Okada Masaki Monogatari

Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo with his Higekiri sword I'm a bit sad that Taira no Kiyomori comes to an end. But I cannot always spare my Sunday evening or Monday early morning doing recaps, so perhaps it's a good th ing as well. Plus, I need some one to resume the English translation for me to really understand the fine lines in TNK. Anyway, b elow is the summary of ep 50 on NHK World Premium : Kiyomori is struck down by a febrile illness. Kiyomori appears before Saigyō, formerly named Norikiyo, as a wraith, and learns the meaning of his life through dialogue with Saigyō. In Kyoto, people rush to Kiyomori's bedside and bring up their concerns over their future. Kiyomori finally passes away. After the passing of Kiyomori, the fate of the Taira family takes a turn for the worse. Tokiko throws herself into the sea with Emperor Antoku in her arms, and the entire Taira family ends up being destroyed at Dannoura. At the bottom of the sea, Tokiko sees the members of the Tair...

Go-Shirakawa (Matsuda Shota) and Kiyomori (Matsuyama Kenichi), ep 49 I turned on my NHK World Premium at 7pm, hoping to see the iconic opening credit of Taira no Kiyomori.  However, I was welcomed with a news anchor talking about the Japanese election. Arrghhh! I didn’t realise that TNK was moved half an hour earlier due to the election! Thank God for the FC site and the rerun (on Monday at 2 am, yes in the morning), otherwise I won’t be able to post this article.  Below is the summary of Taira no Kiyomori ep 49 from NHK World Premium : Early in the following year in 1181, ill feelings towards the Taira family spread across the country. Meanwhile, the former Emperor Takakura, who has been an anchor to Kiyomori, passes away at the age of 21. While Kiyomori is losing his power, the cloistered Emperor Go-Shirakawa again appears before Kiyomori and provokes him. In Kamakura, Yoritomo is establishing a new samurai-oriented political system together with his followers....

Taira no Kiyomori ep 48 is more about the Heike than the Genji (so I wasn’t trying too hard to understand). But that’s okay. We have two more episodes to go, so I will stomach watching the Rokuhara lord (besides, he had the sweet and kind Tokiko with him). More importantly, this episode is where Minamoto no Yoritomo started to understand the true nature of his enemy (and came to respect him because of that). Click here to watch ep 48 online ; the NHK summary is below : After the loss in the Battle of Fujikawa, Kiyomori reluctantly gives in to Munemori’s tearful appeal for restoring the capital to Kyoto. Learning Kiyomori’s decision, Yoritomo no longer understands Kiyomori’s thoughts toward a samurai-oriented country, and asks Benkei about Kiyomori’s younger days. As he hears of Kiyomori’s boldness and fearlessness, Yoritomo comes to realize that Kiyomori and Yoshitomo had the same ambition for the future as Yoritomo is now trying to achieve. Around the same time, the Taira f...

Yoshitsune (Kamiki Ryūnosuke) and Benkei (Aoki sūkō) offering their service to Yoritomo, ep 47 This week’s Taira no Kiyomori (September 1180 CE) opens with the Rokuhara Lord Kiyomori dispatching orders and strategies to fight against Yoritomo’s forces. Click here to see it online. Below is the summary from NHK World Premium : In 1180, Kiyomori commands his followers to defeat Yoritomo under the name of the former Emperor Takakura. Although Yoritomo loses the battle against the Taira forces at Mt. Ishibashi, he vows to realise Yoshitomo’s long-cherised wish to build a true samurai-oriented country with the backing of powerful anti-Taira samurais. On October 20, the Taira forces led by Koremori (Shigemori’s son) and the Minamoto forces led by Takeda Nobuyoshi stand face to face near Fuji River – The Battle of Fujikawa. The Taira forces, however, flee in fear from the battlefield, mistaking the sound of water birds for a surprise night attack by the Minamoto forces. Meanw...