Ooku

Details

 * Title: 大奥
 * Title (romaji): Ooku / Oh-oku
 * Also known as: Shogun and His Mistresses / The Inner Palace
 * Format: Renzoku, across five seasons
 * Genre: Jidaigeki
 * Broadcast network: KTV / Fuji TV
 * Related TV show: Ooku ~Tanjou (TBS, 2012)

Season 1

 * Episodes: 52
 * Broadcast period: 1968-Apr-06 to 1969-Mar-29
 * Air time: Saturday 22:30-23:25

Cast

 * Mimasu Aiko (三益愛子) as Kasuga no Tsubone
 * Tachibana Masumi (橘ますみ)
 * Sakuramachi Hiroko (桜町弘子)
 * Ito Eiko → Tsukioka Yumeji (月丘夢路) as Keishoin
 * Kato Haruko as Tenjuin
 * Nakamura Takeya (中村竹弥)
 * Nakayama Jin
 * Fuji Sumiko
 * Tsugawa Masahiko
 * Kogure Michiyo (木暮実千代)
 * Otsuka Michiko (大塚道子)
 * Yagi Masako (八木昌子)

Season 2

 * Episodes: 51
 * Broadcast period: 1983-Apr-05 to 1984-Mar-27
 * Air time: Tuesday 22:00-22:54
 * Theme song: C'est Fini ~Ai no Makugire~ by Moriyama Ryoko

Cast

 * Kurihara Komaki as Oeyo
 * Otani Naoko as Ofuku
 * Watanabe Misako as Kasuga no Tsubone
 * Kano Wakiko (叶和貴子) as Oshizu
 * Tsushima Keiko as Acha no Tsubone
 * Wakayama Tomisaburo as Tokugawa Ieyasu
 * Nakamura Katsuo as Tokugawa Hidetada
 * Kato Haruko as Tenjuin
 * Tanaka Yoshiko
 * Sugita Kaoru as Tokugawa Kazuko
 * Takahashi Kaori as young Kazuko (ep1-2)
 * Sakaguchi Ryoko as Takako
 * Fuji Mariko
 * Otowa Nobuko
 * Izumi Pinko
 * Mihara Junko as Senhime
 * Kishida Kyoko as narrator
 * Han Bunjaku (ep47)
 * Sendo Nobuko as Kazunomiya (ep48-49)

Production Credits

 * Screenwriter: Yamada Takayuki (山田隆之)
 * Director: Kurata Junji (倉田準二)
 * Music: Watanabe Takeo (渡辺岳夫)

Season 3

 * Episodes: 11 + 2 Specials
 * Viewership ratings: 14.2
 * Broadcast period: 2003-Jun-03 to 2003-Aug-19, 2003-Sep-02, 2004-Mar-26
 * Air time: Tuesday 20:00, Tuesday 20:00-20:54, Friday 21:00-23:54
 * Theme song: I Say A Little Prayer by kazami

Synopsis
"Ooku" is the story of the picturesque lives of the women living in the hidden, maze-like inner structure of Edo Castle. Inside, the women wielded their beauty and knowledge: some of them to win the Shogun's love, obtain political power, or to climb the ladder of the Ooku hierarchy. Their lives were filled with romance, hatred, anger, envy, tears, and persecution. Of the three-century history of the Tokugawa Ooku, this drama focuses on the last several years. It tells the story of the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Ooku, and also the lives of the women who lived through these times. --Fuji TV

Cast

 * Kanno Miho as Lady Tokuko
 * Asano Yuko as Takiyama (Oyuu)
 * Ikewaki Chizuru as Maru
 * Adachi Yumi
 * Harada Ryuji
 * Kitamura Kazuki
 * Katsurayama Shingo
 * Okada Yoshinori
 * Nogiwa Yoko
 * Kimura Tae
 * Washio Machiko
 * Yamaguchi Kaori
 * Kubota Maki
 * Komatsu Miyuki
 * Katagiri Hanako
 * Hoshino Mari
 * Suga Kenta
 * Osugi Ren
 * Ishida Miku
 * Toyota Maho
 * Kamiki Ryunosuke
 * Mizukawa Asami (ep5,6)
 * Oka Mayumi (ep5)
 * Kurenai Ichiko

