Ryōmaden
Ryōmaden is the 49th NHK Taiga drama. It was shown on NHK from January 3 to November 28, 2010, spanning 48 episodes. The story centers on the life of 19th-century Japanese historical figures Iwasaki Yatarō and Sakamoto Ryōma. It has been announced that the series will be aired in several other countries, for example Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
Production
'''Production Credits- Original – Yasushi Fukuda
- Music – Naoki Satō
- Titling – Shishū
- Narrator – Teruyuki Kagawa
- Historical research – Manabu Ōishi, Tatsuya Yamamura
- Architectural research – Sei Hirai
- Clothing research – Kiyoko Koizumi
- Beauty and costume direction – Isao Tsuge
- Action director – Kunishirō Hayashi
- Production coordinator – Kei Suzuki, Kanako Iwatani
- Casting – Keishi Ōtomo
Cast
- Masaharu Fukuyama as Sakamoto Ryōma
- *Tatsuomi Hamada as young Ryōma
- Shinobu Terajima as Sakamoto Otome – older sister of Ryōma - later Okaue Otome
- *Tao Tsuchiya as young Otome
- Kiyoshi Kodama as Sakamoto Hachihei – father of Ryōma
- Tetta Sugimoto as Sakamoto Gonpei – oldest brother of Ryōma
- Wakako Shimazaki as Sakamoto Chino – Gonpei's wife
- Atsuko Maeda as Sakamoto Harui – Gonpei's daughter
- *Tamaki Matsumoto as young Harui
- Rei Ōtori as Sakamoto Chizu – oldest sister of Ryōma – later Takamatsu Chizu
- Chieko Matsubara as Sakamoto Iyo – stepmother of Ryōma
- Tamiyo Kusakari as Sakamoto Kō – mother of Ryōma
- Yōko Maki as Narasaki Ryō – Ryōma's wife
- Teruyuki Kagawa as Iwasaki Yatarō – the founder of Mitsubishi, born in Tosa
- Keizō Kanie as Iwasaki Yajirō – Yatarō's father
- Mitsuko Baisho as Iwasaki Miwa – Yatarō's mother
- Maiko as Iwasaki Kise – Yatarō's wife
- Masaomi Kondō as Yamanouchi Toyoshige - the 15th head of the Tosa Domain
- Munetaka Aoki as Gotō Shōjirō – nephew of Yoshida Tōyō
- Min Tanaka as Yoshida Tōyō
- Nao Ōmori as Takechi Hanpeita – leader of the
- Ryōko Hirosue as Hirai Kao – first crush of Ryōma
- Hiroyuki Miyasako as Hirai Shūjirō – older brother of Kao
- Takeru Satoh as Okada Izō – assassin of the Bakumatsu period
- Takaya Kamikawa as Nakaoka Shintarō – brethren of Ryōma, born in Tosa Domain
- Pierre Taki as Mizobuchi Hironojō
- Katsuhisa Namase as Yoshida Shōin – master of Katsura Kogorō
- Shōsuke Tanihara as Kido Takayoshi – disciple of Yoshida Shōin
- Yūsuke Iseya as Takasugi Shinsaku
- Toshio Kakei as Miyoshi Shinzō
- Kyōsuke Yabe as Kusaka Genzui
- Hiroyuki Onoue as Itō Hirobumi
- Katsumi Takahashi as Saigō Takamori
- Mitsuhiro Oikawa as Ōkubo Toshimichi
- Kenichi Takitō as Komatsu Kiyokado
- Shihori Kanjiya as Chiba Sana – daughter of Chiba Sadakichi
- Kōtarō Satomi as Chiba Sadakichi – management of sword school,Chiba Dōjō
- Ikkei Watanabe as Chiba Jūtarō – older brother of Chiba Sanako
- Tetsushi Tanaka as Tokugawa Yoshinobu – the 15th and last shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate
- Nakamura Hayato as Tokugawa Iemochi – the 14th shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate
- Tetsuya Takeda as Katsu Kaishū – a Japanese naval officer and statesman
- Tortoise Matsumoto as John Manjirō – one of the first Japanese people to visit the United States
- Taizō Harada as Kondō Isami – the commander of the Shinsengumi
- Satoshi Matsuda as Hijikata Toshizō – the vice-commander of Shinsengumi
- Rakuto Tochihara as Okita Sōji – the captain of the first unit of the Shinsengumi
- Kamejirō Ichikawa as Imai Nobuo
- Tatsuya Nakamura as Sasaki Tadasaburō
- SION as Watanabe Atsushi
- Yō Ōizumi as Kondō Chōjirō – son of a bun store owner in Kōchi
- Jun Kaname as Sawamura Sōnojō
- Yūta Hiraoka as Mutsu Munemitsu – a statesman and diplomat in Meiji period, born in Wakayama domain
