Season 1 • Episode 52
LatestDaichūshingura is a television dramatization of the events of the Forty-seven Ronin. The first episode aired on January 5, 1971, and the 52nd and final episode appeared on December 28 of the same year. The NET network broadcast it in the Tuesday evening 9:00–9:56 prime-time slot in Japan. The series featured an all-star cast. The central actor was Toshiro Mifune, who portrayed Ōishi Kuranosuke; Yoko Tsukasa his wife; and kabuki actor Onoe Kikugorō VII their son Chikara.
Acting
Mifune's Ōishi: a study in contained volcanic rage.
Production
NET went ALL IN—52 episodes of period detail porn.
Costume
Onoe Kikugorō VII's kimono game is frankly illegal.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the first time Mifune played Ōishi Kuranosuke—he'd return to the role in the 1978 film The Fall of Ako Castle, making him the definitive postwar interpretation.
The 1971 broadcast coincided with Japan's economic boom and student protests; the ronin's anti-authoritarian violence hit different with contemporary audiences watching salarymen revolt on screen.
JP
