The land of Kagoshima possesses a mysterious power.

I am watching the Taiga drama "Atsuhime" for the first time in a while.

I thought I knew the history.

The Satsuma Domain.

The Tokugawa Shogunate.

The end of the Edo period.

The bloodless surrender of Edo Castle.

I knew the events I had learned in textbooks.

But,

"Atsuhime" depicts the "people" behind that history.


Atsuhime was raised in the nature of Satsuma.


She gazed at Sakurajima,
was surrounded by Satsuma samurai,


and was discovered by a wise lord named Shimazu Nariakira.

A woman who grew up in that Kagoshima
would eventually marry into the Tokugawa Shogun family,
and become a figure who would greatly influence Japanese history.




The land of Kagoshima
possesses a mysterious power.

Saigo Takamori.

Okubo Toshimichi.

Shimazu Nariakira.

And Atsuhime.


In the turbulent era of the end of the Edo period,
there are few regions that have produced so many such figures.

Satsuma
was by no means a wealthy land.


Even so,
it looked toward the world,
did not fear change,

and nurtured talent that would carve out the future.

Atsuhime was also one of those people nurtured by Satsuma.


What I feel while watching this work is that,
more than flashy battles,

it depicts the human heart.

When one's position changes,

what one protects also changes.

Atsuhime, who lived as a daughter of Satsuma,

eventually came to be in a position to protect the Tokugawa family.

Even while harboring that conflict,

her way of living without bending her beliefs is beautiful.

History

cannot be told only by winners and losers.

The decisions of people who lived through that era with all their might have accumulated,

and that is what makes Japan today.

That is why I think

"Atsuhime" is not a story of the end of the Edo period, but

a story of "people who hold fast to their beliefs."

When you learn about Kagoshima,

you will like Atsuhime even more.

And,

when you learn about Atsuhime,

the depth of the land of Kagoshima becomes visible.

I am very happy

to have encountered such a wonderful work.

Thank you for reading until the end.

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