Tenchijin

is a 2009 Japanese super historical drama television series, and the 48th taiga drama of NHK. It aired every Sunday from January 4 to November 22, 2009, spanning 47 episodes. The drama centers on the life of 16th century samurai Naoe Kanetsugu, played by Satoshi Tsumabuki.

Production began on April 27, 2007. The drama is based on the novel of the same name by Masashi Hisaka and was adapted by Eriko Komatsu, with Michiru Ōshima as series composer. The fourth episode of the series, , is the highest-rated episode of any Japanese drama in 2009.

Plot

The protagonist of the drama, Naoe Kanetsugu, was taught by Uesugi Kenshin in his youth that to conquer the world is a trifling matter, but what matters is to live one's life with righteousness. After Uesugi's death, Naoe supports Uesugi Kagekatsu, who holds the destiny of Echigo province.

Production

Production Credits

• Script – Eriko Komatsu, Kazue Matsushita
• Based on the novel by – Masashi Hisaka
• Narrator – Nobuko Miyamoto
• Music – Michiru Ōshima
• Historical research – Tetsuo Owada
• Action director – Kunishirō Hayashi
• Architectural research – Sei Hirai
• Clothing research – Kiyoko Koizumi
• Titling – Sōun Takeda
• Production coordinator – Shinsuke Naitō
• Casting – Yōichirō Takahashi

Production for Tenchijin began on April 27, 2007. The usual taiga drama production had one-third of the expected number of scripts finished before shooting begun. Afterwards, audience reception was taken into account as the rest of the series was written.

Cast

Starring role

• Satoshi Tsumabuki as Naoe Kanetsugu - born as Yoroku, then renamed as Higuchi Kanetsugu
• Seishiro Kato as Higuchi Yoroku (childhood Kanetsugu)

Naoe house

• Takako Tokiwa as Osen
• Michiko Kichise as OyÅ« - Osen's elder sister
• Joe Shishido as Naoe Kagetsuna
• Shinji Yamashita as Naoe Nobutsuna - Osen's first husband
• Hisako Manda as Oman - Osen's mother
• Taiga as Naoe Kageaki - Kanetsugu's son
• Seishiro Kato as Takematsu (childhood Kageaki)

Higuchi house

• Masanobu Takashima as Higuchi Sōemon - Kanetsugu's father
• Misako Tanaka as Ofuji - Kanetsugu's mother.
• Kotaro Koizumi as Ōkuni Saneyori - Kanetsugu's younger brother
• Homare Mabuchi as Higuchi Yoshichi (childhood Saneyori)
• Miro Ebato as Kita - Kanetsugu's sister

Uesugi clan

• Kazuki Kitamura as Uesugi Kagekatsu
• Tetsuji Tamayama as Uesugi Kagetora
• Hiroshi Abe as Uesugi Kenshin - foster father of Kagekatsu and Kagetora
• Saki Aibu as Hanahime
• Manami Higa as Kikuhime
• Reiko Takashima as Sentōin
• Jin Maki as Usami Sadamitsu

Uesugi retainers and their family members

• Mikihisa Azuma as Izumisawa Hisahide
• Takuya Kusakawa as Mikihisa Azuma's second son, Matajiro
• Sei Hiraizumi as Kuribayashi Masayori
• Masayuki Suzuki as Fukazawa Toshishige
• Shingo Katsurayama as Abe Masayoshi
• Papaya Suzuki as Noborisaka Tōemon
• Satoru Matsuo as Sakurai Haruyoshi
• Minoru Matsumoto as Fukazawa Yashichirō
• Yasuhiro Arai as Kitajō Takahiro
• Kunishirō Hayashi as Kamiizumi Hidetsuna
• Kei Yamamoto as Yoshie Munenobu
• Nobuaki Kakuda as Kakizaki Haruie
• Takejō Aki as Kayo
• Shunsuke Sugiyama as Nishiyama Kanzaemon
• Takeshi Katō as Hokkō Zenshuku, a Zen priest, master of young Yoroku (Kanetsugu) and Kiheiji (Kagekatsu)

Oda clan

• Kōji Kikkawa as Oda Nobunaga
• Shingo Tsurumi as Akechi Mitsuhide
• Shun Sugata as Shibata Katsuie

