68 minSeason 1 • Episode 50
LatestThe 47th NHK Taiga Drama is a life story of Princess Atsu, who was born in Kagoshima Prefecture, then called Satsuma, and became the wife of Tokugawa Iesada, the 13th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. She accedes to the highest rank in Ooku, the inner palace of the Edo castle where women related to the reigning shogun resided. Iesada dies soon after their marriage and Atsuhime assumes the name Tenshoin at the age of 23. She exerts herself for the Tokugawa clan and for the nation during the upheaval in the Meiji Restoration, headed by those from Satsuma.
Acting
Aoi Miyazaki ages 15 years with just her eyes — devastating.
Production
NHK went ALL IN on period accuracy for this one.
Costume
Those kimono layers tell entire stories without dialogue.
Creator
Tomiko Miyao
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Taiga dramas air weekly for a full year in Japan — families literally plan their Sundays around them. This 2008 installment became a phenomenon that revived interest in the 'poisonous wife' revisionist history of the shogunate's collapse.
Aoi Miyazaki was only 21 when cast and had to age from 15 to 48; she reportedly refused prosthetics and relied solely on performance and subtle makeup changes, driving the director insane with her perfectionism.
JP
