# Taiga drama

Taiga drama (Japanese: 大河ドラマ, Hepburn: Taiga dorama, "Big River Drama") is the name NHK gives to the annual year-long historical drama television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white Hana no Shōgai, starring kabuki actor Onoe Shoroku II and Awashima Chikage, the network regularly hires different writers, directors, and other creative staff for each taiga drama. The 45-minute show airs on the NHK General TV network every Sunday at 8:00pm, with rebroadcasts on Saturdays at 1:05pm. NHK BS, NHK BS Premium 4K and NHK World Premium broadcasts are also available.
Taiga dramas are very costly to produce. The usual procedure of a taiga drama production would have one-third of the total number of scripts finished before shooting begins. Afterwards, audience reception is taken into account as the rest of the series is written. Many times, the dramas are adapted from a novel (e.g. Fūrin Kazan is based on The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan). Though taiga dramas have been regarded by Japanese viewers as the most prestigious among dramas in Japan, viewership ratings have considerably declined in recent years.

## Current series

* Unbound (2025)

## Upcoming series

* Toyotomi Brothers! (2026)
* Gyakuzoku no Bakushin (2027)

## List of series

Showa Era :
| # | Romanised Name | English title | Start | End | Starring | Supporting cast | Notes | Average Rating |
| 1 | Hana no Shōgai 花の生涯 | Life of a Flower | 7 April 1963 | 29 December 1963 | Onoe Shoroku II (as Ii Naosuke) | Chikage Awashima Kaoru Yachigusa Kyōko Kagawa Keiji Sada | Detail Black and white. Bakumatsu period. Only footage fragments of episodes 1 and 38 still exist. | 20.2% |
| 2 | Akō Rōshi 赤穂浪士 | | 5 January 1964 | 27 December 1964 | Kazuo Hasegawa (as Ōishi Kuranosuke) | Isuzu Yamada Osamu Takizawa Chikage Awashima Onoe Baikō VII | Detail Black and white. Also the most viewed taiga drama in its early history. Set during the Edo period. A scene from episode 7 and full footage of episode 47 still exist. | 31.9% |
| 3 | Taikōki 太閤記 | | 3 January 1965 | 26 December 1965 | Ken Ogata (as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) | Shiho Fujimura Yoshiko Mita Sessue Hayakawa Kōji Takahashi | Detail Black and white. Set in the Sengoku period. Only episode 42 still exists. | 31.2% |
| 4 | Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源義経 | Minamoto no Yoshitsune | 2 January 1966 | 25 December 1966 | Onoe Kikunosuke IV (as Minamoto no Yoshitsune) | Ken Ogata Junko Fuji Osamu Takizawa Isuzu Yamada | Detail Black and white. Set during the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period. Only episodes 1, 33, and 52 still exist. | 23.5% |
| 5 | San Shimai 三姉妹 | Three Sisters | 1 January 1967 | 24 December 1967 | Mariko Okada (as Mura) Shiho Fujimura (as Rui) Komaki Kurihara (as Yuki) | Tsutomu Yamazaki Shinsuke Ashida Kō Nishimura Osamu Takizawa | Detail Black and white. Set at the end of the Edo period into Meiji Restoration. It was chosen to commemorate the 100th year since the Meiji Restoration. Only episode 19 still exists. | 19.1% |