Toyotomi clan

• Takashi Sasano as Toyotomi Hideyoshi
• Sumiko Fuji as Nene
• Shun Oguri as Ishida Mitsunari
• Kyōko Fukada as Yodo
• Hidekazu Mashima as Toyotomi Hidetsugu
• Go Wakabayashi as Shima Sakon
• Yoshizumi Ishihara as Fukushima Masanori
• Takamasa Suga as Ukita Hideie
• Hisayuki Nakajima as Asano Nagamasa
• Tsutomu Takahashi as Katō Kiyomasa
• Ryuhei Numata as Mashita Nagamori
• Tatsuhiro Yanase as Maeda Gen'i
• Tomoya Nakamura as Toyotomi Hideyori
• Umika Kawashima as Senhime (Ep. 46)
• Momoko Tanabe as young senhime (Ep. 45)
• Masayuki Kikuchi as Natsuka Masaie
• Kanji Tsuda as Ōtani Yoshitsugu
• Hiroshi Yamada as Konishi Yukinaga

Tokugawa clan

• Hiroki Matsukata as Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Akinori Nakagawa as Tokugawa Hidetada
• Seiji Matsuyama as Honda Masanobu
• Taro Kawano as Sakakibara Yasumasa
• Masato Nagamori as Ii Naomasa
• Daisuke Iijima as Sakai Tadatsugu
• Ippei Kanie as Honda Masazumi
• Masaya Kikawada as Honda Masashige
• Yukijiro Hotaru as Tōyama Yasumitsu
• Atsuko Hirata as Asahi no kata

Mōri clan

• Akira Nakao as Mōri Terumoto
• Takahiro Mizuma as Mōri Hidemoto
• Tadashi Yokouchi as Kobayakawa Takakage
• YÅ«suke Kamiji as Kobayakawa Hideaki

Maeda clan

• Ken Utsui as Maeda Toshiie
• Onoe Matsuya II as Maeda Toshinaga

Takeda clan

• Ichikawa Emiya II as Takeda Katsuyori
• Shun Ōide as Kōsaka Masanobu

Later Hōjō clan

• Goro Ibuki as Hōjō Ujimasa
• Yu Kamiki as Hōjō Ujinao
• Isao Sasaki as Daidōji Masashige

Date clan

• Ryuhei Matsuda as Date Masamune
• Anne Watanabe as Princess Mego - Date Masamune's wife
• Yuta Sone as Katakura Kagetsuna

Sanada clan

• YÅ« Shirota as Sanada Yukimura
• Ryo Iwamatsu as Sanada Masayuki
• Masami Nagasawa as Hatsune - Sanada Yukimura's older sister.
• Yuji Shirakura as Sarutobi Sasuke - a fictional ninja.

Chōsokabe clan

• Seiichi Kawano as Chōsokabe Morichika

Other

• Shigeru Kōyama as Sen no RikyÅ«
• Yoshino Kimura as Oryō, RikyÅ«'s daughter

TV schedule

Soundtrack and books

Soundtrack

• NHK Taiga Drama Tenchijin Original Soundtrack Vol.1 (February 18, 2009)
• NHK Taiga Drama Tenchijin Original Soundtrack Vol.2 (August 26, 2009)
• NHK Taiga Drama Tenchijin Original Soundtrack Vol.3 (October 21, 2009)

Books

Official guide

• NHK Taiga Drama Story Tenchijin First Part (December 20, 2008)
• NHK Taiga Drama Story Tenchijin Latter Part (July 10, 2009)
• NHK Taiga Drama Story Tenchijin Last Part (October 24, 2009)
• NHK Taiga Drama, Historical Handbook, Tenchijin (December 20, 2008)
• Sōun Takeda - Writing about Samurai (September 30, 2009)

Novel

• Tenchijin First Volume (September 26, 2009)
• Tenchijin Last Volume (September 26, 2009)
• Tenchijin, New Edition, First Volume (November 14, 2008)
• Tenchijin, New Edition, Latter Volume (November 14, 2008)
• Tenchijin, New Edition, Last Volume (November 14, 2008)

Notes

References

External links

• NHK website