Reach Beyond the Blue Sky explained
| Director: | Hiroshi Kurosaki and others |
| Starring: | |
| Narrated: | Nami Morimoto |
| Theme Music Composer: | Naoki Satō |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Num Episodes: | 41 |
| Producer: | Maiko Itagaki |
| Runtime: | 45 minutes |
| Network: | NHK |
is a Japanese historical drama television series starring Ryo Yoshizawa as Shibusawa Eiichi, a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". The series is the 60th NHK taiga drama, premiered on February 14, 2021.[1]
Cast
People of Chiaraijima village
Shibusawa family
- Ryo Yoshizawa as Shibusawa Eiichi (also known as Eijirō, Eiichirō, Tokudayū, Tokutarō)
- Masahito Kobayashi as young Eiichi
- Kaoru Kobayashi as Shibusawa Ichirōemon, Eiichi's father
- Emi Wakui as Shibusawa Ei, Eiichi's mother
- Eri Murakawa as Shibusawa Naka, Eiichi's older sister
- Ryōko Fujino as Shibusawa Tei, Eiichi's younger sister
- Honoka Yoshida as young Tei
- Kengo Kora as Shibusawa Kisaku (later known as Shibusawa Seiichirō), Eiichi's cousin
- Shūto Ishikawa as young Kisaku
- Riko Narumi as Shibusawa Yoshi, Kisaku's wife
- Sei Hiraizumi as Shibusawa Sōsuke, Eiichi's uncle
- Mayumi Asaka as Shibusawa Masa, Eiichi's aunt
- Rina Ono as Shibusawa Uta, Eiichi's daughter
- Chisato Yamasaki as young Uta
- Sawa Nimura as Ōuchi Kuni
- Yūki Izumisawa as Shibusawa Tokuji
- Shō Kasamatsu as Shibusawa Keizo
- Kentarō Tamura as Hozumi Nobushige
- Kenta Uchino as Sakatani Yoshirō
- Akana Ikeda as Shibusawa Kotoko
- Yuko Oshima as Itō Kaneko, Eiichi's second wife
- Yūki Yagi as Shibusawa Fumiko
Odaka family
- Seiichi Tanabe as Odaka Junchū, Chiyo's older brother
- Shinnosuke Mitsushima as Odaka Chōshichirō
- Kōsei Sutō as young Chōshichirō
- Ai Hashimoto as Odaka Chiyo, Eiichi's first wife
- Aiko Iwasaki as young Chiyo
- Kenshi Okada as Odaka Heikurō (later known as Shibusawa Heikurō), Eiichi's cousin
- Haru Takagi as young Heikurō
- Satomi Tezuka as Odaka Yahe, Odaka family's mother
- Mai Tezuka as Odaka Kise, Junchū's wife
- Mei Hata as Odaka Yū, Junchū's daughter
Hitotsubashi House
Tokugawa family
Others
The imperial court
Foreigners
The new government
Others
- Kin'ya Kitaōji as Tokugawa Ieyasu,[3] the first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the host of the series.
