* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Onna Jōshu Naotora (NHK Taiga Drama, 2017)
大河ドラマ おんな城主 直虎
The 56th NHK Taiga Drama, broadcast in 2017. Lead role of Ii Naotora played by Kō Shibasaki; script by Yoshiko Morishita. The drama depicts the life of Ii Naotora, who governed Ii Valley (Iinoya) in Tōtōmi Province (present-day Hamamatsu, Shizuoka) as an unprecedented female domain lord. Her ward and adoptive successor, Ii Naomasa, went on to serve as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Tokugawa Ieyasu, carrying forward the Ii family's illustrious sword and armor culture of the famous "Ii Red Brigade."
Description
Overview
"Onna Jōshu Naotora" was the 56th NHK Taiga Drama, broadcast from January 8 to December 17, 2017. The script was by Yoshiko Morishita, with Kō Shibasaki in the lead role of Ii Naotora. Miura Haruma played Naotora's childhood friend and betrothed Ii Naochika, and Takahashi Issei played chief retainer Ono Masatsugu. The drama follows both Naotora's turbulent life as she bore the weight of the Ii clan's fate as a female domain lord in wartime, and the coming-of-age story of her heir Ii Naomasa (Sudō Masakii).
Ii Naotora and the Sword
Historically, Ii Naotora was an extraordinary female warrior who shouldered the role of domain lord even after taking Buddhist vows. While historical records of Naotora's specific swords are sparse, the drama's most significant contribution to Japanese sword culture lies in its depiction of the continuity from Naotora's guardianship to her ward Ii Naomasa's rise as one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's Four Heavenly Kings. The warrior spirit Naotora nurtured in Naomasa ultimately manifested in the Ii family's renowned sword and armor culture.
The Ii Red Brigade and Sword Culture
The "Aka-zonae" (Red Brigade) refers to a military style unifying armor, banners, and sword mountings in red. The Ii family became famous for this distinctive appearance under the Tokugawa regime. The tradition is said to have originated with the elite troops of the Takeda clan and was inherited by Ii Naomasa after he absorbed many of the Takeda's surviving retainers. Warriors of the Ii Red Brigade wore sword mountings (scabbards, hilts, and guards) lacquered red—a precious surviving example of the decorative sword-mounting culture of the Sengoku period. Hikone Castle Museum (Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture) preserves approximately 200 swords and suits of armor passed down through the Ii family, providing tangible testament to the sword culture that was transmitted from Naotora's era through Naomasa's.
The Ii Family Sword Collection at Hikone Castle Museum
The Ii family sword collection at Hikone Castle Museum represents one of the most significant daimyo sword collections in Japan. Said to have numbered around 600 swords by the end of the Edo period, many were lost to the Great Kantō Earthquake, wartime requisition, and post-war GHQ confiscation, leaving approximately 200 surviving today. The collection includes notable blades from the late Sengoku through early Edo period.
Real Swords Featured
Ii family transmitted sword "Hiroyuki" (Hikone Castle Museum)
Hikone Castle Museum houses approximately 200 swords transmitted from the Ii family, among which are renowned blades passed down from the era of Ii Naomasa and Naotaka. "Sword Hiroyuki" is a representative piece, transmitting to the present day the sword culture of samurai from the era when Naomasa led the Akabe unit.
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.