* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kirin ga Kuru (NHK Taiga Drama, 2020–2021)
大河ドラマ 麒麟がくる
The 59th NHK Taiga Drama, broadcast from January 19, 2020 to February 7, 2021 (script by Shunsaku Ikehata; lead role of Akechi Mitsuhide played by Hiroki Hasegawa). An ambitious drama that places "Why did Mitsuhide strike down Nobunaga?" at its narrative core. Historical supervision by Tetsuo Owada. The drama is set against the backdrop of pivotal Japanese sword history, including blades associated with Mitsuhide and famous swords lost in the fire of the Honnō-ji Incident.
Description
Overview
“Kirin ga Kuru” was the 59th NHK taiga drama, broadcast from January 19, 2020 to February 7, 2021. It was written by Ikehata Shunsaku and starred Hasegawa Hiroki as Akechi Mitsuhide. The series is an ambitious work that centers on the Honnō-ji Incident (1582), one of the greatest mysteries in Japanese history, and carefully depicts Akechi Mitsuhide's life from his early years. A diverse cast supported the lead, including Motoki Masahiro (Saitō Dōsan), Sometani Shōta (Oda Nobunaga), Mukai Osamu (Ashikaga Yoshiteru), and Kazama Shunsuke (Tokugawa Ieyasu). Because filming was suspended due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the broadcast was extended until February 2021.
Akechi Mitsuhide and the Sword — A Warrior's Blade Combining Letters and Arms
Akechi Mitsuhide (1528?–1582) occupies a distinctive place among Sengoku warlords as a “scholar-warrior with mastery of both letters and arms.” He combined the side of a renga poet and cultural figure with that of a skilled military commander, and his way of relating to swords is presumed to have carried a spiritual dimension beyond that of mere “tools of war.”
Swords Associated with Mitsuhide — Historical Records
The following are known as swords associated with Akechi Mitsuhide. - Akechi Chikakage (gō): an unsigned sword, said to have been Mitsuhide's beloved sword. It drew attention in 2019 as “Mitsuhide's sword.”
The Honnō-ji Incident and Sword History — “Famed Nobunaga Swords Lost in the Fire”
The Honnō-ji Incident (1582) was a momentous event in Japanese sword history as well, because many of the Oda Nobunaga sword collection gathered at Honnō-ji were burned or went missing in that fire. Famed swords owned by Nobunaga, such as “Yagen Tōshirō” and “Jikkyū Mitsutada,” are said to have been either burned at Honnō-ji or rescued. At Takeisao Shrine (Kenkun Jinja) in Kyoto, a reproduction of Yagen Tōshirō by the swordsmith Fujiyasu Masahira has been dedicated, and “Kirin ga Kuru,” which depicts the Honnō-ji Incident, places this turning point in sword history at the core of its story.
Sengoku Warlords' Swords and the Sword-Related Significance of the Honnō-ji Incident
The Honnō-ji Incident was not merely a political upheaval; it is also an event in the cultural history of swords, namely “the dispersal of the sword collection assembled by Nobunaga, the ruler of the realm.” Hideyoshi and Ieyasu inherited and dispersed Nobunaga's sword collection, and many of the “swords handed down from Nobunaga” now held by museums and shrines across the country passed to various warlords through this incident. By depicting this historical moment from Mitsuhide's point of view, “Kirin ga Kuru” weaves a story that cannot be overlooked from the perspective of sword culture as well.
Toki, Mino, and the Background of Sword Culture
The leading theory on Mitsuhide's origins is that he was a descendant of the Toki clan, and his home region, Mino Province (Gifu Prefecture), is well known as a sword-producing area of Mino-den. Centered on the Seki smiths, Mino-den was the sword-producing region that supplied the greatest number of practical swords during the Sengoku period, and it produced famed smiths such as Seki no Magoroku. Mitsuhide's early life, when he was based in Mino, can be understood as the image of a warrior nurtured within this “cultural sphere of Mino swords.”
Real Swords Featured
Akechi Chikakage (gō, unsigned) — Mitsuhide's beloved sword
Akechi Chikakage, said to have been Akechi Mitsuhide's beloved sword, drew attention in 2019 as “Mitsuhide's sword.” Although unsigned, it is traditionally said to be the work of a smith named Chikakage, and it is being studied as a relic that conveys the spirit Mitsuhide put into his sword.
Yagen Tōshirō — Nobunaga's famed sword lost at Honnō-ji
A tantō by Tōshirō Yoshimitsu (Awataguchi Yoshimitsu), a masterpiece cherished by Oda Nobunaga. It is said to have been lost in the Honnō-ji Incident, or to have escaped it. It is still known today as a “Phantom Famed Sword,” and a reproduction sword has been dedicated at Takeisao Shrine (Kenkun Jinja) in Kyoto. The Honnō-ji Incident that Mitsuhide carried out was a historic moment that also decided the fate of such famed swords.
See authentic Japanese swords
See authentic Japanese swordsThis page is intended to introduce Japanese sword culture and is not affiliated with any of the works mentioned.