In the previous column, I wrote about how the TV drama “Shogun,” starring and produced by Hiroyuki Sanada (63), won 18 Emmy Awards, the most in history. What caught my attention was the part where Sanada spoke in Japanese, saying, “Period dramas have crossed seas and borders.” He seemed to be lamenting the current situation in Japan, where there are no real period dramas being produced (period dramas have become outdated). In response to the huge success of “Shogun,” the president of TV Asahi said at a regular press conference, “(Jidai dramas) are one of the most important forms of content. “I regularly produce new works, though they are one-off works,” he said. It is true that TV Asahi continues to air period dramas such as the hit “Hissatsu Shigotonin,” and is also rebroadcasting “Abarenbou Shogun” in the early morning, so it knows there is a demand for period dramas. However, the reality is that it is not so easy to start production on a movie or drama. The first and foremost reason is that period dramas are expensive. Wigs and costumes will need to be prepared for all the performers, and the number of hairstylists and dressers will need to be significantly increased. Another reason is that producing a period drama takes more than twice as long as a modern drama. Time is directly related to money. The location for filming is also a big issue. Even if you try to take a photo with a large castle tower in the background, if you look down you’ll see that most of the road is paved, so you can only take the photo from waist high. This will result in a cramped image. Even when filming outdoors with mountains in the background, a truck would come driving by in the middle of the shoot, interrupting the shoot. As we start reshooting, a plane comes flying by. Even if you take a picture so that the aircraft isn’t in the picture, the sound will still be picked up… As a result, filming often progresses very slowly. Of course, it is possible to set aside a separate budget and use the latest technology to erase them, but on the other hand, if you want to shoot a summer festival scene, you would have to build a set of the stalls and other shops that line the approach to the shrine, and even prepare costumes for the actors in the distance. And while historical accuracy is also necessary, the truth is that there are almost no people who can be called “professionals” anymore. The late Matsukata Hiroki once saw the set and pointed out, “There was nothing like this in that era.” In the end, it was actor Matsukata who did all the historical research. The hurdle is high, as it requires money, time, and people who know period dramas. Japanese television stations have low budgets, but perhaps the success of “Shogun” will be a catalyst for something. Is there anything we can do to expand our market to the world? (Shiroshita Takayuki/Entertainment Journalist).
Even if you try to take a photo with a large castle tower in the background, if you look down you’ll see that most of the road is paved, so you can only take the photo from waist high. This will result in a cramped image. CG is fine. Period dramas should have become “special effects” sooner.
>There was nothing like this in this era. This is something that happens sometimes in dramas themed around the Showa era. The Showa era was long, so there are quite a few times when something like this didn’t exist for several years.
In the first place, there aren’t many people who can appear in it, and I wonder how many of the people who are acting in dramas these days can do period dramas.
It wouldn’t work for (old people in) Japan like the historical dramas of the past. If it were a historical drama for the young people of the world like Shogun, it would be a blue ocean. But the staff of Japanese historical dramas don’t like that, because it would shake the status and standing they have built up lol.
>>27 Children loved sword fighting too. Mito Komon and Abarenbo Shogun were popular with children too. Somewhere along the line, they were taken away from their children.
Up until Katsu Shintaro’s Zatōichi, both men and women were dressed in scruffy clothes, which was true to the historical record, but in Zenigata Heiji and the NHK Taiga dramas, no one was wearing such nicely ironed kimonos, and I started to feel like they were wearing bunkin takashimada hairstyles.
>>29 It’s better than Korean historical dramas After all, Japanese viewers have historical literacy Because Koreans seriously believe it’s historical fact.
I was watching a re-run of Ooka Echizen, and halfway through the series the screen suddenly became very clear and I couldn’t stand it. It ruined the atmosphere of the period drama.
To begin with, Japanese period dramas are nothing more than modern dramas with cosplay and are simply overrated to begin with In that kind of worldview, anything goes And they start putting out idols and stuff and it just becomes a mere formality Abarenbou Shogun is easy to understand But with each series, it becomes more like a family drama.
If we’re talking about historical accuracy, married women shaved their eyebrows and blackened their teeth, and in the Edo period women didn’t sit in seiza, they basically sat with one knee raised, so the point is, don’t worry about the details.
>>46 In a really old black and white movie, there was a woman with blackened teeth and shaved eyebrows, but it didn’t look good visually or the actress didn’t like it, so it seems like they left that part out of the historical accuracy.
Comments