# Sanga Moyu

Sanga Moyu (山河燃ゆ) is a Japanese television drama based on the 1983 novel Futatsu no Sokoku (二つの祖国) by Toyoko Yamazaki. It was NHK's taiga drama in 1984.

## Synopsis

The Amo family lives in Los Angeles, California. Two of the sons, Kenji and Tadashi, live in Japan. Kenji returns to the United States before war broke out in 1941, and is sent to Manzanar with his family as part of the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. Kenji joins the United States Army and is sent to fight in the Philippines, where he shoots Tadashi, who joined the Imperial Japanese Army. Isamu, the third son, joins the 442nd. After the war Kenji finds Nagiko, a childhood friend who had confessed her love for him just before he returned to the United States. She was a victim of the bombing of Hiroshima. Kenji then becomes an interpreter at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, where he commits suicide in the courtroom because of the internal turmoil caused by his split loyalties.

## Cast

* Matsumoto Kōshirō IX as Kenji Amo
* Toshiyuki Nishida as Tadashi Amo
* Kenji Sawada as Charlie Tamiya
* Yoko Shimada as Nagiko (Imoto) Tamiya
* Yumi Takigawa as Emi (Hatanaka) Amo
* Minoru Ōki as Imoto
* Toshiro Mifune as Otoshichi Amo
* Keiko Tsushima as Teru Amo
* Daijiro Tsutsumi [ja] as Isamu Amo
* Yoshie Kashiwabara as Haruko Amo

## Reception

Several Japanese American organizations like the Japanese American Citizens League were concerned that the portrayal of split loyalties would affect the movement for redress. Some individual Japanese Americans, including Mike Masaoka, also wrote to the NHK to express their concerns about airing the show in the United States. It was not broadcast in the United States until 1989. The show's name was also changed from "Futatsu no Sokoku" (Two Homelands) to "Sanga Moyu" (The Mountains and Rivers are Burning) for this reason.
The series was considered unusual in Japan because NHK's Taiga dramas usually concern history before the Meiji era. Many Japanese films at the time showed Japan as being the victims of World War II, but the NHK chose to include Japanese atrocities.
According to the Japan Times, the original novel was based on the life of Akira Itami.

