The 20th episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), starring actor Taiga Nakano, aired on May 24th and recorded an average viewership rating of 11.6% for households and 6.8% for individuals (according to Video Research, Kanto region).
In episode 20, Nobunaga (Shun Oguri) is furious with Hideyoshi (Sosuke Ikematsu) for abandoning the campaign against the Uesugi clan and returning home without permission. He orders Hideyoshi to be placed under house arrest and sentenced to death.
While the entire Hashiba family is working tirelessly to plead for clemency, news arrives that Matsunaga Hisahide (Naoto Takenaka) has betrayed them again. Having narrowly escaped death, Hideyoshi and Koichiro (Nakano) go to negotiate with Hisahide and convey Nobunaga's intention that if he hands over the unique tea utensil, Hiragumo, the rebellion will be overlooked.
However, despite the exceptionally generous terms, Hisahide inexplicably refused to accept them.
Here, Hisahide showed Hideyoshi and Koichiro "two Hiragumo" tea caddies. He said that one was real and the other was fake, and promised that if they could somehow distinguish the real one, he would do as Hideyoshi and Koichiro said. Koichiro cleverly guessed the real one and succeeded... or so it seemed, but in fact, both were fakes, and Hisahide revealed that he had not been able to obtain the real one, before ending his life in a huge explosion.
So where is the real Hiragumo? Towards the end, as Nobunaga is alone, Ichi (Aoi Miyazaki) appears and says, "It's beautiful no matter how many times you look at it. A true masterpiece." Nobunaga replies, "Indeed," and as Ichi and Nobunaga look in the direction of the Hiragumo... and that's how the story unfolds.
