Sequel: Period Drama Review 39: Century of the Emperor (1971)
Title: Century of the Emperor
Broadcast Period: September to November 1971 (13 episodes total)
Broadcaster, etc.: TBS
Starring (Role Name): Takahiro Tamura (Masahiro Abe), Masakazu Tamura (Sanai Hashimoto), and others
Original Work: Jiro Osaragi
Screenplay: Akira Hayasaka, Kaneto Shindo, and others
Jiro Osaragi's life work, "Century of the Emperor," is a historical novel that uses vast amounts of historical materials to depict the period from Perry's arrival to the Boshin War, and it became his final work.
Because Jiro Osaragi passed away while writing up to the middle of the Boshin War, it remains unfinished, but a drama based on this work was broadcast on TBS in 1971.
Furthermore, from October 1973 to March 1974, a documentary version featuring reenactments was broadcast as a second part in 26 episodes; the drama version mainly covers the first half of the original work, while the documentary version mainly covers the latter half (with some overlapping content).
Due to the nature of the work, there is no single protagonist throughout the entire series; the story unfolds by focusing on different characters in each episode, but when a character appears multiple times, the same actor is cast.
Although the story generally progresses chronologically from Perry's arrival, only the third episode goes back in time to an episode from the Tenpo era.
Below are the subtitles for each episode and the central character (the actor who appears in the top credit) (the actor who played the role is in parentheses).
・Episode 1: Arrival of the Black Ships - Masahiro Abe (Takahiro Tamura)
・Episode 2: Wildfire - Shoin Yoshida (Yoshio Harada)
・Episode 3: Pioneer - Shuhan Takashima (Nakamura Kanjiemon II)
・Episode 4: Geothermal - Sanai Hashimoto (Masakazu Tamura)
・Episode 5: Great Prison - Shuzen Nagano (Shigeru Amachi)
・Episode 6: Foreign Country - Yoshitake Kimura (Masahiko Tsugawa)
- Episode 7: Black Wind - Choshichiro Odaka (Shigeru Tsuyuguchi)
- Episode 8: Imperial Marriage - Kawachi-no-suke Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba)
- Episode 9: Torrent - Kawachi-no-suke Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba)
- Episode 10: Expel the Barbarians - Hisamitsu Shimazu (Kei Sato)
- Episode 11: Uprising - Shinsaku Takasugi (Daijiro Harada)
- Episode 12: Volunteer Army - Ryoma Sakamoto (Takashi Yamaguchi)
- Episode 13: Annihilation - Koshiro Fujita (Toru Minegishi)
Although this work is a drama, it is depicted with a documentary-like touch, giving it a generally understated impression. However, because it is made faithfully to historical facts, it is well worth watching and is a robust production.
Since many of the figures featured met tragic ends, the tone of the story is rather dark, but I think it is a well-crafted work.
There are quite a lot of characters, but the casting is solid throughout, and Shigeru Amachi's portrayal of Shuzen Nagano was particularly perfect for the role.
Also, although his screen time was short, I think Noboru Matsuhashi as Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi fit the atmosphere well, and Mako Iwamatsu as John Manjiro also brought a nice flavor to the role.
I was slightly concerned about the uneven distribution of time given to different episodes (for example, the second episode takes its time to depict the full story of Shoin Yoshida's plan to stow away to America, while the eleventh episode summarizes the movements of the Choshu Domain at the end of the Edo period centered on Shinsaku Takasugi in a single episode). Or rather, I felt it was a pity that the later episodes progressed somewhat hurriedly, but overall, I have the impression that it is very well made, and it is likely one of the best works set during the end of the Edo period.
Note that while this work was released on VHS a long time ago, it has not been released on DVD or BD (it is occasionally broadcast on CS or streaming sites).
#CenturyOfTheEmperor #Bakumatsu #JiroOsaragi #TBS #ShigeruAmachi #ShuzenNagano #NoboruMatsuhashi #YoshinobuTokugawa #Documentary #PeriodDrama #History #JapaneseHistory