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Hiroshi66
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
EvaLSeraphim, it's great that you got to see the Noh performance! I just love Noh -- the music is so captivating and interesting to listen to. I think we saw a noh performance in one of the early episodes of Atsuhime, I think it was before Atsu left from Satsuma to Edo. Speaking of the drum, it sure does seem pretty difficult to learn! Ikushima sure was a tough teacher. 
Hmm, I don't think it was ever explained in the series as to why Kazunomiya didn't become the Senior Ladyship after the death of Iemochi. She technically should have been allowed to, since she was the wife of the former shogun. In real life, though, I think it is true that Lady Tenshoin refused to relinquish the role to Kazunomiya. By the time Iemochi passed away in 1866, the Tokugawa were already at war with Choshu, so the shogunate was faced with a serious crisis. Tenshoin probably felt that she should retain her position as the head of the Ooku rather than relinquishing the title to Kazunomiya.
I think it might have also had something to do with Tenshoin and Kazunomiya's relationship in real life. Even though we saw them gradually begin to get along in the drama, I remember reading in a few articles that the two of them didn't get along at all, even after Iemochi's death. Kazunomiya was only 20 when she was widowed, so Tenshoin probably decided it was best for her to remain as head of the Ooku.
The history of the Ooku is fascinating, and watching this drama gives us a glimpse of how they lived in those days.
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2/8/2009, 8:09 pm
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brad6
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
I think that Atsu in life was a very strong individual. She was not at all like the actress who played her in the drama. She was taller ,by her photograph, and not at all pretty. She was an intelligent woman with a great deal of knowledge of political manoevering;
She definitely did not like the young princess by any means. She did not make her arrival or life in the Ooku pleasant in any way and never did become friendly. I doubt she would relinquish her position of power to become just a person of stature in the Ooku under the Princess at all. She was too powerful to be demoted and played a very large role in the workings of the Shogunate. Probably the men in power would prefer to have her at hand for discussions. She was after all ,very well versed in all things Tokugawa.
Peggy
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2/8/2009, 11:30 pm
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EvaLSeraphim
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J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
The thing that I found *very* interesting is that when Kazunomiya moved back to Edo / Tokyo once the Emperor moved there, was that Kazunomiya lived at the home Katsu until she died of beriberi. Or so says Wikipedia, if you search for Kazunomiya.
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2/8/2009, 11:40 pm
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brad6
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
I have just been roaming through sites about Princess Kazu. Fascinating life and very interesting woman. She was a poet and wrote hundreds of waka poems throughout her life with references to her daily life.
She really loved her first fiancee and never forgot him. Her Shogan husband also had another love and therefore they became good friends and had a calm marriage.
She died in 1877 and in that year a lot of things were happening elsewhere in the world. for instance...
It was the first year of WIMBLEDON and the tennis championships...
Thomas Edison invented the first phonograph
Rutherford B Hayes became US President although someone else won the popular vote......
Queen Victoria became the Empress of India.
Incredible how close we are to the Tokugawa time in Japan.
Once you begin to search these Japanese Royals you become lost in history and then find a trail which brings you back to our own time.
Peggy
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2/9/2009, 4:21 pm
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NChan
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
class blockquote ralphm1999 wrote:
I will be going thru serious withdrawal for weeks. And I surely will watch many of the episodes over and over. I cannot express enough
how impressed I am with this incredible work of True Art. The acting, scenery, story line are all majestic and will garner many more viewers
thru the years. Aoi chan now has to rank with the top artists not only in Japan but the entire cinematic world.
 Yes, Aoi has proven her acting talent in Atsuhime and is now one of the top artist in Japan. At the moment she is busy promoting her new movie Shonen Merikensakku, her first comedy movie which will open this Saturday, February 14. After her fantastic performance in Atshuhime I guess her fans & a lot of people here right now are having great expectation that she will also do well in this new movie and so everyone is looking forward to seeing how she was pulling it off especially that it is a completely different image from Atsuhime.
Check this out! This is in Niigata, about 4,000 people came to see her.
http://www.meriken-movie.jp/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58-oavQLa7g&feature=related
Thanks a lot for all your posts here about Atsuhime, I am following and enjoying them though after that I have to re-watched the drama because I terribly would miss it.
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2/10/2009, 5:27 am
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brad6
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
Remember Shogun Yoshinobu??
Well after he resigned as Shogun..and after Japan became more open to the West..he became very interested in photography and spent a lot of his time with this hobby..