| 6 | Ryōma ga Yuku 竜馬がゆく | Ryōma Goes | 7 January 1968 | 29 December 1968 | Kin'ya Kitaōji (as Sakamoto Ryōma) | Ruriko Asaoka Yoshie Mizutani Hideki Takahashi Keiju Kobayashi | Detail Black and white. Bakumatsu period. Along with previous year's Taiga drama, this was also chosen as part of the 100th year celebration since the Meiji Restoration. Only episode 16 still exists. | 14.5% |
| 7 | Ten to Chi to 天と地と | Heaven and Earth | 5 January 1969 | 28 December 1969 | Kōji Ishizaka (as Nagao Kagetora/Uesugi Kenshin) | Fumie Kashiyama Ineko Arima Osamu Takizawa Kōji Takahashi | Detail Sengoku period. Only episode 50 and a fragment of episode 2 still exist. Colour. Future broadcasts are in colour. | 25.0% |
| 8 | Momi no Ki wa Nokotta 樅の木は残った | The Fir Tree Remained | 4 January 1970 | 27 December 1970 | Mikijirō Hira (as Harada Kai) | Sayuri Yoshinaga Komaki Kurihara Kinuyo Tanaka Kin'ya Kitaōji | Detail About the Date Disturbance during the Edo period. Although there were no battles, viewers commented that it was dark in tone. It was once thought to be entirely lost, but episode 29 in full color was discovered to still exist. It was then revealed in February 2011 that video tapes of 51 episodes out of 52 were recovered, albeit in black and white due to the limitations of the recording technology at the time. | 21.0% |
| 9 | Haru no Sakamichi 春の坂道 | Slope of Spring | 3 January 1971 | 26 December 1971 | Nakamura Kinnosuke (as Yagyū Munenori) | Yoshio Harada Yoko Tsukasa Ichikawa Ebizō X So Yamamura | Detail Set during late Sengoku period to early Edo period. No footage in full color still exist. Only the final episode still remains in black and white. | 21.7% |
| 10 | Shin Heike Monogatari 新・平家物語 | New Tale of the Heike | 2 January 1972 | 24 December 1972 | Tatsuya Nakadai (as Taira no Kiyomori) | Tamao Nakamura Tsutomu Yamazaki Masakazu Tamura Osamu Takizawa | Detail Set during the late Heian era. Episodes 46 and 52 still exist in black and white. | 21.4% |
| 11 | Kunitori Monogatari 国盗り物語 | Tale of Taking Countries | 7 January 1973 | 30 December 1973 | Mikijirō Hira (as Saitō Dōsan) Hideki Takahashi (as Oda Nobunaga) | Keiko Matsuzaka Shōhei Hino Shigeru Tsuyuguchi Masaomi Kondō | Detail Sengoku period. All footage of the regular broadcast is lost. In 2015, videotape recordings of episodes 37 and 38 were recovered. | 22.4% |
| 12 | Katsu Kaishū 勝海舟 | | 6 January 1974 | 29 December 1974 | Tetsuya Watari → Hiroki Matsukata (as Katsu Kaishū) | Reiko Ohara Yoshiko Kuga Keiju Kobayashi Onoe Shoroku II | Detail Set during Bakumatsu at the end of the Edo period. Only episodes 6, 7, 32, 35, 37, 38, 39, and 44 have been discovered to still exist. | 24.2% |
| 13 | Genroku Taiheiki 元禄太平記 | | 6 January 1975 | 29 December 1975 | Kōji Ishizaka (as Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu) | Tōru Emori Muga Takewaki Shinsuke Ashida Hisaya Morishige | Detail Set during the Edo period. Episodes 2, 3, 7, and 18 still exist in its original broadcast form. As of 2016, a recording of episode 9 was recovered, as well as 41 videotaped episodes in 2019. | 24.7% |
| 14 | Kaze to Kumo to Niji to 風と雲と虹と | Wind, Clouds, and Rainbow | 4 January 1976 | 26 December 1976 | Gō Katō (as Taira no Masakado) | Sayuri Yoshinaga Masao Kusakari Shigeru Tsuyuguchi Ken Ogata | Detail Heian period. It is the oldest NHK Taiga drama to date where all 52 episodes have been preserved. | 24.0% |
