| Genre: | Taiga drama |
| Starring: | Haruka Ayase Hidetoshi Nishijima Joe Odagiri Hiroki Hasegawa Jun Fubuki Yutaka Matsushige Kyōko Hasegawa Tetsuji Tamayama Gō Ayano Shun Oguri Meisa Kuroki Kotaro Koizumi Shido Nakamura Takumi Saito Yoshiko Miyazaki Katsuhisa Namase Kumiko Akiyoshi Masaya Kato Masahiro Takashima Kōji Kikkawa Ichikawa Somegorō VII Izumi Inamori Takashi Sorimachi Eiji Okuda Hiroaki Murakami Hiroki Matsukata Toshiyuki Nishida |
| Narrated: | Mitsuko Kusabue |
| Theme Music Composer: | Ryuichi Sakamoto |
| Composer: | Nobuyuki Nakajima |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Num Episodes: | 50 |
| Producer: | Shinsuke Naitō (chief) |
| Runtime: | 45–75 minutes |
| Channel: | NHK |
is a 2013 Japanese historical drama television series and the 52nd NHK taiga drama. Written by Mutsumi Yamamoto, the drama focuses on Niijima Yae, who is portrayed by Haruka Ayase.[1] Yae is a strong believer in women's rights and the story follows her journey in Japan, during the time it is opened up to Western ideas.
Yae, who came from the Aizu Domain (now within Fukushima Prefecture), was chosen for the taiga drama as her story of loss and hope was felt to be timely in the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The drama was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series, losing to Utopia.
On June 22, 2011, NHK announced that its 52nd taiga drama is titled Yae's Sakura and will be about the life of Niijima Yae, the "Jeanne d'Arc of Bakumatsu", with Mutsumi Yamamoto as writer and Katu Takō as director.[2] The historical figure of Niijima was chosen for her story of loss and hope, along with her coming from the Aizu domain (now within the Fukushima Prefecture), to help inspire Japan after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which seriously affected Fukushima more than the other prefectures.[3]
Ryuichi Sakamoto was announced as the series' theme music composer on April 10, 2012.[4] This is Sakamoto's first time composing music for a taiga drama.[3]
| Episode | Original airdate | Title | Directed by | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taku Katō | 21.4% | |||
| 2 | 18.8% | ||||
| 3 | 18.1% | ||||
| 4 | 18.2% | ||||
| 5 | Masae Ichiki | 18.1% | |||
| 6 | 15.3% | ||||
| 7 | Sō Suenaga | 17.5% | |||
| 8 | Taku Katō | 15.6% | |||
| 9 | Masae Ichiki | 15.1% | |||
| 10 | Takuya Shimizu | 12.6% | |||
| 11 | Taku Katō | 14.3% | |||
| 12 | Masae Ichiki | 13.9% | |||
| 13 | Sō Suenaga | 14.3% | |||
| 14 | Taku Katō | 11.7% | |||
| 15 | Takuya Shimizu | 14.2% | |||
| 16 | 13.8% | ||||
| 17 | Masae Ichiki | 13.7% | |||
| 18 | 15.7% | ||||
| 19 | Sō Suenaga | 15.0% | |||
| 20 | Taku Katō | 13.7% | |||
| 21 | Masae Ichiki | 14.1% | |||
| 22 | Sō Suenaga | 13.3% | |||
| 23 | Taku Katō | 15.0% | |||
| 24 | Masae Ichiki | 14.8% | |||
| 25 | Yoshiharu Sasaki | 12.9% | |||
| 26 | Taku Katō | 14.0% | |||
| 27 | 12.9% | ||||
| 28 | 16.6% | ||||
| 29 | Sō Suenaga | 14.5% | |||
| 30 | 12.6% | ||||
| 31 | Yoshiharu Sasaki | 15.4% | |||
| 32 | Masae Ichiki | 13.9% | |||
| 33 | 15.9% | ||||
| 34 | Taku Katō | 13.4% | |||
| 35 | Sō Suenaga | 14.2% | |||
| 36 | Yoshiharu Sasaki | 15.4% | |||
| 37 | Ryōhei Nakano | 15.0% | |||
| 38 | Taku Katō | 11.9% | |||
| 39 | Masae Ichiki | 13.3% | |||
| 40 | Sō Suenaga | 12.4% | |||
| 41 | Ryōhei Nakano | 12.4% | |||
| 42 | Taku Katō | 14.8% | |||
| 43 | Masae Ichiki | 11.5% | |||
| 44 | Sō Suenaga | 10.0% | |||
| 45 | 12.8% | ||||
| 46 | Takuya Shimizu | 13.7% | |||
| 47 | Tomoki Hase | 13.7% | |||
| 48 | Taku Katō | 13.7% | |||
| 49 | Masae Ichiki | 12.2% | |||
| 50 | Taku Katō | 16.6% | |||
| Average rating 14.6% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research (Kantō region). | |||||
In 2014, the series was nominated for the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series.
The first 15 episodes of Yae's Sakura were released on Blu-ray on October 23, 2013.[5] [6] The next 16 episodes received a Blu-ray release on January 22, 2014, which includes two behind-the-scenes featurettes and the textless series intro among others.[7] The last 19 episodes of the series were released on Blu-ray on March 19, 2014, with the release featuring cast interviews and a behind-the-scenes featurette among others.[8] All of the Blu-ray releases are region free.[6] [7] [8]