Takeda Shingen

Last night, I mentioned how much I’d like to see the Takeda Shingen miniseries again, but I didn’t say what it was. So! NHK, one of the main Japanese networks, produced a series of historical dramas, and this one was about one of the last great warlords before the Tokugawa shogunate, named, of course, Takeda Shingen. It was a year-long soap opera, one hour every Saturday night when shown in the Bay Area, and although Takeda was known primarily for his military skills, the miniseries focused on the political rivalries between Takeda and the other warlords, and between members of his own household.

Here’s what I remember about it. The two political rivals who appeared most often were his wife’s brother, who wore a formal conical hat, and a fanatical follower of a war-god cult who was played by a very handsome actor. Then, in the household, we had his unhappy aristocratic wife and her conniving handmaid, then later his beloved mistress Eri, and each of them of course had sons who had issues with each other. The other thing I especially remember is when his underlings reported to him, they would indicate their agreement with progressively more gutteral versions of “Hhhhhho!,” that is, a very masculine yet submissive version of “hai” for “yes.”

(The Kurosawa movie Kagemusha is about the death of Takeda Shingen, but I think it’s mostly fictional.)