Kusa Moeru

Kusa Moeru (草燃える) is a 1979 Japanese television series. It is the 17th NHK taiga drama.[1][2]

Kusa Moeru
GenreTaiga drama
Written byTakehiro Nakajima
Directed byMakoto Ohara
StarringKōji Ishizaka
Shima Iwashita
Ken Matsudaira
Shōhei Hino
Sakae Takita
Tetsuya Takeda
Hiroshi Fujioka
Ryunosuke Kaneda
Mitsuko Kusabue
Shinjirō Ehara
Kyōko Maya
Keiko Matsuzaka
Onoe Tatsunosuke I
Onoe Shoroku II
Theme music composerJoji Yuasa
Opening themeNHK Symphony Orchestra
Country of originJapan
Original languageJapanese
No. of episodes51
Production
Running time45 minutes
Original release
NetworkNHK
ReleaseJanuary 7 (1979-01-07) –
December 23, 1979 (1979-12-23)
Related
The 13 Lords of the Shogun

It is also the first Taiga drama to standardize the use of modern language in dialogue starting with this one onward. On the other hand, characters did not use first names to address others as it was considered disrespectful historically, instead used people's common names and court ranks as was custom for the time.

Story

Kusa Moeru deals with the rise and fall of the Kamakura shogunate at the start of the Kamakura period. Based on Michiko Nagai's novels "Hojo Masako", "Enkan" etc.[3][4]

The story chronicles the lives of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Hōjō Masako.[5][1] As the drama producers found it difficult to create a solo female protagonist, they made the drama with dual protagonists in mind. Minamoto no Yoritomo's story ends halfway with his death, then Masako takes over the leading role for the last half. However, even with this structure, the first half emphasizes on Masako's perspective of events, making her essentially the main character of the entire story.

