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‘What Will You Do, Ieyasu?’: NHK’s Annual Taiga Drama Is The Biggest Japanese Primetime TV Series You’ve Never Heard Of


Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s …

They have changed a fair bit in recent years, as viewing habits have radically altered and modern revisionism has touched historical stories, but the format remains virtually untouched. In a further bid to speak to younger audiences, the series was led by Jun Matsumoto, a member of popular Japanese boy band Arashi, who was joined by the likes of Hiroshi Abe, Junichi Okada and Keiko Kitagawa. Iso and his team also wanted to present female characters in a way that did more than simply see them play second fiddle to the male leads, acting as a precursor to the 2024 taiga drama, which will tell the story of Murasaki Shikibu, the woman who wrote what is generally considered the world’s first novel, The Tales of Genji.

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