4%30Taku Ōhara15.6%31Hirokazu Ozaki18.2%32Kazuhiro Motoki16.1%33Taku Ōhara16.7%34Hirokazu Ozaki13.0%35Kenji Tanaka14.5%36Kazuhiro Motoki15.1%37Taku Ōhara14.6%38Hideki Fujinami15.0%39Kenji Tanaka14.6%40Taku Ōhara17.6%41Hideki Fujinami14.1%42Kazuhiro Motoki 15.6%43Kenji Tanaka15.3%44Wataru Suzuki15.0%45Taku Ōhara16.8%46Kazuhiro Motoki16.4%47Kenji Tanaka15.4%48Taku Ōhara16.6%49Kazuhiro Motoki15.8%50Kenji Tanaka17.6%Average rating 15.8% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research (Kantō region).

Production Hideyoshi, the 1996 Taiga drama starring Naoto Takenaka, was a major hit with an average viewership rating exceeding 30%. However, Takenaka felt somewhat unsatisfied that the drama did not depict Hideyoshi's final years. Eighteen years later, when he was cast to play Hideyoshi once again, Takenaka expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "I feel like I can achieve what I couldn't do before. I look forward to going to the set every day." As he had hoped, this new series depicted Hideyoshi's descent into darkness.

Books NHK Taiga Drama Story Gunshi Kanbei Vol.1 (Official guide) Yoichi Maekawa and Kuniko Aoki, Taiga Drama Gunshi Kanbei, Tokyo, NHK Publishing Co., Ltd., 2014 (novelisation)

References

External links Official NHK Taiga Drama Gunshi Kanbei