How did the grandchildren of the Tokugawa family view the unique historical drama “What to do, Ieyasu”?

Ease of Understanding and Entertainment

He also noted that the two main points of interest are “ease of understanding” and “entertainment.

What I think NHK has thought about very carefully is that there is a large generation gap among Japanese people, and there are a certain number of people who know nothing about Japanese history.

I myself went to New York in the U.S. from the first to fourth grade of elementary school. I myself am a returnee from Japan, having lived in New York City from the first to fourth grade of elementary school, so when I was in elementary and junior high school, I had a very hard time with Japanese history classes that had a lot of kanji characters. However, up to my generation, there were still many people who were born before World War II, and through reading novels and talking to people around me, knowledge of Japanese history existed as if it was common knowledge.

However, there are probably people in their 20s and 30s who know nothing about Japanese history, and many of them may have only learned about it through video games. Since the game was created in line with the reality of Japan, I thought that “What to do with Ieyasu” would be popular even if it were distributed in Latin America, Africa, or the Middle East, for example, where people know nothing about Japanese history.

The scene where Sena and Ieyasu are playing “make-believe”…

On the other hand, there are many descriptions and settings that seem to cause discomfort and confusion. One such example is the relationship between Nobunaga and Ieyasu.

When it was first announced, there were reports of ‘friendship between Nobunaga and Ieyasu. When I heard that, I thought, ‘There is no such thing.

I think Lord Ieyasu hated Nobunaga. I was worried that they were going to make it into a ‘friendship’ story. Then again, there is absolutely no way that Lord Ieyasu would go and find out about the revolt on his own, but it is certainly interesting as a drama.”

He was also “surprised” by the scene in the first episode in which Sena, played by Kasumi Arimura, and Ieyasu are playing make-believe.

He also said he was “surprised” by the scene in the first episode in which Ieyasu and Sena, played by Kasumi Arimura, play make-believe.

The two of them don’t look like children, so their portrayal was a little creepy.

What are your concerns and expectations for the future development of the film?

We also asked the participants about their concerns and expectations for the future development of the series.

What I am most concerned about is how much of the process from Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s (Murotsuyoshi) invasion of Korea to his unification of Japan will be depicted.

I have a theory that it would be strange to have a sympathetic view of Toyotomi after Ieyasu destroyed the Toyotomi family, since this man (Hideyoshi) clearly took over the Oda family. I would like to see Hideyoshi portrayed as a monster (as he really was).

In particular, I hope that the absurdity of the Joseon invasion and his unpopularity among the feudal lords will be portrayed properly. At the end of Hideyoshi’s line of unifying the country, there was the Joseon expedition, and after it ended in a fiasco, a man named Tokugawa Ieyasu emerged. Toyotomi Hideyoshi is so important in depicting Ieyasu that no matter how carefully I talk about him, it is not enough.”

Tokugawa Iehiro ’23 has been the 19th head of the Tokugawa Soke family since January 2011, and held a commemorative ceremony, the “Succession Ceremony,” at Zojoji Temple on January 29, 2011. After graduating from Keio University, he earned a master’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan. He worked for the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at its headquarters in Rome and its branch in Vietnam (Hanoi), and then completed his graduate studies at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Political Science, where he received a Master of Arts in Political Science (International Relations). He is currently active as a political commentator, translator, and author, including subtitle translation for the film “The Green Zone. He is President of the Tokugawa Memorial Foundation and Visiting Professor at Nagasaki University’s Center for International Collaborative Research and Strategy. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Kunouzan Toshogu Museum and the Nikkozan Rinnoji Treasure Hall, which have permanent exhibits of items related to the Tokugawa family.

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