(Abarenbō Shōgun) was a Japanese

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

program on the

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

network. Set in the eighteenth century, it showed fictitious events in the life of Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

''. The program started in 1978 under the title ''Yoshimune Hyōbanki: Abarenbō Shōgun'' (''Chronicle in Praise of Yoshimune: The Unfettered Shōgun'') who went after rogue councilors and ''daimyō'' who were abusing their power. After a few seasons, they shortened the first two words and the show ran for two decades under the shorter title until the series ended in 2003; a two-hour special aired in 2004. The earliest scripts occasionally wove stories around historic events such as the establishment of firefighting companies of

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

s in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

, but eventually the series adopted a routine of strictly fiction. Along with

Zenigata Heiji is a Japanese fictional character, the hero of a series of Japanese novels, films and TV programmes set in the Edo period (1603–1868) of Japanese history. He is a policeman (岡っ引き, '' okappiki'') who catches criminals by throwing coins ...

and

Mito Kōmon is a Japanese ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was on prime-time television from 1969 to 2011, making it the longest-running ''jidaigeki'' in Japanese television history. The title character is the historic Tokugawa Mitsukuni, former vice-' ...

, it ranks among the longest-running series in the

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

. Like many other jidaigeki, it falls in the category of ''kanzen-chōaku'', loosely, "rewarding good and punishing evil".

Repeating characters

Regulars

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Yoshimune is know ...

:Disguised as Tokuda Shinnosuke—Shin-san to his friends—the third son of a

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...

, the shogun roams freely about his

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

, using the Megumi fire company as his base. The

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the company knows his identity, but others are unaware that he is the shogun. Yoshimune-as-Shinnosuke is portrayed as the nearly invincible samurai warrior who seldom loses a fight no matter how many enemies opposing him there are. Ōoka Echizen-no-Kami Tadasuke :Like Yoshimune, Tadasuke was a historical personage. Yoshimune appointed him to the position of Minami Machi Bugyō, one of the two chief administrators of Edo. In this office, he was mayor, police chief, judge and jury. He instituted and oversaw the operations of the commoners' fire companies. He also oversaw the Koishikawa "City Hospital" (

Koishikawa Yōjōsho The Koishikawa Yojosho was a Japanese hospital located in Koishikawa, Edo, in what is now the Bunkyō municipality of the Tokyo Metropolis of modern Japan. The hospital was established in 1722 by the shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune in the herb gar ...

, another Yoshimune innovation). He was aware of Yoshimune's secret activities and originally did not approve, but grew to accept them as necessary and was a loyal accomplice. In the first episode, it was revealed that when he was Yamada Magistrate he had once reprimanded Yoshimune for illegal fishing when the shogun was younger, proving both his integrity and his devotion to the law. :

Tadashi Yokouchi is a Japanese actor. Born in Dalian, Kwantung Leased Territory, he graduated from high school in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. A member of the 13th group of actors and actresses trained at the Haiyū-za, he counts Tetsuo Ishidate, To ...

played Tadasuke for nearly twenty years;

Ryō Tamura is a Japanese actor from Kyoto. His father was silent-film star Tsumasaburo Bando. With his elder brothers, the late Takahiro and Masakazu, he is one of the Three Tamura Brothers. Ryō graduated from Seijo University and made his cinema debut ...

replaced him in the closing seasons. Goyō toritsugi :The ''goyō toritsugi'' (御用取次) or ''soba yōnin'' ( 側用人) was the person who scheduled appointments for the Shogun. He is generally a man of advanced years. Yoshimune frequently referred to him informally as "jii" ("old man" or "gramps" epending on the subtitle translation while in the castle while outside he would generally refer to him by the polite "oji-ue" ("uncle") outside. In the first two casts, the character's name was Kanō Gorozaemon (played by comic

Ichirō Arishima was a Japanese comedian and actor. Nicknamed "The Japanese Charlie Chaplin, Chaplin", he is best known outside Japan for his appearance as Tako, the promoter of King Kong in ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' (1962). Biography Arishima's real name w ...