| 15 | Kashin 花神 | Flower Spirit | 2 January 1977 | 25 December 1977 | Nakamura Umenosuke IV (as Ōmura Masujirō) | Masatoshi Nakamura Jukichi Uno Ruriko Asaoka Hideki Takahashi | Detail Bakumatsu period. Only episodes 19, 24, 34, 39, and 52 (with 6 minutes missing) have been recovered. | 19.0% |
| 16 | Ōgon no Hibi 黄金の日日 | Golden Days | 8 January 1978 | 24 December 1978 | Ichikawa Somegorō VI (as Luzon Sukezaemon) | Komaki Kurihara Jinpachi Nezu Kōji Tsuruta Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII | Detail Depicts daily life of merchants and traders in Sakai during the Sengoku period. Starting from this Taiga drama onward, all episodes of each work still exist. | 25.9% |
| 17 | Kusa Moeru 草燃える | Grass Burns | 7 January 1979 | 23 December 1979 | Kōji Ishizaka (as Minamoto no Yoritomo) Shima Iwashita (as Hōjō Masako) | Ken Matsudaira Hiromi Go Keiko Matsuzaka Onoe Shoroku II | Detail Set during the Genpei War into the start of the Kamakura period. The story is told from the female main character's perspective. All episodes still exist, however, 18 out of 51 episodes have distorted images and sound, as well as missing fragments. | 26.3% |
| 18 | Shishi no Jidai 獅子の時代 | The Age of Lions | 6 January 1980 | 21 December 1980 | Bunta Sugawara (as Hiranuma Eiji) Gō Katō (as Kariya Yoshiaki) | Reiko Ohara Shinobu Otake Minoru Chiaki Kōji Tsuruta | Detail Set during the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods. Main leads are two fictional characters from rural Japan with commoner roots. It depicts their struggles to survive the chaotic, dark period. | 21.0% |
| 19 | Onna Taikōki おんな太閤記 | | 11 January 1981 | 20 December 1981 | Yoshiko Sakuma (as Nene) | Masatoshi Nakamura Pinko Izumi Harue Akagi Toshiyuki Nishida | Detail Set during the Sengoku and early Edo periods. Based on the novel Taikōki (which formed the basis of the 3rd Taiga Drama of the same title), with the story told from Toyotomi Hideyoshi's wife's perspective. | 31.8% |
| 20 | Tōge no Gunzō 峠の群像 | | 10 January 1982 | 19 December 1982 | Ken Ogata (as Ōishi Kuranosuke) | Ken Matsudaira Juzo Itami Nakamura Umenosuke IV Jukichi Uno | Detail Edo period. This is the second depiction of the 47 Rōnin, which focused on different themes and an alternative insight into the Ako Incident. | 23.7% |
| 21 | Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | 9 January 1983 | 18 December 1983 | Sakae Takita (as Tokugawa Ieyasu) | Shinobu Otake Tetsuya Takeda Masako Natsume Kōji Ishizaka | Detail Set during the Sengoku and early Edo periods. | 31.2% |
| 22 | Sanga Moyu 山河燃ゆ | Burning Mountains and Rivers | 8 January 1984 | 23 December 1984 | Matsumoto Kōshirō IX (as Kenji Amo) Toshiyuki Nishida (as Tadashi Amo) | Reiko Ohara Yoko Shimada Kenji Sawada Toshiro Mifune | Detail First (and so far only) Taiga drama set in the Shōwa period of World War II | 21.1% |
| 23 | Haru no Hatō 春の波涛 | Big Waves of Spring | 6 January 1985 | 15 December 1985 | Keiko Matsuzaka (as Sada Yacco) | Masatoshi Nakamura Morio Kazama Chikage Awashima Keiju Kobayashi | Detail Set in the Meiji and Taishō eras. About the life of a former Japanese geisha who became Japan's first actress. | 18.2% |