## TV schedule

| Episode | Original airdate | Title | Directed by | Rating |
| 1 | January 8, 1984 (1984-01-08) | "Shōwa 11nen, Yuki ga" (昭和十一年、雪が) | Yūji Murakami | 30.5% |
| 2 | January 15, 1984 (1984-01-15) | "Kaigenrei" (戒厳令) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 3 | January 22, 1984 (1984-01-22) | "Kakanashimi eno Jokyoku" (悲しみへの序曲) | Mikio Satō | |
| 4 | January 29, 1984 (1984-01-29) | "Wakare no Ezōshi" (別れの絵草子) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 5 | February 5, 1984 (1984-02-05) | "Kazoku" (家族) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 6 | February 12, 1984 (1984-02-12) | "Little Tokyo" (リトル・トーキョー) | Mikio Satō | |
| 7 | February 19, 1984 (1984-02-19) | "Sōgen Jōka" (草原情歌) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 8 | February 26, 1984 (1984-02-26) | "Tairiku e" (大陸へ) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 9 | March 4, 1984 (1984-03-04) | "Shanghai ni Itteki no Namida wo" (上海に一滴の涙を) | Mikio Satō | |
| 10 | March 11, 1984 (1984-03-11) | "Sento" (戦都) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 11 | March 18, 1984 (1984-03-18) | "Ima Hitotabi no" (いまひとたびの) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 12 | March 25, 1984 (1984-03-25) | "Tairiku kara no Tegami" (大陸からの手紙) | Mikio Satō | |
| 13 | April 1, 1984 (1984-04-01) | "Sorezore no Seishun" (それぞれの青春) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 14 | April 8, 1984 (1984-04-08) | "Saraba Nihon yo" (さらば日本よ) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 15 | April 15, 1984 (1984-04-15) | "Kaisen Zen'ya" (開戦前夜) | Mikio Satō | |
| 16 | April 22, 1984 (1984-04-22) | "December 8, 1941" (1941年12月8日) | Kōji Matsuoka | |
| 17 | April 29, 1984 (1984-04-29) | "Pearl Harbor" (パール・ハーバー) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 18 | May 6, 1984 (1984-05-06) | "Senka no Rinjin-tachi" (戦下の隣人達) | Mikio Satō | |
| 19 | May 13, 1984 (1984-05-13) | "Nihon-tō wo Umeta Hi" (日本刀を埋めた日) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 20 | May 20, 1984 (1984-05-20) | "Daitōryō-rei 9066" (大統領令9066) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 21 | May 27, 1984 (1984-05-27) | "Manzanar Shūyōjo" (マンザナール収容所) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 22 | June 3, 1984 (1984-06-03) | "Kōya no Party" (荒野のパーティー) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 23 | June 10, 1984 (1984-06-10) | "Niji no Kanata ni" (虹の彼方に) | Mikio Satō | |
| 24 | June 17, 1984 (1984-06-17) | "Sokoku America" (祖国アメリカ) | Kōji Matsuoka | |
| 25 | June 24, 1984 (1984-06-24) | "Bōdō" (暴動) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 26 | July 1, 1984 (1984-07-01) | "Ningen Test" (人間テスト) | Mikio Satō | |
| 27 | July 8, 1984 (1984-07-08) | "Sraba Shūyōjo" (さらば収容所) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 28 | July 15, 1984 (1984-07-15) | "America Rikugun Nihon-go Gakkō" (アメリカ陸軍日本語学校) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 29 | July 22, 1984 (1984-07-22) | "Rikon" (離婚) | Mikio Satō | |
| 30 | July 29, 1984 (1984-07-29) | "Chi no Akashi" (血の証し) | Teru Tajima | |
| 31 | August 5, 1984 (1984-08-05) | "Taiheiyō Sensen" (太平洋戦線) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 32 | August 12, 1984 (1984-08-12) | "Futatsu no Senjō" (二つの戦場) | Mikio Satō | |
| 33 | August 19, 1984 (1984-08-19) | "Dare ga Kokyō wo Omowazaru" (誰が故郷を想わざる) | Kōji Matsuoka | |
| 34 | August 26, 1984 (1984-08-26) | "Tokyo Dai-kūshū" (東京大空襲) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 35 | September 2, 1984 (1984-09-02) | "Kyōdai Taiketsu" (兄弟対決) | Mikio Satō | |
| 36 | September 9, 1984 (1984-09-09) | "Shūsen" (終戦) | Teru Tajima | |
| 37 | September 16, 1984 (1984-09-16) | "Hiroshima" (ヒロシマ) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 38 | September 23, 1984 (1984-09-23) | "Tokyo-saiban Kaitei" (東京裁判開廷) | Mikio Satō | |
| 39 | September 30, 1984 (1984-09-30) | "Monitor" (モニター) | Teru Tajima | |
| 40 | October 7, 1984 (1984-10-07) | "Henshin" (変身) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 41 | October 14, 1984 (1984-10-14) | "Gaisen" (凱旋) | Morihisa Matsudaira | |
| 42 | October 21, 1984 (1984-10-21) | "Eirei" (英霊) | Mikio Satō | |
| 43 | October 28, 1984 (1984-10-28) | "Koto Yūshū" (古都憂愁) | Takeshi Kobayashi | |
| 44 | November 4, 1984 (1984-11-04) | "Shinjuwan-kōgeki no Nazo" (真珠湾攻撃の謎) | Kōji Matsuoka | |
| 45 | November 11, 1984 (1984-11-11) | "Washington Heights" (ワシントン・ハイツ) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 46 | November 18, 1984 (1984-11-18) | "Kagiri-aru Seimei" (限りある生命) | Mikio Satō | |
| 47 | November 25, 1984 (1984-11-25) | "Yakeato no Seiya" (焼跡の聖夜) | Teru Tajima | |
| 48 | December 2, 1984 (1984-12-02) | "Kyōdai Wakai" (兄弟和解) | Yūji Murakami | |
| 49 | December 9, 1984 (1984-12-09) | "Saishū Ronkoku" (最終論告) | Mikio Satō | |
| 50 | December 16, 1984 (1984-12-16) | "Senkoku" (宣告) | Shizuhiro Izuta | |
| 51 | December 23, 1984 (1984-12-23) | "Aratanaru Tabidachi" (新たなる旅立ち) | Yūji Murakami | |
| Average rating 21.1% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research (Kantō region). |||||