The fourth episode of the 2026 NHK Taiga drama "Toyotomi Brothers!" (General TV, Sundays at 8pm and other times), starring actor Nakano Taiga, entitled "Okehazama!", aired on January 25th, depicting the Oda army's victory over the Imagawa army in the Battle of Okehazama.
"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 fourth episode, Nobunaga (Shun Oguri Shun) finally decides to go to war, and Koichiro (Nakano) and Tokichiro (Ikematsu Sosuke) head for Zenshoji Fortress, a front-line base against the Imagawa army.
The brothers' first major war begins, but their true goal is to kill Kido Kozaemon (Kaji Masaki), who once took their father's life. Nobunaga delivers a speech to the soldiers gathered at Zenshoji Fort and heads to Okehazama, the site of the decisive battle. What will the brothers decide to do with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill Kido?
Although he was put in charge of Marunetori Fort, Nobunaga used the head of Sakuma Morishige (Kanai Hiroto), who was trying to defect to the Imagawa side, as bait to locate Imagawa Yoshimoto (Otsuru Yoshitane). Upon learning that Yoshimoto's defenses had become weak, he decided to launch a surprise attack, aiming for Yoshimoto's head.
At that moment, Nobunaga saw a low-flying buzzard. As Koichiro (Nakano) had previously taught him, heavy rain soon began to fall, and Nobunaga and the Oda army, having "had the heavens on their side," achieved a brilliant victory.
After the battle, Nobunaga repeatedly exclaims, "We won! I won!" in relief. When his sister Ichi (Aoi Miyazaki) arrives, Nobunaga reveals his true feelings: "Even if you devise a strategy, it doesn't necessarily work out." He also reveals the "blessing" that the rain that has started to fall has drowned out the sound of their footsteps and rendered the enemy's guns useless.
On the other hand, why did he take measures to prevent his allies' guns from getting wet? Did Nobunaga know in advance that it was going to rain? If so, Ichi says, "That's impressive," to which Nobunaga confesses, "It wasn't me who heard the voice of heaven. It was another man." He then recalls how Koichiro had previously used the excuse for carrying his straw sandals in his pocket: "The buzzards are flying lower than usual. It will start raining in no time."
At the end of the episode, Nobunaga tosses the straw sandals to Koichiro and Tōkichirō as a battle prize. This new interpretation of the famous "zori episode" from the previous episode, episode 3, is linked to the episode of the surprise attack during a heavy rainfall at the Battle of Okehazama, and viewers on social media expressed their admiration, saying things like, "The story of the rain from the previous episode is a setup," "Lord Nobunaga learned whether it would rain from the buzzard in the previous episode," "The story of the rain at Okehazama is a way of making use of the buzzard story he heard from Koichiro," "Ah, so the buzzard incident with the zori in the previous episode is connected to the rain at Okehazama this time. I see," and "The reason he asked, 'Did you know it was going to rain?' because the buzzard was flying low was a thrilling development."
