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 edit

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 edit

Minamoto no Yoritomo's family edit

Minamoto no Yoritomo's vassals edit

Hōjō clan edit

Taira clan edit

Others edit

TV schedule edit

Episode Original airdate Title Directed by Rating
1 January 7, 1979 (1979-01-07) "Hirugakojima no Runin" (蛭が小島の流人) Makoto Ōhara 27.9%
2 January 14, 1979 (1979-01-14) "Koibumi" (恋文) Hiroyuki Eguchi 30.5%
3 January 21, 1979 (1979-01-21) "Futari Yoshitsune" (二人義経) Shizuhiro Izuta 34.7%
4 January 28, 1979 (1979-01-28) "Masako Ryakudatsu" (政子略奪) Makoto Ōhara 29.6%
5 February 4, 1979 (1979-02-04) "Muko-dono, Shūto-dono" (婿殿、舅殿) Hiroyuki Eguchi 28.7%
6 February 11, 1979 (1979-02-11) "Misshi wa Hashiru" (密使は走る) Shizuhiro Izuta 29.1%
7 February 18, 1979 (1979-02-18) "Yoritomo Tatsu" (頼朝起つ) Makoto Ōhara 27.5%
8 February 25, 1979 (1979-02-25) "Ishibashiyama no Kassen" (石橋山の合戦) Makoto Ōhara 27.3%
9 March 4, 1979 (1979-03-04) "Yoritomo Saiki" (頼朝再起) Hiroyuki Eguchi 32.4%
10 March 11, 1979 (1979-03-11) "Kamakura e" (鎌倉へ) Shizuhiro Izuta 30.3%
11 March 18, 1979 (1979-03-18) "Ani no Namida・Otōto no Namida" (兄の涙・弟の涙) Makoto Ōhara 31.4%
12 March 25, 1979 (1979-03-25) "Kiga Mōja" (飢餓亡者) Hiroyuki Eguchi 29.2%
13 April 1, 1979 (1979-04-01) "Wakagimi Tanjō" (若君誕生) Shizuhiro Izuta 27.6%
14 April 8, 1979 (1979-04-08) "Masako Kyōran" (政子狂乱) Makoto Ōhara 22.7%
15 April 15, 1979 (1979-04-15) "Ai no Katami" (愛のかたみ) Hiroyuki Eguchi 24.0%
16 April 22, 1979 (1979-04-22) "Hitojichi" (人質) Shizuhiro Izuta 27.1%
17 April 29, 1979 (1979-04-29) "Yoshitsune Shutsujin" (義経出陣) Makoto Ōhara 25.8%
18 May 6, 1979 (1979-05-06) "Kiretsu" (亀裂) Tōru Shōji 29.9%
19 May 13, 1979 (1979-05-13) "Kyō no Shirabyōshi" (京の白拍子) Hiroyuki Eguchi 30.0%
20 May 20, 1979 (1979-05-20) "Dan-no-ura" (壇ノ浦) Makoto Ōhara 27.5%
21 May 27, 1979 (1979-05-27) "Yoshitsune Gaisen" (義経凱旋) Shizuhiro Izuta 24.4%
22 June 3, 1979 (1979-06-03) "Kamakura no Shikaku" (鎌倉の刺客) Hiroyuki Eguchi 27.3%
23 June 10, 1979 (1979-06-10) "Miyako no Tōzoku-tachi" (都の盗賊たち) Makoto Ōhara 23.3%
24 June 17, 1979 (1979-06-17) "Shizuka no Mai" (静の舞) Makoto Ōhara 19.3%
25 June 24, 1979 (1979-06-24) "Yoritomo Jōraku" (頼朝上洛) Shizuhiro Izuta 22.8%
26 July 1, 1979 (1979-07-01) "Hōō Hōgyo" (法皇崩御) Hiroyuki Eguchi 22.6%
27 July 8, 1979 (1979-07-08) "Yoshitoki no Tsuma" (義時の妻) Hiroshi Watanabe 25.6%
28 July 15, 1979 (1979-07-15) "Fuji no Makigari" (富士の巻狩) Makoto Ōhara 24.5%
29 July 22, 1979 (1979-07-22) "Soga Kyōdai" (曽我兄弟) Hiroyuki Eguchi 22.4%
30 July 29, 1979 (1979-07-29) "Ōhime Sakuran" (大姫錯乱) Shizuhiro Izuta 19.2%
31 August 5, 1979 (1979-08-05) "Kuroi Tsumujikaze" (黒いつむじ風) Makoto Ōhara 20.5%
32 August 12, 1979 (1979-08-12) "Yoritomo no Shi" (頼朝の死) Hiroyuki Eguchi 23.5%
33 August 19, 1979 (1979-08-19) "Hime-gimi Dokusatsu" (姫君毒殺) Shizuhiro Izuta 26.3%
34 August 26, 1979 (1979-08-26) "Yoriie Rangyō" (頼家乱行) Tōru Shōji 24.4%
35 September 2, 1979 (1979-09-02) "Kajiwara Kagetoki no Metsubō" (梶原景時の滅亡) Makoto Ōhara 25.0%
36 September 9, 1979 (1979-09-09) "Aku-zenji Zenjō" (悪禅師全成) Hiroshi Watanabe 23.7%
37 September 16, 1979 (1979-09-16) "Hōjō no Inbō" (北条の陰謀) Hiroyuki Eguchi 26.9%
38 September 23, 1979 (1979-09-23) "Hiki Metsubō" (比企滅亡) Makoto Ōhara 25.6%
39 September 30, 1979 (1979-09-30) "Yoriie Tsuihō" (頼家追放) Shizuhiro Izuta 26.7%
40 October 7, 1979 (1979-10-07) "Shuzen-ji" (修禅寺) Hiroyuki Eguchi 24.1%
41 October 14, 1979 (1979-10-14) "Kashoku" (華燭) Takashi Matsuhashi 25.5%
42 October 21, 1979 (1979-10-21) "Hatakeyama Tōbatsu" (畠山討伐) Makoto Ōhara 31.7%
43 October 28, 1979 (1979-10-28) "Chichi to Ko" (父と子) Shizuhiro Izuta 25.2%
44 November 4, 1979 (1979-11-04) "Go-Toba-in Shōka" (後鳥羽院頌歌) Hiroyuki Eguchi 27.0%
45 November 11, 1979 (1979-11-11) "Sayogiku" (小夜菊) Munehiro Anzai 24.2%
46 November 18, 1979 (1979-11-18) "Wada Gassen" (和田合戦) Makoto Ōhara 24.3%
47 November 25, 1979 (1979-11-25) "Maboroshi no Fune" (幻の船) Hiroyuki Eguchi 26.4%
48 December 2, 1979 (1979-12-02) "Funadama" (船霊) Shizuhiro Izuta 24.9%
49 December 9, 1979 (1979-12-09) "Sanetomo Ansatsu" (実朝暗殺) Makoto Ōhara 27.7%
50 December 16, 1979 (1979-12-16) "Miura Yoshimura no Sakubō" (三浦義村の策謀) Hiroyuki Eguchi 22.5%
51 December 23, 1979 (1979-12-23) "Jōkyū no Ran" (承久の乱) Makoto Ōhara 28.6%
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 edit

  1. ^ a b "Kusa Moeru". NHK. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  2. ^ "草燃えるとは". kotobank. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  3. ^ "草燃える総集編". NHK スクエア. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "草燃える". Aamazon. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  5. ^ "草燃える". ドラマデータ. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "【大河のころ 石坂浩二(4)】3度の主演が今の自分を作ってくれた". Sanspo. Retrieved December 24, 2020.

External links edit