Naotora: The Lady Warlord Explained

Director:	Kazutaka Watanabe Mitsuhiro Fukui Hideki Fujinami Takashi Fukagawa Naoki Murahashi Daisuke Andō
Starring:	Ko Shibasaki Haruma Miura Issey Takahashi Masaki Suda Tetta Sugimoto Naomi Zaizen Shihori Kanjiya Hayato Ichihara Nanao Tsuyoshi Muro Yūma Yamoto Miou Tanaka Kai Inowaki Jun Hashimoto Onoe Matsuya II Sadao Abe Gin Maeda Ichikawa Ebizō XI Komaki Kurihara Ruriko Asaoka Ken Matsudaira Kaoru Kobayashi
Narrated:	Nakamura Baijaku II
Theme Music Composer:	Yoko Kanno
Opentheme:	by Paavo Järvi and Lang Lang
Composer:	Yoko Kanno
Country:	Japan
Language:	Japanese
Num Episodes:	50
Executive Producer:	Yukie Okamoto
Producer:	Hirotaka Matsukawa
Runtime:	45 minutes
Network:	NHK

is a 2017 Japanese historical drama television series and the 56th NHK taiga drama.^[1] It is written by Yoshiko Morishita and stars Ko Shibasaki as Ii Naotora.

Plot

During the Sengoku period, the Ii family governs the Totomi region. Due to many past wars, there are no more male successors left to become a lord. Naotora Ii (Kou Shibasaki), the only daughter of the lord, now becomes a lord. She faces a difficult period. The constant love from her fiancé, whom she became engaged to at a young age, helps her to keep moving forward.

Cast

Ii clan

• Ko Shibasaki as Ii Naotora
  • Miu Arai as Otowa (young Naotora)
• Haruma Miura as Ii Naochika
  • Kanata Fujimoto as Kamenojō (young Naochika)
• Masaki Suda as Ii Naomasa, the adopted son of Naotora
  • Kokoro Terada as Toramatsu (young Naomasa)
• Tetta Sugimoto as Ii Naomori
• Naomi Zaizen as Chika
• Shihori Kanjiya as Shino
• Gin Maeda as Ii Naohira
• Mari Hanafusa as Sana
• Takashi Ukaji as Ii Naomitsu
• Aki Asakura as Takase, Naomasa's half-sister
  • Hikaru Takahashi as young Takase
• Shunsuke Kariya as Niino Chikanori
• Yasuko Mitsuura as Ayame
• Aoi Yoshikura as Kikyō
• Marin as Sakura
• Tsuyoshi Muro as Seto Hōkyū, a financial advisor
• Yuki Yamada as Ihara "Suke'emon" Tomomasa
• Masayo Umezawa as Take and Ume

Ono family

• Issey Takahashi as Ono Masatsugu, a.k.a. "Tajima no kami"
  • Kai Kobayashi as Tsurumaru (young Masatsugu)
• Mitsuru Fukikoshi as Ono Masanao, the father of Masatsugu
• Yoshio Inoue as Ono Genba
• Sayaka Yamaguchi as Natsu
• Kai Inowaki as Ono Manpuku
  • Taketo Arai as Ono Inosuke (young Manpuku)

Nakano family

• Toshio Kakei as Nakano Naoyoshi
• Yūma Yamoto as Nakano "Yukinoji" Naoyuki
• Keisuke Tomita as Nakano Naohisa

Okuyama family

• Denden as Okuyama Tomotoshi, Shino's father
• Miou Tanaka as Okuyama "Rokuza" Rokuzaemon

Monks of Ryōtan-ji

• Kaoru Kobayashi as Nankei Osho
• Hayato Ichihara as Ketsuzan
• Shigekazu Komatsu as Kōten

Peasants

• Gaku Yamamoto as Jinbei
• Takashi Yamanaka as Hachisuke
• Kō Maehara as Kakutarō
• Takehiro Kimoto (TKO) as Tomisuke
• Takayuki Kinoshita (TKO) as Fukuzō

