Choshichiro Edo Nikki (長七郎江戸日記) (Choshichiro's Edo Diaries) was a long-running prime-time television series in Japan. The title character was Matsudaira Choshichiro Nagayori, the son of Tokugawa Tadanaga. The premise of the show focuses on Tadanaga's death as a result of an alleged plot to overthrow his elder brother, the third shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu. Choshichiro lives among the commoners in the shogunal capital city of Edo. Kōtarō Satomi portrayed Choshichiro throughout the series.
Contents
Plot
During the reign of the third shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu, Choshichiro Nagayori Matsudaira, an exalted personage who was the shogun's nephew, disobeyed the shōgun's wish and left shogunate service. He was the son of Tadanaga Tokugawa, Suruga's chief councilor who lost his life vying for the shōgun's position with Iemitsu. Now he lives in Edo, working for a local newspaper, but secretly working to bring justice to the ordinary people of Edo.
Broadcast
The show ran from 1983 to 1991 on the Nippon Television network. It occupied the Tuesday evening 8:00–8:54 time slot.
The first series began on October 18, 1983 and continued to December 23, 1986. It consisted of 125 episodes. The second series, 68 episodes long, ran from January 5, 1988 to September 26, 1989. The third (and last) series consisted of 40 episodes broadcast between October 16, 1990 and September 24, 1991.
Affiliates of the Nippon Television network have regularly rebroadcast the show. Most recently, the Jidaigeki Senmon Channel has carried the series on the Sky Perfect satellite. Some other stations also include it on their daytime schedules.
Selected episodes are available in boxed sets of DVDs.
It airs subtitled in Hawaii on Nippon Golden Network.
Episode list
First series
1. The Double-Sided Notebook (両面ノート)
2. The Distinguished Event of the Falcon Presentation (ファルコンプレゼンテーションの特別なイベント)
3. The Elegant Festival (優雅な祭り)
SP-1 (千姫有情、母ありき)
SP-2 (天下を取れ!仕掛けられた反乱)
SP-3 (柳生の陰謀)
51. The Golden Dream (黄金の夢)
52. The Phantom Mother (幻の母を見た)
SP-4 (怨霊見参!長七郎、弟と対決)
60. (大江戸女番長始末記)
61. The Shogun Games (寛永御前試合・竜、立て!)
62. Two Tamasaburos (ふたり玉三郎)
63. Mother (おふくろさんよ‥‥)
64. (俺ァ江戸さ行くだ)
65. The One Mistake (たった一度のあやまち)
66. Mastermind (からくり人形使い)
67. Female Ninja's Love (くの一化粧)
68. Man on the Pardon Ship (御赦免船の男)
69. Spunk of Old Bandits (老盗の心意気)
70. Don't Cry, Tora (泣くな!寅)
SP-5 (母は敵か?!正雪の陰謀)
71. Eager Young Constables (十手にかけた青春)
72. Face in the Lightning (稲妻に浮かぶ顔)
Second series
SP-1 千姫有情、母ありき
1. Winter Camellia (散るが命か、寒椿)
2. Courageous Decision (意気に感ず)
3. The Fugitive Returns (帰って来た逃亡者)
4. Never Another Spring (手折られた白梅)
5. (仇討ちという殺人)
6. Spring is Near (春遠からじ)
7. Passing Shower (はしり雨)
8. Murder Counting Song (人斬り数え唄)
9. Princess Who Saw Hell (地獄を覗いた姫君)
10. Lonely Mother's Journey (母ひとり旅)
11. A Man Who Sold His Life (命を売る男)
SP-2. (天下を取れ!仕掛けられた反乱)
12. A Tragic Woman (悲しい女)
13. Old Soldiers Don't Die (老兵は死なず)
14. Mom's Cooking (おふくろの味)
15. River Styx Bridge (三途の橋)
16. The Boy Who Loved Birds (小鳥を愛した少年)
17. Love's Courier Service (夫婦飛脚・恋の綱引)
18. Hollyhock and Hydrangea (葵と紫陽花)
19. My Wife, My Life (妻こそ我が命)
20. (夢いくたび・母の暦)
21. (友情の命燃やして)
Cast
These are the main characters in the show.
All series
Choshichiro: Kōtarō Satomi
Tatsusaburō (Tatsu): Shōhei Hino
Miyake Takubei: Tappei Shimokawa
Oren: Yumiko Nogawa
Yagyū Munefuyu: Tetsuro Tamba (special appearances)
Narrator: Taketoshi Naitō (Series 1, part), Ryō Kurosawa (Series 1 (part), 2, 3)
Series 1
Gyūkichi (Gyū-san): Kaku Takashina (1919–1994)
Series 2
Tomokichi: Ichirōta Miyakawa
Ogin: Miho Takagi
Series 3
Naniwaya Kikuzō: Gannosuke Ashiya (1931–2004)
Onatsu: Chizuru Azuma