| 24 | Inochi いのち | Inochi: Life | 5 January 1986 | 14 December 1986 | Yoshiko Mita (as Miki Iwata) | Tetsurō Tamba Mako Ishino Koji Yakusho Ken Utsui | Detail Shōwa era. First taiga drama set in postwar Japan. First taiga drama to be officially broadcast with English subtitles. Fictional female lead. | 29.3% |
| 25 | Dokuganryū Masamune 独眼竜政宗 | Masamune the One-Eyed Dragon | 4 January 1987 | 13 December 1987 | Ken Watanabe (as Date Masamune) | Tomokazu Miura Teruhiko Saigō Shima Iwashita Shintaro Katsu | Detail Late Sengoku to early Edo period. | 39.7% |
| 26 | Takeda Shingen 武田信玄 | Shingen Takeda | 10 January 1988 | 18 December 1988 | Kiichi Nakai (as Takeda Shingen) | Kyōhei Shibata Misako Konno Toshiyuki Nishida Ryōtarō Sugi | Detail Sengoku period. Last taiga drama to fully air during the Shōwa period. | 39.2% |
| 27 | Kasuga no Tsubone 春日局 | Kasuga the Court Lady | 1 January 1989 | 17 December 1989 | Reiko Ōhara (as Lady Kasuga) | Aiko Nagayama Shinji Yamashita Tetsurō Tamba Yoshiko Sakuma | Detail Late Sengoku to early Edo periods. Focuses on the early reign of the Tokugawa shogunate. Earliest premiere for a Taiga drama in 22 years since 1967's "Three Sisters"; the last taiga drama to air during the Shōwa period by only the first episode, and the second episode was delayed; first Taiga drama to be shown during the Heisei period. | 33.1% |
| Heisei Era |||||||||
| 28 | Tobu ga Gotoku 翔ぶが如く | As If in Flight | 7 January 1990 | 9 December 1990 | Toshiyuki Nishida (as Saigō Takamori) Takeshi Kaga (as Ōkubo Toshimichi) | Yūko Tanaka Sumiko Fuji Hideki Takahashi Yūzō Kayama | Detail Set during the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration periods centering around two of the last samurai. It is the first taiga drama to be firmly split into two parts. | 23.2% |
| 29 | Taiheiki 太平記 | | 6 January 1991 | 25 December 1991 | Hiroyuki Sanada (as Ashikaga Takauji) | Yasuko Sawaguchi Tetsuya Takeda Frankie Sakai Kataoka Takao | Detail Kamakura period, going into the Nanboku-chō period during early Muromachi period. | 26.0% |
| 30 | Nobunaga 信長 KING OF ZIPANGU | Nobunaga: King of Zipang | 5 January 1992 | 13 December 1992 | Naoto Ogata (as Oda Nobunaga) | Momoko Kikuchi Keiko Takahashi Ken Utsui Mikijirō Hira | Detail Sengoku period. This is the second depiction of Oda Nobunaga in the main character role and the first full depiction as the sole lead. | 24.6% |
| 31 | Ryūkyū no Kaze 琉球の風 DRAGON SPIRIT | Wind of the Ryūkyū Islands | 10 January 1993 | 13 June 1993 | Noriyuki Higashiyama (as Keitai) | Atsuro Watabe Tomoyo Harada Rumiko Koyanagi Kenichi Hagiwara | Detail Depicts the Ryūkyū peoples during the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. It features a fictional character as the lead. First part of a 3-part series. | 17.7% |
| 32 | Homura Tatsu 炎立つ | Burst Into Flames | 4 July 1993 | 13 March 1994 | Ken Watanabe (as Fujiwara no Tsunekiyo, Fujiwara no Yasuhira) Hiroaki Murakami (as Fujiwara no Kiyohira) | Yūko Kotegawa Kei Satō Tsunehiko Watase Kōtarō Satomi | Detail Set during the Genpei War during the late Heian period, it focuses on the Northern Fujiwara Dynasty from its founding to its fall. Second part of a 3-part series. Also had the latest premiere for a Taiga drama at 35 episodes split into three parts in itself. | 17.3% |
