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Tenchijin (天地人) is a 2009 Japanese super historical drama television series, and the 48th taiga drama of NHK. It aired every Sunday from January 4 to November 22, 2009, spanning 47 episodes. The drama centers on the life of 16th century samurai Naoe Kanetsugu, played by Satoshi Tsumabuki.

Production began on April 27, 2007. The drama is based on the novel of the same name by Masashi Hisaka and was adapted by Eriko Komatsu, with Michiru Ōshima as series composer. The fourth episode of the series, “An Older Woman” (「年上の女（ひと）」), is the highest-rated episode of any Japanese drama in 2009.

Plot

The protagonist of the drama, Naoe Kanetsugu, was taught by Uesugi Kenshin in his youth that to conquer the world is a trifling matter, but what matters is to live one's life with righteousness. After Uesugi's death, Naoe supports Uesugi Kagekatsu, who holds the destiny of Echigo province.

Production

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Production Credits

• Script – Eriko Komatsu, Kazue Matsushita
• Based on the novel by – Masashi Hisaka
• Narrator – Nobuko Miyamoto
• Music – Michiru Ōshima
• Historical research – Tetsuo Owada
• Action director – Kunishirō Hayashi
• Architectural research – Sei Hirai
• Clothing research – Kiyoko Koizumi
• Titling – Sōun Takeda
• Production coordinator – Shinsuke Naitō
• Casting – Yōichirō Takahashi

Production for Tenchijin began on April 27, 2007. The usual taiga drama production would have one-third of the expected number of scripts finished before shooting begins. Afterwards, audience reception is taken into account as the rest of the series is written.

Cast

Starring role

• Satoshi Tsumabuki as Naoe Kanetsugu - born as Yoroku, then renamed as Higuchi Kanetsugu
  • Seishiro Kato as Higuchi Yoroku (childhood Kanetsugu)

Naoe house

• Takako Tokiwa as Osen
• Michiko Kichise as Oyū - Osen's elder sister
• Joe Shishido as Naoe Kagetsuna
• Shinji Yamashita as Naoe Nobutsuna - Osen's first husband
• Hisako Manda as Oman - Osen's mother
• Seishiro Kato as Naoe Kanematsu (childhood Naoe Kaneaki - Kanetsugu's son - double role)

Higuchi house

• Masanobu Takashima as Higuchi Sōemon - Kanetsugu's father
• Misako Tanaka as Ofuji - Kanetsugu's mother.
• Kotaro Koizumi as Ōkuni Saneyori - Kanetsugu's younger brother
  • Homare Mabuchi as Higuchi Yoshichi (childhood Saneyori)
• Miro Ebato as Kita - Kanetsugu's sister

Uesugi clan

• Kazuki Kitamura as Uesugi Kagekatsu
• Tetsuji Tamayama as Uesugi Kagetora
• Hiroshi Abe as Uesugi Kenshin - foster father of Kagekatsu and Kagetora
• Saki Aibu as Hanahime
• Manami Higa as Kikuhime
• Reiko Takashima as Sentōin
• Jin Maki as Usami Sadamitsu

Uesugi retainers and their family members

• Mikihisa Azuma as Izumisawa Hisahide
  • Takuya Kusakawa as Mikihisa Azuma's second son, Matajiro
• Sei Hiraizumi as Kuribayashi Masayori
• Masayuki Suzuki as Fukazawa Toshishige
• Shingo Katsurayama as Abe Masayoshi
• Papaya Suzuki as Noborisaka Tōemon
• Satoru Matsuo as Sakurai Haruyoshi
• Minoru Matsumoto as Fukazawa Yashichirō
• Yasuhiro Arai as Kitajō Takahiro
• Kunishirō Hayashi as Kamiizumi Hidetsuna
• Kei Yamamoto as Yoshie Munenobu
• Nobuaki Kakuda as Kakizaki Haruie
• Takejō Aki as Kayo
• Shunsuke Sugiyama as Nishiyama Kanzaemon
• Takeshi Katō as Hokkō Zenshuku, a Zen priest, master of young Yoroku (Kanetsugu) and Kiheiji (Kagekatsu)

Oda clan

• Kōji Kikkawa as Oda Nobunaga
• Shingo Tsurumi as Akechi Mitsuhide
• Shun Sugata as Shibata Katsuie

Toyotomi clan

• Takashi Sasano as Toyotomi Hideyoshi
• Sumiko Fuji as Nene
• Shun Oguri as Ishida Mitsunari
• Kyōko Fukada as Yodo
• Hidekazu Mashima as Toyotomi Hidetsugu
• Go Wakabayashi as Shima Sakon
• Yoshizumi Ishihara as Fukushima Masanori
• Takamasa Suga as Ukita Hideie
• Hisayuki Nakajima as Asano Nagamasa
• Tsutomu Takahashi as Katō Kiyomasa
• Ryuhei Numata as Mashita Nagamori
• Tatsuhiro Yanase as Maeda Gen'i
• Tomoya Nakamura as Toyotomi Hideyori
• Umika Kawashima as Senhime (Ep. 46)
  • Momoko Tanabe as young senhime (Ep. 45)
• Masayuki Kikuchi as Natsuka Masaie
• Kanji Tsuda as Ōtani Yoshitsugu
• Hiroshi Yamada as Konishi Yukinaga

