The second episode of the 2026 NHK Taiga drama "Toyotomi Brothers!" (NHK General TV, Sunday 8:00 PM, etc.), starring actor Nakano Taiga, aired on January 11th, and average viewership ratings (according to Video Research, Kanto region, same below) were 12.2% for households and 7.2% for individuals. The episode also marked the first appearance of Ichi, played by Aoi Miyazaki.
"Toyotomi Brothers!" is the 65th taiga drama. It is a success story of hope and dreams, depicting the miracle of the Toyotomi brothers, Hidenaga (Koichiro) and his older brother Hideyoshi (Tokichiro), who achieve the great feat of unifying the country with their strong bond.
The script is written by Hiroyuki Yatsu, known for "Naoki Hanzawa" (TBS) and the Asadora"Ochoyan." The music is by Hideaki Kimura, and the narrator is Sakura Ando, an actor.
In the second episode, Koichiro (Nakano) returns to his hometown of Nakamura and learns that Nao (Shiraishi Sei) has arranged to marry him. The day of Nao's wedding finally arrives. Nao suddenly appears before Koichiro dressed as a bride. Nao says that she ran away because she didn't like her partner. At that moment, the village is attacked by bandits. Koichiro cooperates with the villagers to drive away the bandits, but then a group of bandits attacks the village, killing and plundering indiscriminately, and one of Koichiro's (Nakano) fellow farmers, Nobuyoshi (Wakabayashi Tokihide), becomes a victim.
Nobuyoshi's head is cut off while he tries to protect the seedlings he planted in the rice field. Koichiro embraces the "corpse" and is overcome with grief, crying out "What is this?", at which point Tōkichirō (played by Ikematsu Sosuke) appears... and so the story unfolds.