Cast

Minamoto no Yoritomo's family

Minamoto no Yoritomo's vassals

Hōjō clan

Taira clan

Others

TV schedule

EpisodeOriginal airdateTitleDirected byRating
1January 7, 1979 (1979-01-07)"Hirugakojima no Runin" (蛭が小島の流人)Makoto Ōhara27.9%
2January 14, 1979 (1979-01-14)"Koibumi" (恋文)Hiroyuki Eguchi30.5%
3January 21, 1979 (1979-01-21)"Futari Yoshitsune" (二人義経)Shizuhiro Izuta34.7%
4January 28, 1979 (1979-01-28)"Masako Ryakudatsu" (政子略奪)Makoto Ōhara29.6%
5February 4, 1979 (1979-02-04)"Muko-dono, Shūto-dono" (婿殿、舅殿)Hiroyuki Eguchi28.7%
6February 11, 1979 (1979-02-11)"Misshi wa Hashiru" (密使は走る)Shizuhiro Izuta29.1%
7February 18, 1979 (1979-02-18)"Yoritomo Tatsu" (頼朝起つ)Makoto Ōhara27.5%
8February 25, 1979 (1979-02-25)"Ishibashiyama no Kassen" (石橋山の合戦)Makoto Ōhara27.3%
9March 4, 1979 (1979-03-04)"Yoritomo Saiki" (頼朝再起)Hiroyuki Eguchi32.4%
10March 11, 1979 (1979-03-11)"Kamakura e" (鎌倉へ)Shizuhiro Izuta30.3%
11March 18, 1979 (1979-03-18)"Ani no Namida・Otōto no Namida" (兄の涙・弟の涙)Makoto Ōhara31.4%
12March 25, 1979 (1979-03-25)"Kiga Mōja" (飢餓亡者)Hiroyuki Eguchi29.2%
13April 1, 1979 (1979-04-01)"Wakagimi Tanjō" (若君誕生)Shizuhiro Izuta27.6%
14April 8, 1979 (1979-04-08)"Masako Kyōran" (政子狂乱)Makoto Ōhara22.7%
15April 15, 1979 (1979-04-15)"Ai no Katami" (愛のかたみ)Hiroyuki Eguchi24.0%
16April 22, 1979 (1979-04-22)"Hitojichi" (人質)Shizuhiro Izuta27.1%
17April 29, 1979 (1979-04-29)"Yoshitsune Shutsujin" (義経出陣)Makoto Ōhara25.8%
18May 6, 1979 (1979-05-06)"Kiretsu" (亀裂)Tōru Shōji29.9%
19May 13, 1979 (1979-05-13)"Kyō no Shirabyōshi" (京の白拍子)Hiroyuki Eguchi30.0%
20May 20, 1979 (1979-05-20)"Dan-no-ura" (壇ノ浦)Makoto Ōhara27.5%
21May 27, 1979 (1979-05-27)"Yoshitsune Gaisen" (義経凱旋)Shizuhiro Izuta24.4%
22June 3, 1979 (1979-06-03)"Kamakura no Shikaku" (鎌倉の刺客)Hiroyuki Eguchi27.3%
23June 10, 1979 (1979-06-10)"Miyako no Tōzoku-tachi" (都の盗賊たち)Makoto Ōhara23.3%
24June 17, 1979 (1979-06-17)"Shizuka no Mai" (静の舞)Makoto Ōhara19.3%
25June 24, 1979 (1979-06-24)"Yoritomo Jōraku" (頼朝上洛)Shizuhiro Izuta22.8%
26July 1, 1979 (1979-07-01)"Hōō Hōgyo" (法皇崩御)Hiroyuki Eguchi22.6%
27July 8, 1979 (1979-07-08)"Yoshitoki no Tsuma" (義時の妻)Hiroshi Watanabe25.6%
28July 15, 1979 (1979-07-15)"Fuji no Makigari" (富士の巻狩)Makoto Ōhara24.5%
29July 22, 1979 (1979-07-22)"Soga Kyōdai" (曽我兄弟)Hiroyuki Eguchi22.4%
30July 29, 1979 (1979-07-29)"Ōhime Sakuran" (大姫錯乱)Shizuhiro Izuta19.2%
31August 5, 1979 (1979-08-05)"Kuroi Tsumujikaze" (黒いつむじ風)Makoto Ōhara20.5%
32August 12, 1979 (1979-08-12)"Yoritomo no Shi" (頼朝の死)Hiroyuki Eguchi23.5%
33August 19, 1979 (1979-08-19)"Hime-gimi Dokusatsu" (姫君毒殺)Shizuhiro Izuta26.3%
34August 26, 1979 (1979-08-26)"Yoriie Rangyō" (頼家乱行)Tōru Shōji24.4%
35September 2, 1979 (1979-09-02)"Kajiwara Kagetoki no Metsubō" (梶原景時の滅亡)Makoto Ōhara25.0%
36September 9, 1979 (1979-09-09)"Aku-zenji Zenjō" (悪禅師全成)Hiroshi Watanabe23.7%
37September 16, 1979 (1979-09-16)"Hōjō no Inbō" (北条の陰謀)Hiroyuki Eguchi26.9%
38September 23, 1979 (1979-09-23)"Hiki Metsubō" (比企滅亡)Makoto Ōhara25.6%
39September 30, 1979 (1979-09-30)"Yoriie Tsuihō" (頼家追放)Shizuhiro Izuta26.7%
40October 7, 1979 (1979-10-07)"Shuzen-ji" (修禅寺)Hiroyuki Eguchi24.1%
41October 14, 1979 (1979-10-14)"Kashoku" (華燭)Takashi Matsuhashi25.5%
42October 21, 1979 (1979-10-21)"Hatakeyama Tōbatsu" (畠山討伐)Makoto Ōhara31.7%
43October 28, 1979 (1979-10-28)"Chichi to Ko" (父と子)Shizuhiro Izuta25.2%
44November 4, 1979 (1979-11-04)"Go-Toba-in Shōka" (後鳥羽院頌歌)Hiroyuki Eguchi27.0%
45November 11, 1979 (1979-11-11)"Sayogiku" (小夜菊)Munehiro Anzai24.2%
46November 18, 1979 (1979-11-18)"Wada Gassen" (和田合戦)Makoto Ōhara24.3%
47November 25, 1979 (1979-11-25)"Maboroshi no Fune" (幻の船)Hiroyuki Eguchi26.4%
48December 2, 1979 (1979-12-02)"Funadama" (船霊)Shizuhiro Izuta24.9%
49December 9, 1979 (1979-12-09)"Sanetomo Ansatsu" (実朝暗殺)Makoto Ōhara27.7%
50December 16, 1979 (1979-12-16)"Miura Yoshimura no Sakubō" (三浦義村の策謀)Hiroyuki Eguchi22.5%
51December 23, 1979 (1979-12-23)"Jōkyū no Ran" (承久の乱)Makoto Ōhara28.6%
Average rating 26.3% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research (Kantō region).[6]

Avg. Rating: 26.3% | Peak: 34.7%.[6] All episodes still exist, however, 18 out of 51 episodes have distorted images and sound, as well as missing fragments.

References

External links