"Toyotomi Brothers!" (NHK General TV, Sunday 8:00 PM, etc.) is a 2026 NHK taiga drama starring Nakano Taiga. In the second episode, "The Bell of Wishes," aired on January 11, Aoi Miyazaki made her first appearance as Ichi. Ichi is Oda Nobunaga's younger sister and the mother of the "Azai Three Sisters," Chacha, Hatsu, and Go. She has also been described as "the most beautiful woman of the Sengoku period" and "the most beautiful woman of all time," making her a popular female character who has graced fictional works based on the Sengoku period. I'd like to look back at who played this beautiful woman in taiga dramas before Miyazaki.
◇Kishi Keiko, Matsubara Chieko, Natsume Masako In "Gunshi Kanbei" Kyoko Uchida
The long-running taiga drama began in 1963, and Keiko Kishi first played Oichi in the 1965 "Taikōki."
Since then, Matsubara Chieko has appeared in the role of Oichi in "Kuni-tori Monogatari" in 1973, Kobayashi Kaori in "Kogane no Hibi" in 1978, Natsume Masako in "Onna Taikoki" in 1981, Mano Azusa in "Tokugawa Ieyasu" in 1983, Takabayashi Yukiko in "Kasuga no Tsubone" in 1989, and Washio Isako in "Nobunaga KING OF ZIPANGU" in 1992. There are also a few names that are worthy of being called "great actresses of the past." Incidentally, Matsubara played Hatsu, the second of the three Asai sisters, in "Kasuga no Tsubone."
In the 1996 production of "Hideyoshi," Mitsuko Yorichika, who had worked as a news anchor for NHK and Fuji TV, played Oichi. Eight years later, Kyoko Uchida, also a former Fuji TV news anchor, played the role of Oichi in the 2014 production of "Gunshi Kanbei."
At the time, NHK commented on the reason for hiring Uchida, saying, "Oichi is a woman of rare beauty who combines nobility and intelligence. Uchida Kyoko not only exudes intelligence, but also has an impressive, dignified presence as an announcer, and we thought she had an aura similar to that of Oichi, so we asked her to play the role."
◇ "National beauty" Imoto Ayaka is 17 years old, and "two roles"by Keiko Kitagawa is also a hot topic
Other historical dramas from the 2000s include Misato Tanaka in "Toshiie and Matsu" in 2002, Mao Daichi in "Komyo ga Tsuji" in 2006, and Honami Suzuki in "Go: Princesses of the Warring States" in 2011. Furthermore, in 2020's "Kirin ga Kuru," Ayaka Imoto, who won the grand prize at the 15th All-Japan National Beauty Contest three years earlier in 2017, was selected to play Oichi at the age of 17.
The previous "Sengoku Taiga" drama to "Toyotomi Brothers!" was "What Will Ieyasu Do?", which aired in 2023. In this drama, Keiko Kitagawa played the "proud and courageous" Oichi, adding excitement to the drama.
After Nobunaga's death, Oichi rebelled against Hideyoshi, who seized power in the Oda clan, but ended up committing suicide along with her husband, Shibata Katsuie. Kitagawa did not leave the show after playing Oichi, but later reappeared as her eldest daughter, Chacha, who had grown into a beautiful woman. While "the spitting image of her mother," Chacha's character, completely different from Oichi's, was "poisonous and seductive," and perhaps this dual role also attracted a lot of attention.
Returning to the topic of "Toyotomi Brothers!", Miyazaki, who plays Ichi, will be appearing in a taiga drama for the first time in 18 years since her lead role in "Atsuhime" (2008). In this production, Nobunaga and Ichi are portrayed as the "Oda siblings" who are the counterparts to the Toyotomi brothers, Hideyoshi and Hidenaga, and there is no doubt that they will be highlighted in the future as "Warring States heroines who lead turbulent lives." We will continue to pay close attention to this production.