Imagawa clan

• Shunpūtei Shōta as Imagawa Yoshimoto, the master of the Ii clan
• Ruriko Asaoka as Jukeini, the mother of Yoshimoto
• Onoe Matsuya II as Imagawa Ujizane, Yoshimoto's heir
  • Tsubasa Nakagawa as young Ujizane
• Shirō Sano as Taigen Sessai
• Kenichi Yajima as Sekiguchi Ujitsune
• Aki Nishihara as Haru (Lady Hayakawa), the wife of Ujizane and a daughter of Hōjō Ujiyasu
• Hidetoshi Hoshida as a fake Ieyasu
• Kyūsaku Shimada as Ōsawa Mototane
• Kazutoyo Yoshimi as Nakayasu Hyōbu
• Kazuyuki Aijima as Yamamura Shuri
• Asahi Yoshida as Asahina Yasukatsu

Iinoya Triumvirate

• Daikichi Sugawara as Suzuki Shigetoki
• Jun Hashimoto as Kondō Yasumochi
• Masanobu Sakata as Suganuma Tadahisa

Tokugawa clan

• Sadao Abe as Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Nanao as Sena
  • Seira Niwa as young Sena
• Kinari Hirano as Matsudaira Nobuyasu
  • Raiki Komino as Takechiyo (young Nobuyasu)
• Komaki Kurihara as Odai no Kata, the mother of Ieyasu
• Seiji Rokkaku as Honda Masanobu
• Ozuno Nakamura as Ishikawa Kazumasa
• Tetsu Watanabe as Ōkubo Tadayo
• Moro Moro'oka as Hiraiwa Chikayoshi
• Soran Tamoto as Kogorō (Sakai Ietsugu)

The Four Heavenly Kings of the Tokugawa

• Minosuke as Sakai Tadatsugu
• Masahiro Takashima as Honda Tadakatsu
• Toshinori Omi as Sakakibara Yasumasa

Matsushita

• Masato Wada as Matsushita Jōkei, a spy
• Kanji Furutachi as Matsushita Gentarō

Oda clan

• Ichikawa Ebizō XI as Oda Nobunaga
• Ken Mitsuishi as Akechi Mitsuhide
• Sora Uehara as Tokuhime
• Ryōta Sakanishi as Sakuma Nobumori
• Shōzō Uesugi as Mizuno Tadashige
• Seiji Kinoshita as Hasegawa Hidekazu
• Rei Tanaka as Jinen, Mitsuhide's son

Takeda clan

• Ken Matsudaira as Takeda Shingen
• Eita Okuno as Takeda Katsuyori
• Oreno Graffiti as Takeda Yoshinobu
• Mari Kishi as Suzu, the wife of Yoshinobu and a sister of Imagawa Ujizane
• Ryūji Yamamoto as Yamagata Masakage
• Yōji Tanaka as Anayama Nobutada

Later Hōjō clan

• Shinobu Tsuruta as Hōjō Ujiyasu
• Tōru Shinagawa as Hōjō Gen'an
• Etsuo Yokobori as Ogasawara Yasuhiro

Ryūun-maru's Bandits

• Yūya Yagira as Ryūun-maru
  • Kōta Noura as young Ryūun-maru
• Makita Sports as Mogura
• Togi Makabe as Rikiya
• Kengo Yoshida as Kaji
• Kōki Maeda as Gokū
• Takashi Ashida as Kuwa

Merchants of Kiga

• Hirotarō Honda as Nakamura Yodayū
• Takashi Matsuo as Iseya
• Ichirō Ogura as Kumanoya

Others

• Takurō Tatsumi as Chaya Shirōjirō Kiyonobu
• Misaki Momose as Akane
• Dankan as Negi
• Yu Inaba
• G.G. Sato
• Moemi Katayama
• Hajime Okayama as Gohei
• Mansaku Fuwa
• Yusuke Kodama
• Shōdai Fukuyama
• Yoshiyuki Morishita
• Shigemitsu Ogi
• Wataru Murakami