Production Credits

 * Screenwriter: Asano Taeko, Sogo Masashi (十川誠志), Tomioka Atsuhiro
 * Producer: Hobara Kenichiro, Tezuka Osamu (手塚治)
 * Director: Hayashi Toru, Sato Yuichi, Yamashita Tomohiko (山下智彦), Nagaoka Shouji (長岡鉦司)
 * Music: Ishida Katsunori

Season 4

 * Tagline: 第一章 / Dai-isho
 * Tagline (English): Episode One
 * Episodes: 11 + 1 Special
 * Viewership ratings: 17.6
 * Broadcast period: 2004-Oct-07 to 2004-Dec-16, 2005-Apr-08
 * Air time: Thursday 22:00, Friday 21:00-23:24
 * Theme song: Ai to yokubou no hibi by Southern All Stars

Synopsis
For the forth session in the Ooku series, it revolves around the era of the 3rd Shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, and the birth of the Ooku. Iemitsu was brought up by his nanny, Ofuku, while his younger brother Tadanaga was brought up by their birth mother, who's the Shogun's wife. From when he was a young boy, his mother and his nanny both were at loggerheads, as each wanted to ensure their young charge succeed their father as the next Shogun. From childhood to adulthood, the series retells interesting happenings revolving around Iemitsu's rise to power.

Cast

 * Matsushita Yuki as Ofuku
 * Yamada Natsumi as Ofuku (ep1)
 * Takashima Reiko as Shogun's wife
 * Seto Asaka as Oman
 * Nishijima Hidetoshi as Tokugawa Iemitsu
 * Hoshino Mari as Otama
 * Kimura Tae
 * Kaneko Noboru
 * Watanabe Ikkei
 * Washio Machiko
 * Yamaguchi Kaori
 * Kubota Maki
 * Komatsu Miyuki
 * Kyono Kotomi
 * Nonami Maho
 * Kaji Meiko
 * Fujita Makoto
 * Kurenai Ichiko

Production Credits

 * Screenwriter: Asano Taeko
 * Producer: Hayashi Toru, Tezuka Osamu (手塚治), Higuchi Toru, Wakamatsu Go (若松豪)
 * Director: Hayashi Toru, Yamashita Tomohiro (山下智彦), Takeuchi Hideki, Nagaoka Shouji (長岡鉦司)
 * Music: Ishida Katsunori

Episode Ratings

 * Episode 01: 16.6%
 * Episode 02: 16.3%
 * Episode 03: 19.1%
 * Episode 04: 16.6%
 * Episode 05: 19.4%
 * Episode 06: 17.6%
 * Episode 07: 15.2%
 * Episode 08: 17.8%
 * Episode 09: 18.2%
 * Episode 10: 15.8%
 * Episode 11 end: 20.3%

Season 5

 * Tagline: 華の乱 / Hana no Ran
 * Tagline (English): War of the Belles
 * Episodes: 10, 1 Special
 * Viewership ratings: 15.67, SP=12.0
 * Broadcast period: 2005-Oct-13 to 2005-Dec-22, 2005-Dec-30
 * Air time: Thursday 22:00, Friday 21:00
 * Theme song: Shuraba by Tokyo Jihen

Synopsis
Depicts the grand battles of the women surrounding Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the fifth shogun.