He also produced children...
Eleven boys and twelve girls... or was it 12 boys and eleven girls.?
He was considered to be a very handsome and aristocratic looking man and looked very much at ease in Western suits.
He certainly did not retire into obscurity and contemplation.
I wonder where he lived, and was he so rich that he could keep a wife and concubines all those years.
Peggy
Last edited by brad6, 2/11/2009, 12:39 pm
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2/11/2009, 12:38 pm
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Hiroshi66
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
Peg, thanks for sending me this link about the life of Princess Kazunomiya! Like Atsu's life, I think Kazunomiya's life and story is also very fascinating. What a difficult transition it must have been for her to leave her entire life at the Kyoto imperial court and then marry the shogun in the distant city of Edo. Here's the link to the article.
http://royalwomen.tripod.com/id9.html
I wonder if they will ever make a drama about Kazunomiya? That might be popular, as well.
I agree, I think Tenshoin was portrayed very differently in the drama than in real life. I've been doing more research about her, and like Peg mentioned, it seems she really made life for Kazunomiya miserable in the Ooku. Remember that episode where Kazunomiya married Iemochi? Tenshoin gave up her cushion so Kazunomiya could sit there. In real life... that didn't seem to be the case. Tenshoin ordered Kazunomiya to sit on the lower seating without a cushion. She must have been a very proud woman.
Interesting about Yoshinobu, also. He must have had very many children, I think he must have received some sort of pension from the government after his rank was restored.
Interesting that Tenshoin passed away only 126 years ago. This entire story and historical period is much closer to us than it seems. I just really miss this drama!
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2/14/2009, 9:36 am
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nchristi
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
For me, the Taigas are mostly entertainment with a dollop of history plopped on top. The dollop whets my appetite to read further, frequently leading to a real treasure trove. (Atsuhime's palanquin!)
I remind myself not to take what I see too seriously, as borne out by the fact that so many taigas portraying the same historical figure present him/her as heroic in one and villainous in another. But that's true to life, isn't it? (A current example is President Bush. Many see him as heroic, while others judge him as villainous. Whoever produces the movie—or taiga—determines which way the figure is portrayed.)
What I do see as historically accurate, and of interest to me, are the costuming and social culture of the era. And those things are truly educational towards understanding Japanese history, culture, and what motivated many of the events down through the warrior era. The abundant artistic feast to the eyes, heart, and spirit is also monumental.
I'm so behind that I haven't even watched the first episode of our new taiga. Guess I'd better start making tracks here before episode 2 comes up tonight.
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2/14/2009, 11:52 am
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Hiroshi66
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
Nchristi, that's a really good point about the taiga dramas. Even though what is portrayed is often not historically accurate, it often inspires me to read further and continue to find out more information on the life and times of our characters! After watching Atsuhime, I've not only become fascinated with Edo Castle and the Ooku, but also with the history of Satsuma and the Shimazu family. I'd really love to visit Kagoshima one day and see all the historical sites associated with the characters in our drama. And then of course, seeing Atsu's palanquin would be the icing on the cake!
Yeah, it seems that depending on the views of the production, a certain historical figure can either be portrayed positively or negatively. I was reading that in a lot of movies about the life of Kazunomiya, Tenshoin is often portrayed as a villainous mother-in-law who treated her DIL with contempt. And then there is a Japanese movie released a few years ago named Ooku, which looks at a less historically accurate account of the Ooku in its last years. Tenshoin here is portrayed more like she was in the taiga. Ironically, the actress who portrays Tenshoin in that movie is Kanno Miho, who plays the role of Nurse Tanaka in our Magicbell drama, Tomorrow!
Really interesting drama. I wonder if the historical sites still stand today in Kagoshima. One of my friends is from Kagoshima, and I asked him if Tsurumaru Castle (the Shimazu family estate where Atsu lived for a little bit) is still standing. He said the ruins are there -- a lot of the castle was destroyed during the Seinan War of 1877 (the same war where Saigo committed suicide.)
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2/23/2009, 7:41 am
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brad6
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Re: J-Drama: 篤姫 (Atsu-hime)
There is a great eruption going on of the Sakurajima volcano in the Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan./
this must be the area where Atsu lived in her early days as a child.
I wonder if we saw this at any time during the drama. I know I remember a mountain peak across the bay but it had only one peak ...the volcano has three peaks. It is very active right now.
Peggy
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3/9/2009, 11:42 pm
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