The 2026 NHK Taiga drama "Toyotomi Brothers!" (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others) will soon be a month into its run. The fifth episode, "The Truth that Came from a Lie," will air on February 1st, and will feature the Sengoku daimyo Saito Dosan, also known as the "Mino Viper." Dosan's daughter, Nōhime (Kicho), who married Oda Nobunaga and became his legal wife, is a woman named Nōhime (Kicho). While the "absence" of characters from "Toyotomi Brothers!" has been much talked about up until now, what about past Taiga dramas? We'd like to take a look back at the stellar cast and memorable portrayals.
◇ “Kicho P” gained popularity in “Kirin ga Kuru” six years ago
Nōhime also did not appear in the "pre-Sengoku Taiga" drama "What Will Ieyasu Do?" (2023), which is a prequel to "Toyotomi Brothers!" Therefore, her most recent memory is from six years ago in "Kirin ga Kuru" (2020), where Kagetsuyo was played by Haruna Kawaguchi.
The catchphrase for Kicho in the series is "Nobunaga's wife, daughter of Dosan (Mamushi)." She inherited a lot of her father, Dosan's, blood, and was the type of character who would motivate her husband, Nobunaga, and act on her own. She was nicknamed "Kicho P" by Taiga fans for her skill as a producer and strategist, as she demonstrated throughout the series, such as leading the "Shotokuji Meeting" between Nobunaga and Dosan to success.
As the story nears its end and Nobunaga's tyrannical behavior becomes more apparent, he begins to distance himself from him, and when Mitsuhide, who would later kill Nobunaga in the Honnoji Incident, asks him, "What would you do, Lord Dosan?", he responds, "I'll poison him, Lord Nobunaga," encouraging him.
Perhaps due to such popularity of Kagetsuyo, Kawaguchi was in charge of narrating the compilation. The compilation itself looked back on the events from Mitsuhide and Nobunaga's first meeting to the Honnoji Incident from Kagetsuyo's perspective. The lament over her "absence" in "Toyotomi Brothers!" may have something to do with the strong impression that Kawaguchi Haruna left as "Kagetsuyo."
◇ "I won't stop you, just die if you want" - Wielding a naginata during the Honnoji Incident
Before Kawaguchi, who had played Nohime (Kicho)? There have been over 20 "Sengoku" taiga dramas since the start of the 1963 taiga drama series. The first of these to be considered a "Sengoku taiga" was "Taikōki," which aired in 1965. In the work from about 60 years ago, Kazuko Inano played Nohime (her character's name was Koi).
The next time Nohime appeared in a taiga drama was in 1969's "Ten to Chi to," with Kaori Uemura playing the role, and in 1973's "Kuni tori Monogatari," she was played by Keiko Matsuzaka, who was 20-21 years old at the time.
"Kuni-tori Monogatari" is based on the novel of the same name by Ryotaro Shiba. In the "Honnoji Incident" scene, there is a memorable exchange between Nohime, who has come to tell Nobunaga of her decision to stay behind, and Nobunaga, who tells her, "I won't stop you, go ahead and die." Afterwards, Nohime, surrounded by flames, fights against Akechi's forces, wielding her naginata, but is struck in the back by an enemy soldier's spear and loses her life.
This pattern of Nohime meeting her end at Honnoji Temple has appeared frequently in subsequent historical dramas, including "Koumyo ga Tsuji" (2006), based on the same novel by Ryotaro Shiba as "Kuni-tori Monogatari," as well as "Tokugawa Ieyasu" (1983) and "Gunshi Kanbei" (2014). There are no clear historical documents remaining about the year of her death, so this has become one of the images of Nohime.
◇ 10 Princesses Who Appeared in Past Taiga Dramas: Princesses Who Still Have Mysteries
Returning to the topic of cast members, Fuji Mariko in "Tokugawa Ieyasu," Aso Yumi in 1988's "Takeda Shingen," and Kikuchi Momoko in 1992's "Nobunaga: King of Zipangu" have all made their mark in the history of taiga dramas as "Nōhime (Kicho) actresses." Since the 2000s, Nōhime has been played by Ishidō Natsuo (2002's "Toshiie and Matsu"), Wakui Emi ("Koumyō ga Tsuji"), and Uchida Yuki ("Gunshi Kanbei"). Including Kawaguchi, there have been exactly 10 actresses who have played the role.
Nōhime (Kicho), who has been featured together with Nobunaga in many creative works, not just in taiga dramas, is a "flower of the Warring States period" on a par with Oichi, Chacha, and Hosokawa Gracia. There's no doubt she's a princess shrouded in mystery, with some saying she died early and others saying she lived after Nobunaga's death, but that's precisely why she continues to attract such interest from taiga and history fans, including her relationship with Nobunaga as a couple.
