The 20th episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）", starring actor Taiga Nakano (NHK General, Sundays at 8 PM, etc.), titled "The Real Hiragumo," aired on May 24th. Towards the end of the episode, viewers are speculating on where the "treasure map" that Koichiro (Nakano) and Hideyoshi (Sosuke Ikematsu) obtained leads.
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.
Towards the end, what was discovered at the bottom of the fake Hiragumo tea caddy that Koichiro and Hideyoshi had brought back was a "picture related to the treasures left behind by the Southern Court." It was the reason Hisahide had said before his death that he was so attached to Yamato: "There are treasures sleeping in that land. A vast amount of gold and silver treasures hidden when the Southern Court was in Yoshino. And that's not all. There are countless treasures that have been brought from Tang China and Korea, as well as weapons and other dazzlingly beautiful treasures. I have also obtained a picture that describes all of this. That is why I do not want to hand over Yamato to anyone."
Furthermore, Hisahide had said, "Even if it's just nonsense, it's good to have such dreams." Recalling Hisahide's words, Koichiro said to Hideyoshi, "Brother, one day we'll find out for ourselves."
On social media, comments speculating about the "treasure map" include: "I'll make a note of this because it's definitely a plot point for the second half of the drama," "Isn't Hidenaga in charge of Yamato Koriyama Castle? Is the treasure map a plot point?", "Oh, I see, the treasure map and the Yamato Dainagon are connected," "I'm looking forward to the treasure map incident, as it seems like it will lead to some obvious plot point, like the Yamato Dainagon or the Yoshino cherry blossom viewing," "A treasure map of all things lol, so the Yamato Dainagon & Yoshino cherry blossom viewing plot point has arrived," "Ah, so this is how they connected Koichiro taking over Yamato as his territory. The treasure of Yamato left behind by the Southern Court must be timber from the Kii Mountains, which seems like it could lead to the Kumano timber embezzlement incident," "It seems that when Hidenaga died, there were mountains of gold and silver piled up in Yamato Koriyama Castle, so I wonder if the treasure in that map is that," and "I guess the punchline is that when Koichiro became the lord of Yamato, he found the hidden treasure and used it to power the Toyotomi family."