Production

Production Credits

• Music – Yoko Kanno
• Title designer – Maaya Wakasugi^[2]
• Historical research – Tetsuo Owada
• Architectural research – Kiyoshi Hirai
• Clothing research – Hiroaki Koizumi

Casting

Ko Shibasaki was announced to portray the lead role of the warlord Ii Naotora on August 25, 2015.^{[3] [4]} The rest of the main cast was announced on May 26, 2016, which included Tetta Sugimoto, Naomi Zaizen, Gin Maeda, Kaoru Kobayashi, Haruma Miura, Issey Takahashi, and Yūya Yagira among others.^[5] The third cast announcement on July 12, 2016 included Shunpūtei Shōta, Once Matsuya II, Ruriko Asaoka, Sadao Abe, Nanao, Masaki Suda, and Hayato Ichihara among others.^[6]

Filming

The usual taiga drama production would first 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 and shot.^[7] Filming began in September 2016.^[8]

Music

Yoko Kanno was announced as the series composer on November 16, 2016.^[9] By December 6, Paavo Järvi and Lang Lang were announced as the performers for the series' theme music.^[10]

Marketing

On November 16, 2016, the first visual poster for Naotora: The Lady Warlord was released.^[11] A trailer for the drama was later released in December 2016.^[12]

Kotobukiya released Naotora-themed chopsticks in January 2017 to coincide with the series' broadcast.^[13]

TV schedule

Episode	Title	Directed by	Original airdate	Rating
1		Kazutaka Watanabe		16.9%
2				15.5%
3				14.3%
4		Mitsuhiro Fukui		16.0%
5		Kazutaka Watanabe		16.0%
6				14.5%
7		Mitsuhiro Fukui		12.9%
8				13.4%
9		Hideki Fujinami		14.0%
10				12.5%
11		Kazutaka Watanabe		13.7%
12				12.9%
13				13.1%
14		Mitsuhiro Fukui		12.9%
15				14.4%
16		Hideki Fujinami		13.7%
17				11.0%
18				14.3%
19		Kazutaka Watanabe		13.6%
20		Hideki Fujinami		14.5%
21		Kazutaka Watanabe		13.2%
22				12.1%
23		Takashi Fukagawa		12.3%
24				12.4%
25		Hideki Fujinami		12.3%
26		Kazutaka Watanabe		12.4%
27				12.4%
28		Naoki Murahashi		12.0%
29		Mitsuhiro Fukui		11.9%
30		Hideki Fujinami		11.3%
31				10.6%
32		Naoki Murahashi		12.0%
33		Kazutaka Watanabe		12.4%
34				11.2%
35				11.3%
36		Mitsuhiro Fukui		12.1%
37		Hideki Fujinami		13.3%
38				11.7%
39		Kazutaka Watanabe		11.7%
40				11.6%
41		Daisuke Andō		11.8%
42		Mitsuhiro Fukui		11.9%
43		Hideki Fujinami		12.9%
44				11.4%
45		Takashi Fukagawa		10.7%
46		Kazutaka Watanabe		12.0%
47				11.3%
48		Mitsuhiro Fukui		11.9%
49		Hideki Fujinami		12.0%
50		Kazutaka Watanabe		12.5%
Average rating 12.8% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research(Kantō region).^[14]

Omnibus

Episode	Title	Original airdate	Original airtime
1		December 30, 2017	13:05 - 14:00
2			14:00 - 15:00
3			15:05 - 16:30
4			16:30 - 17:43

Soundtracks

• NHK taiga drama Naotora: The Lady Warlord, (January 11, 2017)^{[15] [16]}
• NHK taiga drama Naotora: The Lady Warlord, (April 5, 2017)^{[17] [18]}
• NHK taiga drama Naotora: The Lady Warlord, (August 23, 2017)^{[19] [20]}
• NHK taiga drama Naotora: The Lady Warlord, (December 20, 2017)^[21]

