Asian Drama

The 42nd NHK Taiga Drama is MUSASHI. Many Japanese history buffs are familiar with The Book of Five Rings written by Miyamoto Musashi in the 17th century. Musashi's treatise on strategy and the way to lead instantly became the business executive's bible when the translated version hit the bookstores more than three hundred years later.

In 2003, the story of this legendary swordsman-philosopher-painter comes to life in the NHK Taiga Drama MUSASHI. Based on the famous biography written by Yoshikawa Eiji, this taiga drama boasts a list of stars that reads like a Who's Who of screen and television.

Orphaned before he was ten years old, Musashi (his real name is Takezo, so you'll hear his childhood friends call him by that name) grows up skilled in the martial arts. During the Battle of Sekigahara, he fights on the side of the losing Toyotomi forces, but eludes the enemy as they hunt down the vanquished soldiers. He then spends years wandering the countryside mastering the sword, becoming a stronger samurai. As his fame spreads throughout the nation, men seek him out to test their skills against him--most notably Sasaki Kojiro who faces Musashi in the ultimate Duel at Ganryujima.

In February 1972, five members of the Japanese Red Army lock themselves up in a mountain lodge in Karuizawa called Asama Sanso, taking the wife of its proprietor hostage. Sassa Atsuyuki (Koji Yakusho) of the National Police Agency is put in charge by his chief (Makoto Fujita), and rushes to the scene. The case is supposed to be resolved in a few days, but the police do not get permission to use guns, and in addition, there is the severe cold and continuous antagonism between the Metropolitan Police Department and the Prefectural Police, making things extremely complicated. On the tenth day, in an attempt to force a breakthrough, they eventually use a wrecking ball that is operated with a crane truck to break down the outside wall of the lodge, then start to charge in. However, the crane breaks down halfway through, hampering the continuation of this strategy and the ranks fall into confusion. After the head of the riot police sacrifices his life, Sassa takes his place at the forefront and continues the siege. Under his command, the riot police finally raids the room where the kidnappers are. The radicals are all arrested on the spot, and the hostage is safe and unharmed.