| 33 | Hana no Ran 花の乱 | | 3 April 1994 | 25 December 1994 | Yoshiko Mita (as Hino Tomiko) | Ichikawa Danjūrō XII Mansai Nomura Yorozuya Kinnosuke Machiko Kyō | Detail Muromachi to early Sengoku periods, focuses around the Ōnin War. Conclusion of the 3-part series. | 14.1% |
| 34 | Hachidai Shōgun Yoshimune 八代将軍吉宗 | Yoshimune | 8 January 1995 | 10 December 1995 | Toshiyuki Nishida (as Tokugawa Yoshimune) | Hideji Ōtaki Nenji Kobayashi Nakamura Baijaku II Masahiko Tsugawa | Detail Edo period. About the Eighth Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune, known as the "Father of Shogunate Reforms". | 26.4% |
| 35 | Hideyoshi 秀吉 | Hideyoshi | 7 January 1996 | 22 December 1996 | Naoto Takenaka (as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) | Yasuko Sawaguchi Hiroaki Murakami Etsuko Ichihara Tetsuya Watari | Detail Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. The second depiction of Hideyoshi in 31 years since 1965's Taikōki. | 30.5% |
| 36 | Mōri Motonari 毛利元就 | Mōri Motonari | 5 January 1997 | 14 December 1997 | Nakamura Hashinosuke III (as Mōri Motonari) | Yasuko Tomita Takaya Kamikawa Keiko Matsuzaka Ken Ogata | Detail Sengoku period. This work was made to commemorate the 500th anniversary since Motonari's birth. | 23.4% |
| 37 | Tokugawa Yoshinobu 徳川慶喜 | Tokugawa Yoshinobu | 4 January 1998 | 13 December 1998 | Masahiro Motoki (as Tokugawa Yoshinobu) | Bunta Sugawara Ayako Wakao Hikari Ishida Reiko Ohara | Detail Bakumatsu period. It covers the life of the last Tokugawa shōgun. | 21.1% |
| 38 | Genroku Ryōran 元禄繚乱 | Chūshingura | 1 January 1999 | 12 December 1999 | Nakamura Kankurō V (as Ōishi Kuranosuke) | Shinobu Otake Noriyuki Higashiyama Honami Suzuki Kenichi Hagiwara | Detail Edo period. Third depiction of the 47 Rōnin and the Ako Incident. | 20.2% |
| 39 | Aoi Tokugawa Sandai 葵 徳川三代 | Aoi | 9 January 2000 | 17 December 2000 | Masahiko Tsugawa (as Tokugawa Ieyasu) Toshiyuki Nishida (as Tokugawa Hidetada) Onoe Tatsunosuke II (as Tokugawa Iemitsu) | Tōru Emori Nakamura Baijaku II Mayumi Ogawa Shima Iwashita | Detail Azuchi-Momoyama to early Edo periods. It depicts the events of the first three Tokugawa shōguns; this is the second depiction of Tokugawa Ieyasu where he's a main character. First series to be fully filmed in high definition (HD). Future series are also broadcast in HD. | 18.5% |
| 40 | Hōjō Tokimune 北条時宗 | Hōjō Tokimune | 7 January 2001 | 9 December 2001 | Motoya Izumi (as Hōjō Tokimune) | Atsuro Watabe Ken Watanabe Sumiko Fuji Kin'ya Kitaōji | Detail Kamakura period. | 18.5% |
| 41 | Toshiie to Matsu 利家とまつ～加賀百万石物語～ | Toshiie and Matsu | 6 January 2002 | 15 December 2002 | Toshiaki Karasawa (as Maeda Toshiie) Nanako Matsushima (as Maeda Matsu) | Takashi Sorimachi Teruyuki Kagawa Ken Matsudaira Bunta Sugawara | Detail Sengoku and early Edo periods. | 22.1% |
| 42 | Musashi 武蔵 MUSASHI | Musashi | 5 January 2003 | 7 December 2003 | Ichikawa Shinnosuke VII (as Miyamoto Musashi) | Ryoko Yonekura Shinichi Tsutsumi Tsunehiko Watase Makoto Fujita | Detail Edo period. | 16.7% |
