The 17th episode of the historical drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), starring actor Taiga Nakano, aired on May 3rd. In the previous episode, the 16th, "Resolve at Mount Hiei," Mitsuhide (Shun Oguri) was unable to disobey Nobunaga's (Shun Oguri) orders and took the lives of many innocent people. In the 17th episode, he finds himself in another difficult position, destroying the Nijo Palace with his own hands after Shogun Yoshiaki (Ukon Onoe) has left. We asked Yoshio Watanabe, the chief director of "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）", for his impressions of Mitsuhide, who has been attracting viewers' attention with his sorrowful appearance in the last few episodes, and of Jun Kaname, who plays the role.
◇Why Jun Kaname was cast as Mitsuhide?
Akechi Mitsuhide is known as the man who betrayed his lord, Oda Nobunaga, and caused the Honnoji Incident, one of the greatest mysteries in Japanese history. In "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）", he appears as a close confidant of Ashikaga Yoshiaki. The story depicts how he sought Nobunaga's cooperation in order to fulfill Yoshiaki's long-cherished wish of restoring the Muromachi Shogunate, and how he subsequently worked as Nobunaga's retainer and rose to the position of a senior official.
Watanabe has experience working with Kaname, who plays Mitsuhide, on the same network's serial television dramas "Manpuku" and "Ranman." "Of course, I know Kaname well as a person, but when he appears on screen, there's a feeling that it's a little hard to tell what he's thinking," he says, adding, "I thought that would be a good fit for the role of Mitsuhide, so we cast him in the role."
Watanabe believes that Mitsuhide already had some kind of unease within him, given that he served different people one after another before coming to serve Yoshiaki. He praises Kaname, saying, "He doesn't show that unease on the surface, so at first glance it doesn't seem like he has it, but he's very good at portraying the part that makes the viewer think that he might be showing a different side if you just turn around a little."
◇In the 17th episode, he breaks ties with Yoshiaki, half-cursing his own fate.
In the 17th episode, Yoshiaki tries to persuade Takeda Shingen (Masahiro Takashima) to raise an army, but Shingen's sudden death causes the Takeda army to retreat abruptly, leaving Yoshiaki without his backer and forcing him to flee Kyoto. The role Nobunaga assigns Mitsuhide at this point is to demolish the Nijō Palace where Yoshiaki had been living. Mitsuhide, who had once played Go with Yoshiaki there, throws the Go board into the garden, which is said to symbolize Mitsuhide's "break with Yoshiaki."
Just when it seemed Mitsuhide could finally let go of his feelings for Yoshiaki, his eyes fell upon the Fujito Stone. When Nobunaga sent the five-point demands to the shogunate, Yoshiaki, unable to contain his anger, struck the Fujito Stone with his sword. The Fujito Stone is, in a sense, a symbol of Yoshiaki's desire to become stronger and his subsequent plea for help from Mitsuhide.
"The helplessness of Mitsuhide as he raises his sword towards the Fujito Stone. I think he's half-cursing himself for having completely sided with the Oda, and I remember discussing something like that with Mr. Kaname during filming."
◇Was Mitsuhide a capable but "pitiful" person? What triggered the Honnoji Incident?
Watanabe, who has the impression that Mitsuhide was "a very unfortunate person," speculates, "Regardless of whether he had power or not, I think that everyone he served just didn't get along with him." He adds, "He was a really good person. He was a good person and probably a capable person, but he just couldn't seem to achieve results, and I hope that the viewers will understand that frustration."
What lies ahead is the Honnō-ji Incident. With various theories circulating, including the existence of a "mastermind," viewers are naturally curious about "what triggered it."
"As you all know, there's a story that during a reception for Ieyasu, the fish was spoiled, and Nobunaga got extremely angry, and the violence he inflicted at that time was terrible, and that this was the 'trigger.' In this film, we don't show why Mitsuhide causes the Honnoji Incident. We haven't filmed it yet, but when you watch it, you'll see some kind of beginning, and I have high hopes that Kaname will be able to skillfully portray the poignant feeling that ignites the fire."
