NHK's first Annual
Historical Drama serial, A Flamboyant Life, began in April 1963, during
the golden age of Japanese cinema. Under the slogan "We can match
the movies!" NHK fought for audience share through the new medium
of television, then sometimes described as "story-telling with electronic
pictures." The first serial featured a number of famous actors, including
Onoe Shoroku, Sata Keiji, Awashima Chikage, Kagawa Kyoko, and Yachigusa
Kaoru.
The second serial, Ako-Roshi, had an even
more distinguished cast. In the leading role was Hasegawa Kazuo, then
at the height of his popularity, with support from Onoe Baiko, Yamada
Isuzu and Takizawa Osamu. By featuring top actors from film, kabuki and
contemporary theater, NHK's period dramas quickly won a huge public following.
The importance of casting was underscored
by the third serial, Taikoki. A rising star of contemporary theater, Ogata
Ken, took the lead role, with Takahashi Koji, an understudy at Bungakuza
Theater, playing Oda Nobunaga, and Ishizaka Koji, a student at Keio University,
taking the role of Ishida Mitsunari. A key scene in a big battle was shot
from a helicopter, opening up new horizons for TV drama. Ako-Roshi achieved
an average 31.9% audience share and Taikoki 31.2%. And so, by as early
as the third serial, NHK's Annual Historical Dramas had established themselves
as a Sunday evening fixture.
Up to and including the 15th serial, Kashin,
the leading characters were mainly samurai warriors and feudal lords,
but Golden Days marked a significant departure. The main character was
the merchant Ruson Sukezaemon, and the story focused on Japan's early
encounters with the outside world as seen through the lives of ordinary
people instead of the ruling establishment. |
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The Age of Lions in 1980 marked another
first. Based on an original script for the first time, it was the first
drama of its kind to focus on the Meiji era (late 19th century), when
Japan was opening up to the world. Burning Mountains and Rivers (1984),
Spring Waves (1985) and Life (1986) formed a trilogy about the coming
of the modern age, and ushered in a new phase.
The popularity of the Annual Historical
Dramas peaked with Masamune, One-eyed Dragon (average audience share:
39.7%) in 1987, and the next serial, Takeda Shingen (average share:
39.2%). The geographical areas in which they were set subsequently experienced
a huge tourist boom—evidence of the powerful impact TV drama can
have.
Musashi, the current drama, is the 42nd.
Some of the historical figures who appear again and again in these dramas
are the feudal lords Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
In Toshiie and Matsu (2002), Nobunaga was played by Sorimachi Takashi,
Hideyoshi by Kagawa Teruyuki and Ieyasu by Takashima Masahiro. Earlier,
Nobunaga was played by Sugi Ryotaro in Heaven and Earth, Yakusho Koji
in Tokugawa Ieyasu, Ogata Naoto in Nobunaga, and Watari Tetsuya in Hideyoshi.
Memorable
lines
Masamune,
One-eyed Dragon |
Just as the No.1 hit morning drama serial Oshin
led to the use of new expressions that included the name
Oshin, the two most popular Annual Historical Dramas—Masamune,
One-eyed Dragon and Takeda Shingen—also
spawned popular phrases. One example is the line spoken by the young
Masamune (boyhood name Bontenmaru), who says, when looking at a
statue of the Buddha, "Bontenmaru wants to be like that too."
Another example from Takeda Shingen
was, "That's all for this evening," delivered in archaic
language by the narrator Wakao Ayako at the close of each episode. |
Annual Historial Dramas
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