Tokugawa clan

• Hiroki Matsukata as Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Akinori Nakagawa as Tokugawa Hidetada
• Seiji Matsuyama as Honda Masanobu
• Taro Kawano as Sakakibara Yasumasa
• Masato Nagamori as Ii Naomasa
• Daisuke Iijima as Sakai Tadatsugu
• Ippei Kanie as Honda Masazumi
• Masaya Kikawada as Honda Masashige
• Yukijiro Hotaru as Tōyama Yasumitsu
• Atsuko Hirata as Asahi no kata

Mōri clan

• Akira Nakao as Mōri Terumoto
• Takahiro Mizuma as Mōri Hidemoto
• Tadashi Yokouchi as Kobayakawa Takakage
• Yūsuke Kamiji as Kobayakawa Hideaki

Maeda clan

• Ken Utsui as Maeda Toshiie
• Onoe Matsuya II as Maeda Toshinaga

Takeda clan

• Ichikawa Emiya II as Takeda Katsuyori
• Shun Ōide as Kōsaka Masanobu

Later Hōjō clan

• Goro Ibuki as Hōjō Ujimasa
• Yu Kamiki as Hōjō Ujinao
• Isao Sasaki as Daidōji Masashige

Date clan

• Ryuhei Matsuda as Date Masamune
• Anne Watanabe as Princess Mego - Date Masamune's wife
• Yuta Sone as Katakura Kagetsuna

Sanada clan

• Yū Shirota as Sanada Yukimura
• Ryo Iwamatsu as Sanada Masayuki
• Masami Nagasawa as Hatsune - Sanada Yukimura's older sister.
• Yuji Shirakura as Sarutobi Sasuke - a fictional ninja.

Chōsokabe clan

• Seiichi Kawano as Chōsokabe Morichika

Other

• Shigeru Kōyama as Sen no Rikyū
• Yoshino Kimura as Oryō, Rikyū's daughter

TV schedule

Soundtrack and books

Soundtrack

• NHK Taiga Drama Tenchijin Original Soundtrack Vol.1 (February 18, 2009)
• NHK Taiga Drama Tenchijin Original Soundtrack Vol.2 (August 26, 2009)
• NHK Taiga Drama Tenchijin Original Soundtrack Vol.3 (October 21, 2009)

Books

Official guide

• NHK Taiga Drama Story Tenchijin First Part ISBN 978-4-14-923350-5 (December 20, 2008)
• NHK Taiga Drama Story Tenchijin Latter Part ISBN 978-4-14-923351-2 (July 10, 2009)
• NHK Taiga Drama Story Tenchijin Last Part ISBN 978-4-14-923352-9 (October 24, 2009)
• NHK Taiga Drama, Historical Handbook, Tenchijin ISBN 978-4-14-910693-9 (December 20, 2008)
• Sōun Takeda - Writing about Samurai ISBN 978-4-8356-1743-5 (September 30, 2009)

Novel

• Tenchijin First Volume ISBN 978-4-14-005503-8 (September 26, 2009)
• Tenchijin Last Volume ISBN 978-4-14-005504-5 (September 26, 2009)
• Tenchijin, New Edition, First Volume ISBN 978-4-14-005553-3 (November 14, 2008)
• Tenchijin, New Edition, Latter Volume ISBN 978-4-14-005554-0 (November 14, 2008)
• Tenchijin, New Edition, Last Volume ISBN 978-4-14-005555-7 (November 14, 2008)

Notes

1. It is an unusual Taiga Drama as the final episode will be broadcast as early as November, due to the first phase of Saka no Ue no Kumo, a series of NHK Special Drama, being broadcast from November 29 to December 27.

References

1. "NHKドラマ". Archived from the original on 6 October 2008.
2. "『天地人』が1位 2009年"ドラマ視聴率10傑"出揃う！ 定番ジャンルの人気の高さ実証". Oricon (in Japanese). Oricon ME inc. 25 December 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2019. 1位は、俳優の妻夫木聡が"愛と義"に生きた名将・直江兼続を熱演したNHK大河ドラマ『天地人』（1月25日放送）の26.0％。
3. Shinozuka, Jun, ed. (January 2011). "Feature 1: JQR Interview – Yoshiko Nishimura". Japan Quality Review Vol. 0-1. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
4. "『天地人』最終回視聴率は22.7% 年間平均"20%超え"果たす". Oricon. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

External links

• NHK website
• Tenchijin at IMDb

• Taiga drama
• 2009 Japanese television series debuts
• 2009 Japanese television series endings
• Jidaigeki
• Television shows based on Japanese novels
• Television series set in the 16th century
• Television series set in the 17th century
• Cultural depictions of Uesugi Kenshin
• Cultural depictions of Akechi Mitsuhide
• Cultural depictions of Oda Nobunaga
• Cultural depictions of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
• Cultural depictions of Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Cultural depictions of Date Masamune
• Cultural depictions of Sanada clan
• Television shows set in Niigata Prefecture
• Television shows set in Yamagata Prefecture
• Television shows set in Fukushima Prefecture