). Next came Tanokura Magobei (

Eiji Funakoshi was a Japanese actor. He received the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actor and the Mainichi Film Concours for Best Actor for his performance in '' Fires on the Plain''. Biography Born Eijirō Funakoshi on 17 March 1923, in Tokyo, Eiji Funakoshi ...

), and a few followed in the cast changes of the last years of the show. Fire captain :Tatsugoro, originally the boss of a construction gang, was the founder of the Megumi fire company and thus reported directly to Tadasuke. In the first episode, it was revealed that he was a former drinking and fighting companion of Yoshimune's before the young lord's elevation to the shogunate.

Enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, pop ...

singer

Saburō Kitajima is a Japanese enka singer, lyricist, actor and composer. Background He was born Minoru Ōno (大野穣), in Shiriuchi, Hokkaidō, to a fisherman. He was very poor due to the effects of World War II, and was forced to work while he studied. ...

played in the series from beginning to end. Although somewhat short-tempered and never one to shun a brawl for a righteous cause, this short, stocky character was altruistic to a fault, stubborn, and fiercely loyal to Yoshimune. :Kitajima also sang the closing theme songs for several years. :Later, Tatsugorō retired from the Megumi and assumed a different occupation; the writers of the series brought in

Jōji Yamamoto was a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', lit. year name) of the Northern Court (Japan), Northern Court during the Nanboku-cho, Era of Northern and Southern Courts after Kōan (Muromachi period), ''Kōan'' and before Oan, ''Ōan''. This peri ...

, another singer (and a disciple of Kitajima) to play Chōjirō, the successor to Tatsugorō. In all, there were three captains during the series. Women of Megumi :Three actresses played Osai, the feisty wife of Tatsugoro, and Omachi the younger sister of Tatsugoro. Later, when Tatsugorō left the fire company, the new captain Chōjirō married Obun, the young fishmonger/beat cop. The third captain was unmarried; his widowed sister Okyō was the lady of the Megumi. Firemen :The cast always included half a dozen firefighters (''

hikeshi Hikeshi () were Fire department, fire brigades in edo period, Edo and Meiji era, Meiji-era Tokyo; also members of these brigades. Japanese cities were extremely prone to fires due to the fact that paper and wood were the main building materials. ...

''). While the roles were minor, together they were a prominent presence in the series. Character actors and comics played these parts. :The fire companies were named with a single

kana are syllabary, syllabaries used to write Japanese phonology, Japanese phonological units, Mora (linguistics), morae. In current usage, ''kana'' most commonly refers to ''hiragana'' and ''katakana''. It can also refer to their ancestor , wh ...

such as め followed by the word ''-gumi''. The show featured the ''Me-gumi'', whose auspicious name could also mean "blessing"; the squad was formed in the third episode "The First Fireman's Banner". :In the first several years, a retired sumo wrestler named Ryūko was a member of the cast. He played a retired sumo wrestler named Ryūko, who was initially a guest of the captain. He later became a bone-setting doctor, and finally joined the crew of the fire company. Long after leaving the series, he made an appearance as a guest star.

Oniwaban The or was a group of government-employed undercover agents (''onmitsu''), established by the 8th Tokugawa ''shōgun'', Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684–1751). They were under the direct command of the shōgun and were in charge of assassination of ...

(ninja) :The show always had a male and a female ''oniwaban'' from the Iga Clan who acted as both spies and bodyguards for Yoshimune. A few of the actors and actresses have gone on to starring roles in other series. The original female, Osono, was played by

Yōko Natsuki is an actress, born 24 October 1952 in Ise, Mie Prefecture, Japan. She started her career in the 1977 movie Karate for Life. One of her television roles was as Osono, a ninja in the jidaigeki series ''Yoshimune Hyōbanki: Abarenbō Shōgun.'' ...

