Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康) is a 1983 Japanese television series. It is the 21st NHK taiga drama. The drama is based on the novel of the same name by Sōhachi Yamaoka.[1][2]
The work is set during the Sengoku period going into the early Edo period.
The story chronicles the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu from before his birth until his death.[3]
Production Credits
Generally, due to the image of Tokugawa Ieyasu being petite and chubby, casting proved to be challenging. Before long, within the production team, the desire to create a new image of Ieyasu grew stronger, and the tall Sakae Takita was chosen for the role.[5]
Due to the strong desire of Mieko Osanai, who is also a scriptwriter for Kinpachi-sensei, Tetsuya Takeda played the role of Hideyoshi. He was mentioned as one of the leading candidates for the role of Hideyoshi in the 1981 NHK Taiga drama Onna Taikōki as well.[6]
Initially, the role of Nobunaga was offered to popular singer and actor Kenji Sawada. However, he was too busy, and scheduling proved to be difficult. Eventually, just one week before the casting announcement, it was decided that he was unable to participate. NHK gave up on casting a big-name actor and instead, at the time still relatively unknown, chose Koji Yakusho for the role. From there, he quickly rose to fame and became a popular actor.[7]