Sakanoue no Kumo
2009 NHK TV Mini Series 10 Episodes
Director: N/A
Cast: Motoki Masahiro, Abe Hiroshi, Kagawa Teruyuki, Kanno Miho, Ozawa Yukiyoshi
The TV series is based on the novel Saka no ue no kumo by Ryōtarō Shiba and adopted by Hisashi Nozawa.
It is 1868, the birth of the modern state of Japan after the collapse of the shogunate system which lasted for 260 years. The fifth son of the Akiyama family of Iyo Matsuyama in Shikoku is born. He is named Akiyama Saneyuki (childhood name: Akiyama Jungoro). After the Meiji Restoration, the Matsuyama domain’s public finances run out and feudal retainers live in dire poverty. It is especially miserable for the Akiyama family which has many children.
However, Saneyuki’s older brother, Yoshifuru, (childhood name: Akiyama Shinzaburo) is more delighted than anyone about Saneyuki’s birth and takes good care of him. The 16-year-old Yoshifuru aims to enter a normal school (now called teachers college) which does not require school fees and sets off for Osaka. After that, he goes up to Tokyo and enrolls at the military academy before returning home. Yoshifuru suggests that his parents let Saneyuki go on to junior high school using his own allowance.
A few years later, Saneyuki’s classmate and childhood friend, Masaoka Shiki (known as Noboru) drops out of junior high school and goes up to Tokyo with his sights set on Daigaku Preparatory School (predecessor of Daiichi Preparatory School). Saneyuki would also like to study in Tokyo.
His wish is granted by Yoshifuru and Saneyuki enters the Kyoryu School (now Kaisei Junior & Senior High School) in Kanda that Shiki attends. One day, the two of them are invited by their English language teacher to go to the enclave for foreign residents in Yokohama. Saneyuki and Shiki see the most advanced cruiser over there and are overwhelmed by its majestic appearance …
Akiyama Yoshifuru and Akiyama Saneyuki and the poet Masaoka Shiki who used their ingenuity to fight an uphill battle during the Russo-Japanese War.
2009 Color Widescreen 10 Episodes on 2 Discs
Japanese with Removable English and Chinese Subtitles
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