| 43 | Shinsengumi! 新撰組! | | 11 January 2004 | 12 December 2004 | Shingo Katori (as Kondō Isami) | Tatsuya Fujiwara Koji Yamamoto Masato Sakai Kōji Ishizaka | Detail Bakumatsu period. | 17.4% |
| 44 | Yoshitsune 義経 | Yoshitsune | 9 January 2005 | 11 December 2005 | Hideaki Takizawa (as Minamoto no Yoshitsune) | Ken Matsudaira Mikijirō Hira Kiichi Nakai Tetsuya Watari | Detail Depicts the Genpei War during late Heian period. Second depiction of Minamoto no Yoshitsune in Taiga dramas. | 19.5% |
| 45 | Kōmyō ga Tsuji 功名が辻 | Love and Glory | 8 January 2006 | 10 December 2006 | Yukie Nakama (as Yamauchi Chiyo) Takaya Kamikawa (as Yamauchi Kazutoyo) | Tetsuya Takeda Gin Maeda Akira Emoto Hiroshi Tachi | Detail Sengoku to early Edo periods. It depicts a minor samurai and his wife as dual main characters | 20.9% |
| 46 | Fūrin Kazan 風林火山 | The Trusted Confidant | 7 January 2007 | 9 December 2007 | Masaaki Uchino (as Yamamoto Kansuke) | Ichikawa Kamejirō II Gackt Sonny Chiba Tatsuya Nakadai | Detail Sengoku period. It depicts the life of one of Takeda Shingen's 24 Generals. | 18.7% |
| 47 | Atsuhime 篤姫 | Princess Atsu | 6 January 2008 | 21 December 2008 | Aoi Miyazaki (as Atsuhime) | Eita Masato Sakai Hideki Takahashi Kin'ya Kitaōji | Detail Bakumatsu period. | 24.5% |
| 48 | Tenchijin 天地人 | Heart of a Samurai | 4 January 2009 | 22 November 2009 | Satoshi Tsumabuki (as Naoe Kanetsugu) | Kazuki Kitamura Takako Tokiwa Hiroshi Abe Hiroki Matsukata | Detail Sengoku to early Edo periods. Depicts the life of one of the Uesugi clan's long-serving vassals. | 21.2% |
| 49 | Ryōmaden 龍馬伝 | Ryōmaden: The Legend | 3 January 2010 | 28 November 2010 | Masaharu Fukuyama (as Sakamoto Ryōma) | Teruyuki Kagawa Nao Ōmori Kiyoshi Kodama Kōtarō Satomi | Detail Bakumatsu period. Second depiction of Sakamoto Ryōma as the main role in Taiga dramas. | 18.7% |
| 50 | Gō 江〜姫たちの戦国〜 | Princess Go | 9 January 2011 | 27 November 2011 | Juri Ueno (as Gō) | Rie Miyazawa Asami Mizukawa Gorō Kishitani Kin'ya Kitaōji | Detail Late Sengoku to early Edo periods. | 17.7% |
| 51 | Taira no Kiyomori 平清盛 | Kiyomori | 8 January 2012 | 23 December 2012 | Kenichi Matsuyama (as Taira no Kiyomori) | Hiroshi Tamaki Masaki Okada Shota Matsuda Kiichi Nakai | Detail Late Heian period's Genpei War. The second Taiga drama to depict Taira no Kiyomori as its main character. | 12.0% |
| 52 | Yae no Sakura 八重の桜 | Yae's Sakura | 6 January 2013 | 15 December 2013 | Haruka Ayase (as Niijima Yae) | Hidetoshi Nishijima Hiroki Hasegawa Nakamura Shidō II Toshiyuki Nishida | Detail Bakumatsu to Meiji periods. | 14.6% |
| 53 | Gunshi Kanbei 軍師官兵衛 | Strategist Kanbe | 5 January 2014 | 21 December 2014 | Junichi Okada (as Kuroda Kanbei) | Miki Nakatani Tori Matsuzaka Naoto Takenaka Kyōhei Shibata | Detail Sengoku to early Edo periods. | 15.8% |
| 54 | Hana Moyu 花燃ゆ | Burning Flower | 4 January 2015 | 13 December 2015 | Mao Inoue (as Sugi Fumi) | Takao Osawa Yūsuke Iseya Kengo Kora Yoshiko Mita | Detail Bakumatsu to Meiji periods. | 12.0% |
