There is a lot of talk about the drama “What to do, Ieyasu”.
The historical background of the drama is a mess, and the drama has no weight as an epic drama. However, this is the fate of a huge historical content.
As I recall, last year’s “Kamakura-dono,” too, had just begun and was being criticized in various ways.
When I think of Tokugawa Ieyasu, I am reminded of the Shohachi Yamaoka version, but I have enjoyed watching this year’s Taiga quite a bit, even though I have only seen a few episodes.
I have already watched or read about Tokugawa Ieyasu, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the other three heroes of the Warring States period so much that I know their characters and lives better than my relatives, if not better than my uncle.
Of course, we all know the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Yes, because in the end, he would take over the country.
If you know a little bit about history, you will be able to easily understand the episodes between the “Battle of Okehazama,” the “Battle of Mikagahara,” and the “Iga-Koshi Era,” but you may not be able to understand the documentary-like story of Tokugawa Ieyasu.
However, I think the producers know that if they were to follow the story in a documentary-like fashion, they would not be able to surpass “Tokugawa Ieyasu,” who was played by Ei Takita a long time ago.
So, how do you make a life story of someone we all know interesting? The title of the film makes this clear.
What to do, Ieyasu”. In other words, the emphasis is on what Ieyasu thought, hesitated, and suffered when he had to make important decisions at each stage of his life until he took the reigns of the Emperor.
Of course, we make decisions every day of our lives. Starting from today’s lunch, to business decisions, to management decisions of presidents of small and medium-sized companies, to policy decisions of prime ministers, and other huge things.
Ieyasu is the perfect person to make these decisions, from the small decision of whether to join the Imagawa or Oda families to the big decision of destroying the Toyotomi family.
Of course, we do not have the opportunity to make such decisions, but we do think and worry about things like buying a car or a house, or deciding on a career path. I am sure that historical figures would have done the same.
I am sure that the great men and women of history must have made their decisions without hesitation and with a cool expression on their faces. We tend to think that is why they are heroes. Perhaps that is not true. I am sure that he must have had a stomach ache, rolled around on the floor, and lost many strands of hair.
However, regardless of warlords such as Tokugawa Ieyasu, politicians and executives are probably faced with such big decisions day and night.
In such situations, through Tokugawa Ieyasu, how did people make “decisions” and what should they do? I believe that this historical drama will depict the difficulty and growth of these people.
If we put emphasis on dramatically depicting the dynamism of decision making, it is inevitable that the historical background will be limited. If you don’t understand that, you may feel that this Taiga is just a crazy drama.
I think “What to do, Ieyasu” is, in other words, “Tell me how you made decisions on a problem that was getting heavier and heavier.”
See you soon.