- Kenta Kiritani as Ike Kurata
- Daijirō Kawaoka as Takamatsu Tarō – Ryōma's adopted child
- Atsushi Korechika as Chiya Toranosuke
- Yū Aoi as Moto – geisha girl of restaurant in Maruyama
- Hirotarō Honda as Kozone Kendō – business tycoon in Nagasaki
- Kimiko Yo as Ōura Kei – business tycoon
- Terry Itō as Ueno Hikoma – photographer
- Timothy Harris as Matthew C. Perry – the Commodore of the U.S. Navy
- Randy Buinz as Townsend Harris – a successful New York City merchant and minor politician
- Tim Wellard as Thomas Blake Glover – trading merchant in Nagasaki, born in Scotland
- Jeffrey Rowe as William Alt
- Patrick Harlan as Ernest Satow
- Daniel Foley as Rutherford Alcock
- Péter Frankl as Léon Roches
- Dennis Zomerhuis as Anton L. C. Portman
Season overview
| Season | Episode | DVD release dates | Discs |
| Season 1 | 1-13 | September 22, 2010 | 4 |
| Season 2 | 13-28 | November 26, 2010 | 4 |
| Season 3 | 29-38 | January 28, 2011 | 3 |
| Season 4 | 39-48 | March 25, 2011 | 3 |
| Highlight | 1-48 | April 22, 2011 | 3 |
The 1st episode and last episodes are 75 minutes long. The others are 45 minutes long, excepting commercials.
Highlight
- Navigator: Munetaka Aoki, Teruyuki Kagawa
International
Soundtrack and books
Soundtrack
- NHK Taiga Drama Ryōmaden Original Soundtrack Vol.1
- NHK Taiga Drama Ryōmaden Original Soundtrack Vol.2
- NHK Taiga Drama Ryōmaden Original Soundtrack Vol.3
Books
- NHK Taiga Drama Story Ryōmaden First Part
- NHK Taiga Drama Story Ryōmaden Latter Part
- NHK Taiga Drama Story Ryōmaden Last Part
- NHK Taiga Drama, Historical Handbook, Ryōmaden
- Ryōmaden I SEASON1 RYOMA THE DREAMER
- Ryōmaden II SEASON2 RYOMA THE ADVENTURER
- Ryōmaden III SEASON3 RYOMA THE NAVIGATOR
- Ryōmaden IV SEASON4 RYOMA THE HOPE
- Masaharu Fukuyama - Sakamoto Ryōma Photo Album
- Oryō - Yōko Maki Photo Album
- 2010 Years, the Journey with Masaharu Fukuyama and Ryōma Sakamoto
- Ryōmaden, Comic Version, First Volume
- Ryōmaden, Comic Version, Second Volume
- Ryōma Design.
Reception
Impact
Ryōmaden made a huge impact in Japan. Kōchi, Sakamoto Ryoma's birthplace reported an increase in tourism when the drama started airing. The Bank of Japan initially estimated the economic benefit to be around 23.4 billion yen. However, they have revised the estimation to 40.9 billion yen in April 2010, due to an increase in tourism because of 'Ryoma Fever.' The final estimation is around 52.5 billion yen, 2.3 times the value from the initial estimation. The Nagasaki Branch also estimated around 21 billion yen of economic benefit to Nagasaki, the place where Ryoma was in the Kaientai business. Copies of the necklace Ryoma wore are selling well, and it is the number one selling item in the NHK gift shop.Accolades
- 2010 Teamwork of the Year Award
- Hashida Sugako Awards :ja:橋田賞 - Fukuyama Masaharu in Ryomaden
- Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Award for Domestic Tourism- Fukuyama Masaharu
- TV Navi Awards for Best Principal Male Actor 2010 – Fukuyama Masaharu
- 4th Int'l Drama Festival, Tokyo Drama Award: Best Drama
- 4th Int'l Drama Festival, Tokyo Drama Award: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role – Kagawa Teruyuki
- 4th Int'l Drama Festival, Tokyo Drama Award: Special Award – Filming staff of "Ryomaden"
- 2011 Elan d'Or Awards: Best Series
- 2011 Elan d'Or Awards: Best Producer – Suzuki Kei
- 2011 Elan d'Or Awards: Newcomers of the Year – Kiritani Kenta & Sato Takeru
- 2011 Elan d'Or Awards: Special Prize – Terajima Shinobu
- 2011 Galaxy Awards: Special Award for Contribution to Art Individual Award – Fukuyama Masaharu