Taiheiki (TV series) explained

Taiheiki (太平記) is a 1991 Japanese historical television series and the 29th NHK taiga drama. It is based on the 1958 novel Shihon Taiheiki by Eiji Yoshikawa.^{[1] [2]} It had an average viewership rating of 26.0%, peaking at 34.6%.

Plot

The drama is set at the end of the Kamakura period, going into the Nanboku-chō period during the early Muromachi.

Ashikaga Takauji cooperated with Emperor Go-Daigo and overthrew the Kamakura shogunate. The emperor began the Kenmu Restoration, but the samurai are more dissatisfied than before. As leader of the samurai, Takauji decides to turn against the Emperor and establish a new shogunate.

Cast

Ashikaga clan

• Hiroyuki Sanada as Ashikaga Takauji
• Yasuko Sawaguchi as Akahashi Tōko (Tōshi), Takauji's wife
• Ken Ogata as Ashikaga Sadauji, Takauji's father
• Shiho Fujimura as Uesugi Kiyoko, Takauji's mother
• Masanobu Takashima as Ashikaga Tadayoshi, Takauji's younger brother
• Kataoka Takatarō as Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Takauji's heir
  • Yūsuke Morita as Senjuō (young Yoshiakira)
• Michitaka Tsutsui as Ashikaga Tadafuyu, Takauji's illegitimate son
  • Yūichirō Yamazaki as Izayamaru (young Tadafuyu)
• Yasuo Daichi as Isshiki Umanosuke
• Akira Emoto as Kō no Moronao
• Kazunaga Tsuji as Kō no Moroshige
• Sansei Shiomi as Kō no Moroyasu
• Toru Abe as Kō no Morouji
• Kohji Moritsugu as Hosokawa Akiuji
• Akira Yamanouchi as Kira Sadayoshi
• Don Kantarō as Imagawa Norikuni

Hōjō clan (Kamakura shogunate)

• Tsurutaro Kataoka as Hōjō Takatoki, the 14th shikken
• Kiyoshi Kodama as Kanesawa (Hōjō) Sadaaki, the 15th shikken
• Hiroshi Katsuno as Akahashi (Hōjō) Moritoki, the last shikken and Takauji's brother-in-law.
• Frankie Sakai as Nagasaki Enki
• Tokuma Nishioka as Nagasaki Takasuke
• Tamaki Sawa as Kakukai-ni
• Akane Oda as Akiko
• Junkichi Orimoto as Shioya Muneharu
• Chikao Ohtsuka as Doisado no Zenshi
• Kunio Kaga as Adachi Moriyasu

The Imperial Court

• Kataoka Takao as Emperor Go-Daigo
• Daijirō Tsusumi as Prince Moriyoshi
• Mieko Harada as Ano Renshi
• Terutake Tsuji as Emperor Kōgon

Kugyō/Kuge

• Masaomi Kondō as Kitabatake Chikafusa
• Kumiko Goto as Kitabatake Akiie
• Takaaki Enoki as Hino Toshimoto
• Masahiro Motoki as Chigusa Tadaaki
• Hōsei Komatsu as Nawa Nagatoshi
• Hatsunori Hasegawa as Saionji Kinmune
• Takashi Fujiki as Bōmon Kiyotada
• Norihiro Inoue as Shijō Takasuke
• Mitsuru Miyamoto as Nijō Michihira
• Akaji Maro as Monkan
• Baku Ōwada as Madenokōji Fujifusa

Nitta clan

• Kenichi Hagiwara (episodes 1-7)^[3] → Jinpachi Nezu as Nitta Yoshisada
• Masumi Miyazaki as Kōtō no Naishi
• Yoshizumi Ishihara as Wakiya Yoshisuke

Kawachi Province

• Tetsuya Takeda as Kusunoki Masashige
• Mariko Fuji as Hisako
• Hidekazu Akai as Kusunoki Masasue
• Shigeyuki Nakamura as Kusunoki Masatsura
  • Seidai Katō as young Masatsura

Hanayasha Theatre Group

• Kanako Higuchi as Hanayasha/Utsugi, Kusunoki Masashige's younger sister
• Toshirō Yanagiba as Ishi
  • Ryō Takayama as young Ishi
• Rie Miyazawa as Fujiyasha, Izayamaru's mother
  • Chikako Oba as young Fujiyasha
• Hideki Nishioka as Kanze Kiyotsugu

Others

• Takanori Jinnai as Sasaki Dōyō
• Tetsu Watanabe as Akamatsu Enshin
• Etsushi Takahashi as Momonoi Tadatsune
• Etsushi Toyokawa
• Takako Tokiwa
• Strong Kobayashi as Big Man

Production credit

• Sword fight arranger - Kunishirō Hayashi

TV schedule

Episode	Original airdate	Title	Directed by	Rating
1			Mikio Satō	34.6%
2				34.3%
3				33.0%
4			Kenji Tanaka	31.0%
5				28.9%
6			Mikio Satō	30.2%
7			Takayasu Enokido / Mikio Satō	33.1%
8			Mikio Satō	32.5%
9			Kenji Tanaka	32.1%
10				30.5%
11			Takayasu Enokido	30.2%
12			Sōsei Mineshima	31.6%
13			Takayasu Enokido	25.5%
14			Mikio Satō	19.9%
15				25.0%
16			Kenji Tanaka	24.3%
17			Takayasu Enokido	22.0%
18				21.7%
19			Mikio Satō	29.2%
20				27.7%
21			Takayasu Enokido	27.5%
22			Mikio Satō	27.5%
23			Sōsei Mineshima	24.6%
24			Takayasu Enokido	22.9%
25			Jun Takebayashi	22.3%
26			Mikio Satō	24.8%
27			Takayasu Enokido	24.6%
28			Mikio Satō	22.9%
29			Sōsei Mineshima	22.2%
30			Kenji Tanaka	22.4%
31			Masami Kadowaki	21.8%
32			Takayasu Enokido	22.0%
33			Mikio Satō	21.5%
34			Masami Kadowaki	24.7%
35			Takayasu Enokido	23.4%
36			Kenji Tanaka	27.6%
37			Mikio Satō	24.6%
38			Masami Kadowaki	25.7%
39			Mitsunobu Ozaki	26.2%
40			Kenji Tanaka	22.9%
41				19.9%
42			Mitsunobu Ozaki	20.8%
43			Takayasu Enokido	25.3%
44			Mikio Satō	22.0%
45			Kenji Tanaka	24.2%
46			Takayasu Enokido	22.8%
47			Jun Takebayashi	26.0%
48			Kenji Tanaka	23.0%
49			Mikio Satō	24.6%
Average rating 26.0% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research (Kantō region).

External links

• NHK Official

Notes and References

1. Web site: 第29作「太平記」. December 21, 2020. NHK.
2. Web site: 太平記. December 21, 2020. CiNii.
3. Hagiwara dropped out due to his health reasons.