The NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）", starring Taiga Nakano (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), aired its 20th episode on May 24th, "The Real Hiragumo," which, as the subtitle suggests, featured a surprising turn of events surrounding "the real Hiragumo." Focusing on Matsunaga Hisahide (Naoto Takenaka), who was believed to be the owner of "the real Hiragumo," the story took several twists and turns, but ultimately left a refreshing feeling, making it a truly brilliant episode showcasing the masterful writing of screenwriter Hiroyuki Yatsu.
◇Hisahide was unable to obtain the "authentic Hiragumo"
To briefly summarize the story of episode 20, it goes like this:
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 frantically pleading for his life, news arrives that Matsunaga Hisahide has betrayed them again. Having narrowly escaped death, Hideyoshi, along with Koichiro (Nakano), goes to Hisahide. The two negotiate and convey Nobunaga's intention: if Hisahide hands over the unique tea utensil, Hiragumo, the rebellion will be forgiven. However, despite the exceptionally generous offer, Hisahide insists on staying in Yamato and stubbornly refuses to comply.
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.
At this point, Koichiro picks up one of the Hiragumo tea caddies and tries to throw it and break it. Hisahide instinctively stops him, and just when it seems that the one Koichiro picked up was the "real Hiragumo," it turns out that both of them are actually fakes...
Hisahide was ultimately unable to obtain the "real Hiragumo." Soon, smoke and flames rose from the castle, and in front of Hideyoshi and Koichiro, Hisahide said, "It doesn't matter what's real and what's fake. You two will suffer as much as you can. Deceive Nobunaga well. I will thoroughly enjoy watching Nobunaga's foolishness from the afterlife as he happily admires the fake." With that, he threw an incendiary bomb into the fire and "exploded" himself, laughing.
◇Was Nobunaga the real owner? A "treasure map" discovered from a fake.
So where is the real Hiragumo? A scene that seems to answer that question is prepared towards the end. Nobunaga is alone when Ichi (Aoi Miyazaki) appears and says to him, "It's beautiful no matter how many times you look at it. A true masterpiece." Nobunaga replies, "Indeed," and in the direction of Ichi's gaze, there is (presumably) the real Hiragumo... and the story unfolds from there.
The story continues. A drawing depicting "the treasures left behind by the Southern Court" is discovered at the bottom of the fake Hiragumo tea caddy that Koichiro and Hideyoshi brought back.
This corroborates what Hisahide said during his lifetime as his reason for being so attached to Yamato: "There are treasures hidden in that land. Vast amounts of gold and silver treasures hidden when the Southern Court was in Yoshino. But that's not all. There are countless treasures, including cultural artifacts and weapons that came from Tang China and Korea, and other dazzlingly beautiful treasures. I have even obtained a map that describes them. That is why I do not want to hand over Yamato to anyone."
Koichiro recalled Hisahide's words, "Even if it's just nonsense, it's good to have such dreams," and said to Hideyoshi, "Brother, one day we'll find out for ourselves." Hideyoshi nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, that's right," and then added, "First, we'll go to Harima," at which point the episode ended.
◇How can we strike a balance between historical facts and entertainment?
Whether or not episode 20, "The Real Hiragumo," was a "masterpiece" episode is debatable, but there's no doubt that it was an episode packed with the enjoyment and excitement of a historical drama.
Watching (or rewatching) that episode reminded me of what Yatsu-san said in March 2024 when the production of "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" was announced.
Yatsu said that working on a historically-based project like "The BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" is a "big challenge." He added, "Since the outcome of the events is predetermined, there will definitely be developments where it would be more interesting from a dramatic standpoint if things had turned out this way. We will stick to historical facts where absolutely necessary, and the challenge is to find even the slightest possibility and how to strike a balance between historical facts and entertainment."
Furthermore, Yatsu said with enthusiasm, "Of course, I will do my best so that no one says, 'That's a lie,'" and added, "I want to cherish the idea of 'What if it was like this?' I hope that we can create something unexpected in order to entertain the viewers."
True to its word, it's a thrilling "I can't believe it" that results from a clash of historical facts, legends, anecdotes, and entertainment elements. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how many more times I'll encounter something like this in the future. (Fumio Kishitani/MANTANWEB)