See also

• Sengoku period

Notes and References

1. Web site: 柴咲コウさん主演！平成29年 大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」. NHK. 16 July 2016.
2. News: 平成29年 大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」題字決定！. 6 August 2019. NHK ドラマ. NHK. 26 August 2016. Japanese.
3. News: 柴咲コウさん主演！平成29年 大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」. 6 August 2019. NHK ドラマ. NHK. 25 August 2015. Japanese.
4. News: ustar. Shibasaki Kou to star in 2017 Taiga drama. 4 September 2019. Tokyo Hive. 6Theory Media, LLC.. 26 August 2015.
5. News: 平成29年 大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」出演者決定！. 6 August 2019. NHK ドラマ. NHK. 26 May 2016. Japanese.
6. News: 平成29年 大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」新たな出演者発表！. 6 August 2019. NHK ドラマ. NHK. 12 July 2016. Japanese.
7. Book: Shinozuka. Jun. Japan Quality Review Vol. 0-1. January 2011. 7 August 2019. Feature 1: JQR Interview – Yoshiko Nishimura.
8. News: 柴咲コウ、井伊直虎のお墓参りに「ご加護をいただけた思い」. 4 September 2019. Oricon. Oricon ME inc.. 26 August 2016. Japanese.
9. News: 菅野よう子、柴咲コウ主演NHK大河ドラマ『おんな城主 直虎』の音楽を担当. 4 September 2019. Amass. Amass.jp. 16 November 2016. Japanese.
10. News: 2017年NHK大河ドラマ≪おんな城主 直虎≫のテーマ曲を担当する、世界的音楽家ラン・ランとパーヴォ・ヤルヴィが来日合同インタビューで語る、作曲家・菅野よう子の世界。. 4 September 2019. ソニーミュージック オフィシャルサイト. Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.. 6 December 2016. Japanese.
11. News: おんな城主 直虎：ポスタービジュアル公開 柴咲コウがおかっぱ頭の"城主姿"披露. 4 September 2019. Mantan Web. Mantan Inc.. 16 November 2016. Japanese.
12. Web site: J Trailers. [trailer] Onna Joushu Naotora [Drama 2017]]. YouTube. YouTube, LLC. 4 September 2019. 19 December 2016.
13. News: @Press. Dine with Chopsticks Inspired by Ii Naotora's Samurai Sword!. 4 September 2019. Tokyo Otaku Mode. Tokyo Otaku Mode Inc.. 30 November 2016.
14. Web site: おんな城主 直虎:最終回視聴率は12.5％ 期間平均12.8％で史上3番目の低さ. December 10, 2023. Mantan-web.
15. Web site: NHK大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」 音楽虎の巻 イチトラ. Sony Music Shop. Sony Music Solutions Inc.. 19 August 2019. Japanese.
16. Web site: "Onna Joshu Naotora (TV Series)" Ongaku Tora no Maki Ichitora [Blu-spec CD2]]. CDJapan. Neowing. 19 August 2019.
17. Web site: NHK大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」 音楽虎の巻 ニィトラ （通常盤）. Sony Music Shop. Sony Music Solutions Inc.. 19 August 2019. Japanese.
18. Web site: Nhk Taiga Drama Onna Joushu Naotora Ongaku Toranomaki Niitora. HMV&BOOKS Online. Lawson Entertainment, Inc.. 19 August 2019.
19. Web site: NHK大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」 緊急特盤 鶴のうた. Sony Music Shop. Sony Music Solutions Inc.. 19 August 2019. Japanese.
20. Web site: Nhk Taiga Drama[onna Joushu Naotora] Kinkyuu Tokuban Tsuru No Uta]. HMV&BOOKS Online. Lawson Entertainment, Inc.. 19 August 2019.
21. News: NHK大河ドラマ「おんな城主 直虎」音楽虎の巻 ベストラ 配信限定で12月20日リリース！. 19 August 2019. Sony Music. Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.. 17 December 2017. Japanese.