- Tōru Watanabe as Umeda Shinnosuke, Armor dealer in Edo
- Hiroshi Tamaki as Takashima Shūhan, Western-style gunner
- Yoshi Sakō as Tone Yoshiharu, Okabe Domain magistrate
- Shunya Itabashi as Sanada Hannosuke, swordsman
- Ginnojō Yamazaki as Ōhashi Totsuan, Edo Confucian scholar
- Tetsu Watanabe as Kakubei
- Tomori Abe as Suma
- Shōdai Fukuyama as Kōno Kenzō
- Masataka Matsubara as Inokichi
- Hajime Yamazaki as Rōro Sakatani
- Daikichi Sugawara as Date Munenari, 8th Head of the Uwajima Domain
- Ryūshi Mizukami as Yamauchi Yōdō, 15th Head of the Tosa Domain
- Takuo Inari as Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, 14th Head of the Owari Domain
- Nakamura Mantarō as Fukuzawa Yukichi
- Issey Ogata as Minomura Rizaemon
- Junpei Yasui as Masuda Takashi
- Hisahiro Ogura as Ono Zen'emon
- Katsumi Kiba as Ōkubo Ichiō
- Yōji Tanaka as Hagiwara Shirobei
- Tadashi Ōtake as Hiraoka Junzō
- Ryūji Kasahara as Kijima Matabei
- Kumi Kureshiro as Masuda Eiko
- Takashi Okabe as Ōkura Kihachirō
- Rio Kanno as Ōkura Tokuko
- Kōki Osamura as Sasaki Yūnosuke
- Kanda Hakuzan VI as Kanda Hakuzan II
- Jiro Okamoto as Kijūrō
- Kōzō Haginoya as Kodama Gentarō
- Kazu Murakami as Dr. Takaki
- Hiro Ueno as Yasoda Meitarō
- Yūichi Yasoda as Kitasato Shibasaburō
TV schedule
| Episode | Title | Directed by | Original airdate | Rating |
|---|
| 1 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 20.0% |
| 2 | | | 16.9% |
| 3 | | | 16.7% |
| 4 | | Naoki Murahashi | | 15.5% |
| 5 | | | 16.2% |
| 6 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 15.5% |
| 7 | | Naoki Murahashi | | 14.2% |
| 8 | | Kensuke Matsuki | | 15.3% |
| 9 | | Naoki Murahashi | | 14.5% |
| 10 | | Kensuke Matsuki | | 13.9% |
| 11 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 14.1% |
| 12 | | | 13.4% |
| 13 | | Kenji Tanaka | | 13.9% |
| 14 | | | 15.5% |
| 15 | | Hideaki Kawano | | 15.3% |
| 16 | | Naoki Murahashi | | 14.6% |
| 17 | | Kenji Tanaka | | 14.2% |
| 18 | | Hideaki Kawano | | 14.2% |
| 19 | | Yūto Osaki | | 13.6% |
| 20 | | Naoki Murahashi | | 14.6% |
| 21 | | Hideaki Kawano | | 16.5% |
| 22 | | Kenji Tanaka | | 14.7% |
| 23 | | | 14.1% |
| Three weeks off due to the Olympic Games broadcast. |
|---|
| 24 | | Kenji Tanaka | | 14.3% |
| 25 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 12.0% |
| Two weeks off due to the Paralympic Games broadcast. |
|---|
| 26 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 12.7% |
| 27 | | Naoki Murahashi | | 12.6% |
| 28 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 13.8% |
| 29 | | Akihiro Tajima | | 13.1% |
| 30 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 13.0% |
| 31 | | Wataru Suzuki | | 14.0% |
| 32 | | Naoki Murahashi | | 12.9% |
| 33 | | Kenji Tanaka | | 11.9% |
| 34 | | Hideaki Kawano | | 14.4% |
| 35 | | Kenji Tanaka | | 12.9% |
| 36 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 12.2% |
| 37 | | Wataru Suzuki | | 12.0% |
| 38 | | Tetsuya Watanabe | | 12.6% |
| 39 | | Naoki Murahashi | | 11.9% |
| 40 | | Hiroshi Kurosaki | | 12.1% |
| 41 | | | 11.2% |
| Average rating 14.1% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research (Kantō region).[4] | |
|---|
Omnibus
| Episode | Original airdate | Original airtime[5] |
|---|
| 1 | January 3, 2022 | 8:15 - 9:10 |
| 2 | 9:10 - 10:00 |
| 3 | 10:05 - 10:59 |
| 4 | 10:59 - 11:49 | |
Notes and References
- Web site: 吉沢亮『青天を衝け』ワンショット写真公開 出演者20人発表. December 26, 2020. Oricon.
- News: Ex-SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi to play Japan's last shogun in NHK's upcoming drama series. December 26, 2020. The Mainichi Newspapers. 10 July 2020.
- Web site: 【青天を衝け】北大路欣也、徳川家康役で出演「まったく経験したことのない挑戦」. January 27, 2021. Oricon.
- Web site: 吉沢亮「青天を衝け」平均視聴率は14.1％ 最終回は11.2％. December 27, 2021. Model Press.
- Web site: 青天を衝け:明日、3時間半の総集編 幕末から振り返り！ お正月も「栄一とともにぐるぐる」. December 10, 2023. Mantan-web.
