Yoshitsune (TV series)

Yoshitsune
Genre	Taiga drama
Directed by	Mayuzumi Rintaro
Starring	Hideaki Takizawa Ken Matsudaira Aya Ueto Satomi Ishihara Kiyotaka Nanbara Tsuyoshi Ujiki Atsushi Itō Ken Kaitō Hiroshi Abe Yukiyoshi Ozawa Kazushige Nagashima Ikkei Watanabe Kayoko Shiraishi Ren Osugi Masanobu Katsumura Shingo Tsurumi Masaya Kato Masao Kusakari Akihiro Miwa Mari Natsuki Akira Nakao Ichikawa Sadanji IV Naomi Zaizen Izumi Inamori Nenji Kobayashi Keiko Matsuzaka Tetsurō Tamba Mikijirō Hira Kiichi Nakai Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari
Narrated by	Kayoko Shiraishi
Theme music composer	Taro Iwashiro
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of episodes	49
Original release
Network	NHK
Release	January 9 – December 11, 2005

Yoshitsune (義経) is a Japanese television drama series originally broadcast between 9 January and 11 December 2005, with a three-part special compilation being aired from 24 December to 25 December 2005. The 44th Taiga Drama, the original work is by Miyao Tomiko, screenplay by Kaneko Narito and starring Hideaki Takizawa.

Plot

In the Heiji Rebellion, Taira no Kiyomori defeats Minamoto no Yoshitomo. Yoshitomo flees the battle but is betrayed by his own vassal and killed in Owari province. Yoritomo (one of Yoshitomo's sons) is captured, but Kiyomori decides to spare him and banishes him to Izu. Yoshitomo's beloved concubine Tokiwa Gozen flees to Kyoto with their three children. After learning that Kiyomori has arrested her own mother, Tokiwa goes to him to plead for mercy. Kiyomori spares the lives of the children, sending the older two to temples, and brings the youngest boy, Ushiwaka, and Tokiwa into his household. Treating him as his own child, Kiyomori receives criticism of his generous behavior towards Ushiwaka, the son of his enemy. Soon, he sends Ushiwaka to the Kurama temple where he is renamed Shanao. Shanao frequently escapes the temple at night, and this behavior makes it clear that he will not enter the priesthood. After learning the true identity of his father, of his Genji lineage, and of Kiyomori's plans to move against him he bids his mother farewell and travels northeast to Oshu.

While Kiyomori starts to build a dream city and international port in Fukuhara, he also starts to work his way into the Imperial Court, eventually marrying his daughter Tokiko to the Emperor. With this new power the Heike grow fierce and unpopular with the court and people of Kyoto. Shanao, now named Yoshitsune after his rite of manhood, is living under the guardianship of Fujiwara no Hidehira and decides to join his exiled older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo and throws himself into the feud between the Heike and Genji.

Cast

Minamoto clan

• Hideaki Takizawa as Minamoto no Yoshitsune
  • Ryunosuke Kamiki as young Yoshitsune (aka Ushiwakamaru)
• Kiichi Nakai as Minamoto no Yoritomo
  • Sosuke Ikematsu as young Yoritomo
• Ken Matsudaira as Benkei
• Aya Ueto as Utsubo
• Masaya Kato as Minamoto no Yoshitomo
• Izumi Inamori as Tokiwa Gozen
• Satomi Ishihara as Shizuka Gozen
• Eiko Koike as Tomoe Gozen
• Naomi Zaizen as Hōjō Masako
• Nenji Kobayashi as Hōjō Tokimasa
• Noboru Kimura as Hōjō Yoshitoki
• Tetsurō Tamba as Minamoto no Yorimasa
• Tsubasa Imai as Nasu no Yoichi
• Akira Nakao as Kajiwara Kagetoki
• Shun Oguri as Kajiwara Kagesue

Taira clan

• Tetsuya Watari as Taira no Kiyomori
• Keiko Matsuzaka as Taira no Tokiko
• Shingo Tsurumi as Taira no Munemori
• Shigeki Hosokawa as Taira no Shigehira
• Hiroshi Abe as Taira no Tomomori
• Noriko Nakagoshi as Taira no Tokuko
• Maki Goto as Yoshiko

Northern Fujiwara

• Hideki Takahashi as Fujiwara no Hidehira
• Ikkei Watanabe as Fujiwara no Yasuhira
• Kazushige Nagashima as Fujiwara no Kunihira

Imperial family

• Mikijirō Hira as Emperor Go-Shirakawa
• Mari Natsuki as Tango no Tsubone
• Ichikawa Otora VII as Emperor Antoku
• Masao Kusakari as Taira no Tomoyasu

Accolades

8th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix

• Won: Best Drama
• Won: Best Actor - Hideaki Takizawa