| 55 | Sanada Maru 真田丸 | Sanada Maru | 10 January 2016 | 18 December 2016 | Masato Sakai (as Sanada Yukimura) | Yo Oizumi Masami Nagasawa Seiyō Uchino Masao Kusakari | Detail Sengoku to early Edo periods. Depicts the life of the "Last Sengoku Hero". | 16.6% |
| 56 | Onna Jōshu Naotora おんな城主 直虎 | Naotora: The Lady Warlord | 8 January 2017 | 17 December 2017 | Ko Shibasaki (as Ii Naotora) | Haruma Miura Issey Takahashi Masaki Suda Kaoru Kobayashi | Detail Sengoku to Azuchi-Momoyama periods. | 12.8% |
| 57 | Segodon 西郷どん | Segodon | 7 January 2018 | 16 December 2018 | Ryohei Suzuki (as Saigō Takamori) | Eita Keiko Kitagawa Shota Matsuda Ken Watanabe | Detail The second work to depict Saigō Takamori as its main lead in Taiga dramas. Last taiga drama to air in its entirety during the Heisei period. | 12.7% |
| 58 | Idaten いだてん～東京オリムピック噺～ | Idaten: The Epic Marathon to Tokyo | 6 January 2019 | 15 December 2019 | Nakamura Kankurō VI (as Shizo Kanakuri) Sadao Abe (as Masaji Tabata) | Haruka Ayase Takeshi Kitano Mirai Moriyama Koji Yakusho | Detail Set during Meiji and Shōwa eras. Last taiga drama to premiere during the Heisei period and the first Taiga drama to be shown during the Reiwa period. | 8.2% |
| Reiwa era |||||||||
| 59 | Kirin ga Kuru 麒麟がくる | Awaiting Kirin | 19 January 2020 | 7 February 2021 | Hiroki Hasegawa (as Akechi Mitsuhide) | Shota Sometani Mugi Kadowaki Haruna Kawaguchi Masahiro Motoki | Detail Sengoku period. First Taiga drama to premiere in the Reiwa period. | 14.4% |
| 60 | Seiten o Tsuke 青天を衝け | Reach Beyond the Blue Sky | 14 February 2021 | 26 December 2021 | Ryo Yoshizawa (as Shibusawa Eiichi) | Kengo Kora Ai Hashimoto Tsuyoshi Kusanagi Kaoru Kobayashi | Detail Meiji Restoration period to Shōwa era. | 14.1% |
| 61 | Kamakura-dono no 13-nin 鎌倉殿の13人 | The 13 Lords of the Shogun | 9 January 2022 | 18 December 2022 | Shun Oguri (as Hōjō Yoshitoki) | Eiko Koike Koji Yamamoto Yo Oizumi Toshiyuki Nishida | Detail Late Heian period's Genpei War to Kamakura period. | 12.7% |
| 62 | Dousuru Ieyasu どうする家康 | What Will You Do, Ieyasu? | 8 January 2023 | 17 December 2023 | Jun Matsumoto (as Tokugawa Ieyasu) | Kasumi Arimura Junichi Okada Keiko Kitagawa Hiroshi Abe | Detail Sengoku to early Edo periods. This work is the third depiction of where Tokugawa Ieyasu appears as the Taiga drama's starring character. | 11.2% |
| 63 | Hikaru Kimi e 光る君へ | Dear Radiance | 7 January 2024 | 15 December 2024 | Yuriko Yoshitaka (as Murasaki Shikibu) | Tasuku Emoto Akihisa Shiono Ai Mikami Yasunori Danta | Detail Set during mid-Heian period depicting the life of one of Japanese's first novel authors, who penned The Tale of Genji. | 10.7% |
| 64 | Berabou べらぼう ～蔦重栄華乃夢噺～ | Unbound | 5 January 2025 | 2025 | Ryusei Yokohama (as Tsutaya Jūzaburō) | Ken Yasuda Fuka Koshiba Hio Miyazawa Ken Watanabe | Detail Set during mid-Edo period, which depicts the life of publishing illustrated books and ukiyo-e woodblock prints. | |
| 65 | Toyotomi Kyōdai! 豊臣兄弟！ | TBA | 2026 | 2026 | Taiga Nakano (as Toyotomi Hidenaga) | Sosuke Ikematsu Riho Yoshioka Maki Sakai Shun Oguri | Detail Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. | |
| 66 | Gyakuzoku no Bakushin 逆賊の幕臣 | TBA | 2027 | 2027 | Tori Matsuzaka (as Oguri Tadamasa) | TBA | Detail Bakumatsu period. | |