Cast

 * Uchiyama Rina as Yasuko
 * Tanihara Shosuke as Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
 * Koike Eiko as Oden no kata
 * Takaoka Saki as Uemonsa
 * Kitamura Kazuki as Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu
 * Kanjiya Shihori as Someko
 * Enami Kyoko as Kesshoin
 * Fujiwara Norika as Nobuko
 * Nakayama Shinobu as Odenshi
 * Manda Hisako as Aguri
 * Tanabe Seiichi as Makino Narisumi
 * Hiraizumi Sei as Makino Narisada
 * Yo Kimiko as Otowa
 * Hino Shohei
 * Sato Ryohei (ep9)

Production Credits

 * Screenwriter: Asano Taeko, Ozaki Masaya
 * Producer: Hayashi Toru, Tezuka Osamu (手塚治), Higuchi Toru, Kanamaru Tetsuya (金丸哲也)
 * Director: Hayashi Toru, Hayama Hiroki, Kawamura Taisuke
 * Music: Ishida Katsunori

Episode Ratings

 * Episode 01: 14.5%
 * Episode 02: 18.0%
 * Episode 03: 14.5%
 * Episode 04: 15.5%
 * Episode 05: 17.0%
 * Episode 06: 16.2%
 * Episode 07: 14.6%
 * Episode 08: 15.4%
 * Episode 09: 16.0%
 * Episode 10 end: 15.0%

2016 Special

 * Format: Tanpatsu, in two parts
 * Viewership ratings: 9.6% (part 1), 9.2% (part 2)
 * Broadcast dates: 2016-Jan-22 and 2016-Jan-29
 * Air time: Friday 21:00
 * Theme song: Make Me Complete by BoA

Cast

 * Sawajiri Erika as Omiyo
 * Narimiya Hiroki as Tokugawa Ienori
 * Itao Itsuji as Nakano Kiyoshige
 * Mitsuura Yasuko as Tadako
 * Washio Machiko as Kuzuoka
 * Yamaguchi Kaori as Yoshino
 * Kubota Maki as Urao
 * Asano Yuko as Oosaki Tsubone
 * Watanabe Mayu as Oshima (part 1)
 * Tanaka Yoji as Nikkei (part 1)
 * Hamada Manabu as Wakisaka Yasutada (part 1)
 * Asai Erina as Oraku (part 1)
 * Kaneko Noboru as Nichien (part 1)
 * Renbutsu Misako as Uta (part 2)
 * Moridono Manase as young Ume (part 2)
 * Nukumizu Youichi as Sakai Tadayasu (part 2)
 * Watanabe Shu as Ootsuki Hyogo (part 2)
 * Kubota Hidetoshi (久保田秀敏) as Yoshida Kenichiro (part 2)

Production Credits

 * Screenwriter: Asano Taeko
 * Producer: Hayashi Toru, Kanamaru Tetsuya (金丸哲也), Koyanagi Noriko (小柳憲子)
 * Director: Hayashi Toru
 * Music: Ishida Katsunori

2019 Special



 * Title: 大奥 最終章
 * Title (romaji): Ooku Saishusho
 * Format: Tanpatsu
 * Viewership ratings: 6.9%
 * Broadcast date: 2019-Mar-25
 * Air time: Monday 20:00-22:54

Cast

 * Kimura Fumino as Kume
 * Osawa Takao as Tokugawa Yoshimune
 * Koike Eiko as Gekkoin
 * Hamabe Minami as Takehime
 * Minamino Yoko
 * Kishii Yukino (岸井ゆきの)
 * Matsuzaka Keiko as Joenin
 * Suzuki Honami as Teneiin
 * Kinoshita Houka as Tokugawa Ienobu
 * Kitamura Kazuki as Tokugawa Muneharu
 * Tanihara Shosuke as Manabe Akifusa
 * Takenaka Naoto as Kano Hisamichi
 * Katsurayama Shingo as Ooka Tadasuke
 * Asano Yuko
 * Washio Machiko
 * Yamaguchi Kaori
 * Kubota Maki
 * Miyazawa Tomo (宮澤智)
 * Mikami Man (三上真奈)
 * Niimi Yuka (新美有加)
 * Kuji Akiko (久慈暁子)
 * Nakama Yukie as narrator

Production Credits

 * Screenwriter: Asano Taeko
 * Producer: Takada Yuki, Omori Takahito (大森敬仁)
 * Director: Hayashi Toru

Trivia

 * A movie version of Ooku starring Nakama Yukie opened in Japan on 23-Dec-2006.