. Her successor Sagiri, Asaka Mayumi in Season 2, is currently active. In the third series, Reiko Sugano played Hayate; then Takashima Reiko, who has gone on to star in television and film, succeeded her, with the name Kozue. Mayuko Irie (Akane), Akiko Andō (Koyuki), Hitoe Ōtake (Ayame), Chika Kochihira (Satsuki), Kaori Yamaguchi (Nagisa), and Kaori Matsunaga (Azami) followed, with Miki Murai appearing in the final special as Kaede. The men include Yabuta Sukehachi (portrayed by

Hiroshi Miyauchi is a Japanese actor and talent from Chiba Prefecture. Miyauchi graduated from Nihon University. In 1969, he signed with Toei Company and made his film debut with ''Nagasaki Blues''. He first attracted attention after landing a role in a televisio ...

, who was killed saving Yoshimune's life in Season One Episode 87) and Ōtsuki Hanzō ( Shun'ya Wazaki, who was appointed Sukehachi's replacement by Kanō Gorozaemon and made ''Oniwaban'' leader by Yoshimune in Episode 88) opposite Osono, the first Saizō (Shigeru Araki, paired with Hayate), Sagenta ( Kiyotaka Mitsugi) and the second Saizō (played by Takayuki Godai). Hayami Saheiji (

Toshihide Wakamatsu Toshihide Wakamatsu (若松俊秀, born December 6, 1965) is a Japanese actor born in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, Japan. Profile * He originally came to Tokyo to be a painter, but soon became interested acting in movies and plays. * After graduating ...

) in Season 6, Jūmonji Hayato, and finally Gorōta followed. Narrator :

Genzō Wakayama was a Japanese actor, voice actor and DJ. He moved to Sapporo, Hokkaido as a youth and graduated from Sapporo South High School. Due to his low bass voice, Wakayama often voiced villainous or calm characters. He is the official Japanese dub-ove ...

narrated the show from the first episode to the last.

Semi-regulars

Tokugawa Muneharu (徳川宗春) :The historical Yoshimune came to power when the main line of succession to the Tokugawa shogunate came to an end. He was chosen from the second of the three cadet branches of the Tokugawa clan, and the head of the senior branch, Muneharu, was passed over. The television series frequently presented Muneharu as a rival who tried to assassinate Yoshimune and take over the shogunate. Even when he did not appear, many villains acted in his name, or planned to receive their reward from Muneharu when he became shogun. First played by

Akira Nakao was a Japanese actor, television personality, and artist from Kisarazu, Chiba. He was represented by the Furutachi Project agency. Biography Nakao attended Chiba Prefectural Kisarazu High School from 1958, and entered Musashino Art University ...

and later by Tokuma Nishioka. Yamada Asaemon (山田朝右衛門) : Nicknamed Kubikiri Asa. An executioner for the shogunate, he quits and becomes a ''

rōnin In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185–1868), a ''rōnin'' ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a ''rō ...

'' and ally of Yoshimune.

Asahi Kurizuka Asahi Kurizuka () (born May 9, 1937) is a Japanese actor. He made his film debut with "Bukinaki Tatakai" directed by Satsuo Yamamoto in 1960. In 1966, he received the Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year. He specializes in ''jidaigeki''. Especi ...

played the role in many episodes. O-Yuri no Kata (お由利の方) : Also known as Jōen'in (浄円院). Yoshimune's mother. Sons of samurai overlords were often separated from their mothers at an early age to develop sternness in them, and Yoshimune was no different. Although Yoshimune offered Oyuri room and board in Edo Castle, she refused, living instead an austere life in a house often seen nearly falling apart. They love each other as an ordinary mother and son, but they conceal their relationship to others as this is part of the Shinnosuke myth used by the Shogun. Played by

Tamao Nakamura (born July 12, 1939 in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese actress. Her father is kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is k ...