## NHK Special Drama

Saka no Ue no Kumo was originally set for a 2006 broadcast as "21st Century Taiga Drama". However, the scriptwriter of the series committed suicide, causing a delay in production. The series was aired as "NHK Special Drama" in three parts, each part airing from late November to late December of each year.
| Title | season | Episodes | Start | End | Starring | Supporting cast |
| Saka no Ue no Kumo | 1 | 5 eps | 29 November 2009 | 27 December 2009 | Masahiro Motoki Hiroshi Abe Teruyuki Kagawa | Miho Kanno Gō Katō Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari |
| Saka no Ue no Kumo | 2 | 4 eps | 5 December 2010 | 26 December 2010 | Masahiro Motoki Hiroshi Abe Teruyuki Kagawa | Miho Kanno Gō Katō Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari |
| Saka no Ue no Kumo | 3 | 4 eps | 4 December 2011 | 25 December 2011 | Masahiro Motoki Hiroshi Abe Teruyuki Kagawa | Miho Kanno Gō Katō Hideki Takahashi Tetsuya Watari |

## Fantasy taiga drama

| Title | season | Episodes | Start | End | Starring | Supporting cast |
| Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit | 1 | 4 eps | 26 March 2016 | 9 April 2016 | Haruka Ayase | Masahiro Higashide Mizuki Itagaki Mikijirō Hira Tatsuya Fujiwara |
| Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit | 2 | 9 eps | 21 January 2017 | 25 March 2017 | Haruka Ayase | Masahiro Higashide Mizuki Itagaki Mikijirō Hira Tatsuya Fujiwara |
| Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit | 3 | 9 eps | 25 November 2017 | 27 January 2018 | Haruka Ayase | Masahiro Higashide Mizuki Itagaki Mikijirō Hira Tatsuya Fujiwara |

## New Big Jidaigeki

NHK broadcast three taiga dramas covering modern and contemporary history from 1984 to 1986. Instead, they specially prepared these three productions for jidaigeki fans. Many viewers see them as almost equivalent to Taiga dramas.
| # | Romanised Name | Kanji Name | Episodes | Start | End | Starring | Supporting cast |
| 1 | Miyamoto Musashi | 宮本武蔵 | 45 eps | 4 April 1984 | 13 March 1985 | Koji Yakusho | Yūko Kotegawa Eiji Okuda Kōji Naka Tetsurō Tamba |
| 2 | Sanada Taiheiki | 真田太平記 | 45 eps | 3 April 1985 | 19 March 1986 | Tsunehiko Watase | Masao Kusakari Kurara Haruka Misako Konno Tetsurō Tamba |
| 3 | Musashibō Benkei | 武蔵坊弁慶 | 34 eps | 9 April 1986 | 12 December 1986 | Nakamura Kichiemon II | Tarō Kawano Keiko Oginome Bunta Sugawara Yorozuya Kinnosuke |

## Series overviews

* Kōmyō-ga-tsuji: Yamauchi Kazutoyo no Tsuma. Takaya Kamikawa plays the role of Yamauchi Kazutoyo, the military commander and daimyō who took over the Tosa han and built Kōchi Castle. Nakama Yukie plays the role of Chiyo, the ever-supporting wife of Kazutoyo. The story by Shiba Ryōtarō spans the closing years of the Sengoku period, the Azuchi–Momoyama period, and the beginning of the Edo period.
* 武蔵 MUSASHI (2003). Kabuki actor Ichikawa Shinnosuke VII (now Ichikawa Ebizō XI) held the lead role as the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, whose lives spanned the end of the sengoku and the beginning of the Edo periods. The series was based on the Yoshikawa Eiji novel that forms the basis for most modern fiction based on the events of Musashi's life. This was the first Taiga Drama to have its title in both kanji and the Latin alphabet.
* Toshiie and Matsu (2002). Toshiaki Karasawa as Maeda Toshiie and Nanako Matsushima as Matsu recounted the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate from the point of view of an outside daimyō.
* Hōjō Tokimune (2001). Kyōgen actor Izumi Motoya played the lead character, heading a cast that included Watanabe Ken. Major events in the series included the Mongol Invasions of Japan.
* Genroku Ryōran (1999). Kabuki actor Nakamura Kankurō V played Ōishi Kuranosuke in this story set in the Genroku period, during which the events of the Forty-seven rōnin occurred.