Taiga drama
Taiga drama 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. 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.
Current series
- ''Brothers in Arms''
Upcoming series
- ''Gyakuzoku no Bakushin''
List of series
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.| Title | season | Episodes | Start | End | Starring | Supporting cast |
| Clouds Over the Hill | 1 | 5 eps | 29 November 2009 | 27 December 2009 | Masahiro Motoki Hiroshi Abe Teruyuki Kagawa | Miho Kanno Gō Katō Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari |
| Clouds Over the Hill | 2 | 4 eps | 5 December 2010 | 26 December 2010 | Masahiro Motoki Hiroshi Abe Teruyuki Kagawa | Miho Kanno Gō Katō Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari |
| Clouds Over the Hill | 3 | 4 eps | 4 December 2011 | 25 December 2011 | Masahiro Motoki Hiroshi Abe Teruyuki Kagawa | Miho Kanno Gō Katō Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari |
New Big Jidaigeki
NHK broadcast three taiga dramas covering modern and contemporary history from 1984 to 1986. Instead, they specially prepared these three productions for jidaigeki fans. Many viewers see them as almost equivalent to Taiga dramas.| # | Romanised Name | Kanji Name | Episodes | Start | End | Starring | Supporting cast |
| 1 | Miyamoto Musashi | 宮本武蔵 | 45 eps | 4 April 1984 | 13 March 1985 | Koji Yakusho | Yūko Kotegawa Eiji Okuda Kōji Naka Tetsurō Tamba |
| 2 | 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 |
| 3 | 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
- 武蔵 MUSASHI. Kabuki actor Ichikawa Shinnosuke VII 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. 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. 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. 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.