Guest stars

Over the course of a quarter of a century, the show featured a parade of celebrities. Singers, actors, and athletes of all ages played various roles, in some cases including themselves: Ryūko appeared as a guest several years after leaving the regular cast.

Hibari Misora was a Japanese singer, actress and cultural icon. She received a Medal of Honor for her contributions to music and for improving the welfare of the public, and was the first woman to receive the People's Honour Award, which was conferred posth ...

, the famous singer, also appeared in the series. Former and future regular characters occasionally made guest appearances. Among the guest stars were the following: *

Yoshio Inaba was a Japanese actor best known for his role as Gorobei in Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai''. In addition to his career in film, Inaba was also a prolific theater actor and a member of the prestigious Haiyuza Theatre Company. He died of a hear ...

Hiroyuki Sanada Hiroyuki Sanada (; ; born 12 October 1960) is a Japanese actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a British Academy Television Award, a Japan Academy Film Prize, two Hochi Film Award ...

* Tetsuro Tamba *

Rika Miura , known professionally as , is a Japanese actress. She played the love interest of Spider-Man, Hitomi Sakuma in ''Spider-Man'' (1978-1979), and the lead role in ''Battle Fever J'' (1979-1980), and '' Toki o Kakeru Shōjo'' (1985). Biography Miu ...

Nobuo Yana is a Japanese film actor. He is most famous for playing villains. Before he started his acting career, he was a professional baseball player of Toei Flyer's. In 1956, he joined Toei Flyer's but in 1958, he retired because of an injury. He j ...

* Masashi Ishibashi *

Nana Okada is a Japanese singer-songwriter and actor, represented by Avex Asunaro. She is a former member of the girl groups AKB48 and STU48. She was a fixture on AKB48's major single lineups from 2016 to 2022 and is considered one of the best singers t ...

* Toshiaki Nishizawa * Hirohisa Nakata * Yukari Yamamoto * Midori Nishizaki * Wakiko Kano * Aiko Tachibana

Stories

The show was frequently topical, and touched on many themes of present-day life, the most common subject being political corruption. Many shows covered include topics of current interest such as drugs, unequal power relationships, poverty, urbanization, the generation gap,

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

, prostitution, inflation, and the tension between Japanese and foreign knowledge.

Climax

At the end of about eight hundred episodes, Yoshimune confronts the corrupt official or officials in their safehaven. The official calls his men, but Yoshimune stands firm to reveal and criticize his crimes without hesitation. At first, the official behaves rudely and insultingly as he believes Yoshimune is just a man of low social status, but then after looking closely at Yoshimune's face has a flashback leading him to recognize Yoshimune as Shogun and kneel down in obeisance. However, on hearing Yoshimune's demand that he commit

harakiri , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near t ...

, he declares Yoshimune to be an impostor and orders his men to kill him. Always outnumbered, Yoshimune ends up easily defeating his attackers with the help of his male and female oniwaban. Using the unsharpened back side of his sword so as to injure without killing the corrupt official, he orders his oniwaban to execute him with the words, ''sei bai'' (''Punish him!''). In the premiere episode "The Star of Edo", Yoshimune confronts the main villain as himself inside Castle Edo and the villain recognizes him as the ''hatamoto''; after attempting to flee, being disarmed by Yoshimune and surrounded by Yoshimune's ninja and the palace guards, he is allowed to kill himself.

Lines of rebellion

In confronting Yoshimune, the official declares his rebellion with a variety of reasons, including the doubt of the appearance of the Shogun at that place and time or losing his respect to Yoshimune, etc., and it's one of the enjoyable points in the climax. Example:
*Lord Tokugawa cannot be here *He is an insolent person calling himself Lord Tokugawa *It's fine if the person were Lord Tokugawa *Everything ends, kill, kill him *Lord Tokugawa, I will fight with you *We lob your life, Lord Tokugawa *You are just Shinnosuke Tokuda dying now *I decorate the last minute as an evil (to defeat you) *You are like a moth flying into the flame *Your Highness exists because of us, subordinates' dedication (not because of your ability) *The eighth shogunate will end *Now is the time *Shame on you *Bring his head to our lord Muneharu *I have forgotten the face of Lord Tokugawa *There is no reason to obey the order of Lord Tokugawa *It is you who cut your own body, not I *We have planned to make you die *You must give up your life *I am a person who should have died at once (so, I'm not afraid if you try to execute me) *If you know the situation completely, in for a penny, in for a pound *How stupid saying who you are, it's the best timing that you show up here (to be killed)

Cast

Ken Matsudaira is a Japanese actor and musician from Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan. His real name is . Career In 1974, he joined Shintaro Katsu's production company and made his debut with the television series Zatoichi as a guest. For a quarter of a century, h ...

(first),

(second) as

Ōoka Tadasuke was a Japanese samurai in the service of the Tokugawa shogunate. During the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, as a magistrate () of Edo, his roles included chief of police, judge and jury, and Yamada Magistrate () prior to his tenure as South Ma ...

*Megumi **

as Tatsugorō, the first captain **

Masumi Harukawa , born , is a Japanese actress. Filmography * 1961: '' Girls of the Night'' * 1963: '' The Insect Woman'' * 1964: '' Unholy Desire'' * 1964: '' Kunoichi Keshō'' * 1965: '' House of Terrors'' * 1966: '' The Threat'' * 1967: '' Zatoichi's Cane Sw ...

(first), Yōko Asaji (second), Ryōko Sakaguchi (third) as Osai, wife of Tatsugorō Misako Kinmura, as Omachi, sister of Tatsugorō **

as Chōjirō, the second captain **

Akiko Ikuina is a Japanese singer, actress, tarento, and politician. She joined the Japanese pop idol group Onyanko Club in 1986. Early life and education She was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, but moved to Koganei when she was a little girl. She has an elder sis ...

as Obun, wife of Chōjirō **

Yūki Matsumura Yuki, Yūki or Yuuki may refer to: Places * Yuki, Hiroshima (Jinseki), a town in Jinseki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yuki, Hiroshima (Saeki), a town in Saeki District, Hiroshima, Japan * Yūki, Ibaraki, a city on Honshu island in Japan * Yuki ...

as Eigorō, third captain **

Yōko Ishino Yōko Ishino (いしのようこ, Ishino Youko, born February 20, 1968) is a List of Japanese actresses, Japanese actress and tarento. She debuted in 1985 as a pop singer, and first appeared on television in 1986 and also appeared as a comedian ...

as Okyō, sister of Eigorō *Advisors to Yoshimune **

as Kanō Gorozaemon **

as Tanokura Magobei ** Tadao Takashima as Shishido Kanbei **

Akira Nagoya was a Japanese actor. Nagoya was an actor who specialized in playing comical roles. He is known for playing the role of Yūtarō Asahina in the tokusatsu superhero series ''Ultraman Taro''. Filmography Films * ''Non-chan Kumo ni Noru'' (1955) ...

as Arima Hikozaemon **

Shigeru Kōyama was a Japanese actor. Career Born in Kure, Hiroshima, Kōyama joined the Bungakuza theatre troupe in 1952, first as a directorial assistant and then as an actor. He made his film debut in 1953 in Tadashi Imai's '' An Inlet of Muddy Water''. H ...

as Yokokawa Kanjūrō *Oniwaban (ninja) **

as Yabuta Sukehachi ** Shun'ya Wazaki as Ōtsuki Hanzō **

as Osono **

Shigeru Araki Shigeru (written: , , , in hiragana or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, a Japanese architect *, a Japanese voice actor *, Japanese karateka *, Japanese sport wrestler *, Japanese socialist ...

as Koba Saizō ** Asaka Mayumi as Sagiri ** Kiyotaka Mitsugi as Sagenta ** Takayuki Godai as Saizō ** Reiko Sugano as Hayate **

Reiko Takashima is a Japanese actress. Career Takashima starred in Shinji Aoyama's 1999 film '' EM Embalming''. She has also appeared in films such as '' K-20: Legend of the Mask'', ''Railways'' and ''Space Battleship Yamato''. Filmography Film * ''Like a Rol ...

as Kozue **

Mayuko Irie is a Japanese actress and model. She has also written her name 入江まゆこ. Irie is represented by Blare International and Splash Model Agency. Her roles have ranged from historical-period parts to modern people, and encompassed ''tokusatsu'' ...

as Akane **

Tarō Iketani Taro (''Colocasia esculenta'') is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms. Taro may also refer to: Plants * ''Alocasia macrorrhizos'', giant taro * ''Cyrtosperma merkusii'', swamp taro *''Xanthosoma sagittifolium'', blue taro Place ...

as Kirihara Sasuke **

as Hayami Saheiji **

Akiko Andō Akiko can refer to: * Akiko (comic book), ''Akiko'' (comic book), an American comic book * Akiko (film), ''Akiko'' (film), a 1961 Italian comedy film * Amiga custom chips#Akiko, Akiko (Amiga), a custom chip used in the Amiga CD32 games console * Ak ...

as Koyuki ** Takahito Ōmori as Jūmonji Hayato ** Hitoe Ōtake as Ayame **

Chika Kochihira Chika may refer to: People * Chika (Igbo given name) * Chika (Japanese given name) * Chika (general name) * Chika (footballer) (born 1979), Brazilian defender * Chika (rapper), Jane Chika Oranika, American rapper Other uses * Chika (software), a J ...

as Satsuki ** Kaori Yamaguchi as Nagisa ** Miki Murai as Kaede *

(first),

Tokuma Nishioka is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...

(second) as Tokugawa Muneharu *

as Yamada Asaemon *

as Oyuri, mother of Yoshimune * Tsukasa Ito as Oyō, intern at the Koishikawa Yōjōsho * Azusa Nakamura as Tsuruhime/Chizuru, love interest of Yoshimune *

Megumi Matsushita is a Japanese actress. Biography Megumi Matsushita was born in Tokyo, Japan, on January 16, 1981. Her mother is Rumi Sakakibara, a renowned actress in Japan, and her businessman father, Motoh Matsushita. She has no siblings. Her booking agent ...

as Chinatsu, niece of Ōoka Tadasuke

Music

Shunsuke Kikuchi was a Japanese composer who was active from the early 1960s until 2017. He specialized in incidental music for media such as television and film. Kikuchi was regarded as one of Japan's most highly demanded film and TV composers, working princi ...

wrote the opening theme, which is popular as a

ring tone (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

. He also composed the

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

sang the closing theme songs to various series. Late series omitted the closing theme, having instead introductory music by Kikuchi leading into an opening theme song sung by Kitajima. Due to the show's popularity in the Hawaiian islands where a large portion of the population is Japanese, the opening theme has become one of the official sports themes played at University of Hawaii sporting events.

Broadcasts

The original broadcasts were on the TV Asahi network in Japan. The ''Jidaigeki Senmon Channel'' has rebroadcast the series on cable and satellite. Also, full English-subtitled programs have been broadcast in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

via

KIKU Kiku may refer to: People with the given name * Ju Jingyi (born 1994), Chinese singer, actress and member of SNH48, nicknamed "Kiku" * Kiku Amino (1912-1978), Japanese author and translator * Kiku Nishizaki (1900-1979), one of the two pioneer Ja ...

and have become very popular even among younger generations probably due to the large Japanese-American population and heavy Asian influence on modern Hawaiian culture.

References

External links

*
Abarenbo Shogun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unfettered Shogun Jidaigeki television series Shunsuke Kikuchi 1978 Japanese television series debuts 2008 Japanese television series endings TV Asahi original programming Fiction set in the 18th century Cultural depictions of Tokugawa Yoshimune