Idaten

Plot

The drama focuses on the stories of two Japanese Olympians from different times of the 20th century: marathon runner Shiso Kanakuri, who took part in the 1912 Stockholm Summer Olympics and one of the first Japanese athletes to compete in the Games, and swimming coach Masaji Tabata, known as a founding father of Japanese swimming and was part of the successful efforts to bring the Olympics to Japan.

Cast

Starring

Nakamura Kankurō VI as Shiso Kanakuri, a marathon runner

Rintarō Hisano as child Shiso

Daichirō Funamoto as teen Shiso

Sadao Abe as Masaji Tabata, a reporter and swimming coach

Soma Santoki as young Masaji (early teens)

Yūya Hara as young Masaji (late teens and early twenties)

Kanakuri family

Nakamura Shidō II as Sanetsugu Kanakuri, Shiso's brother

Tomorowo Taguchi as Nobuhiko Kanakuri, Shiso's father

Yoshiko Miyazaki as Shie Kanakuri, Shiso's mother

Hisako Ōkata as Suma Kanakuri, Shiso's grandmother

Ikebe family

Haruka Ayase as Suya Haruno, Shiso's wife

Riri Harashima as young Suya

Shinobu Otake as Ikue Ikebe, Shiso's adoptive mother

Yō Takahashi as Shigeyuki Ikebe, Suya's deceased husband

Tabata family

Kumiko Asō as Kikue, Masaji's wife

Toshie Negishi as Ura Tabata, Masaji's mother

Haruka Uchimura as Shōkichi Tabata, Masaji's older brother

Ai Yoshikawa as Atsuko Tabata, Masaji's daughter

Mishima family

Toma Ikuta as Yahiko Mishima

Yukiyoshi Ozawa as Yatarō Mishima

Kayoko Shiraishi as Wakako Mishima, Yahiko and Yatarō's mother

Shiso's friends

Hana Sugisaki as Shima, Gorin's grandmother, and Riku, Gorin's mother

Tasuku Emoto as Masuno, Shima's husband and Riku's father

Taiga Nakano as Masaru Komatsu, Riku's husband and Gorin's father

Hiroki Miyake as Shinsaku Kurosaka (eps. 16 onwards)

Pierre Taki as Shinsaku Kurosaka (eps. 4–10)

Mayumi Satō as Chō Kurosaka, Shinsaku's wife

Ryo Katsuji as Hidenobu Mikawa

201 Ami as Sanpo Toku

JOC / Japan Amateur Athletic Association

Kōji Yakusho as Jigorō Kanō, the 1st President of the Japanese Olympic Committee

Ryō Iwamatsu as Seiichi Kishi, the 2nd President

Jun Inoue as Juichi Tsushima, the 7th President

Yutaka Takenouchi as Hyozo Omori, the team manager at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics

Charlotte Kate Fox as Annie Shepley Omori, Hyozo's wife

Kanji Furutachi as Isao Kani

Tetta Sugimoto as Dōmei Nagai

Toshiyuki Nagashima as Chiyosaburō Takeda

Kazunaga Tsuji as Hisayoshi Kanō

Shinobu Terajima as Tokuyo Nikaidō

Tori Matsuzaka as Yukiaki Iwata

Yutaka Matsushige as Ryotaro Azuma, the Governor of Tokyo

Miou Tanaka as Tadaoki Yamamoto

Japanese members of the IOC

Masaya Kato as Yōtarō Sugimura

Shinya Tsukamoto as Michimasa Soejima

Japan Swimming Federation

Sarutoki Minagawa as Ikkaku Matsuzawa

The people living in Asakusa

Takeshi Kitano as Kokontei Shinshō V / the storyteller

Mirai Moriyama as Kōzō Minobe (young Shinshō) / the storyteller

Shino Ikenami as Rin Minobe, Shinshō's wife

Kaho as young Rin

Ryunosuke Kamiki as Gorin

Ai Hashimoto as Koume

Kazunobu Mineta as Sei-san

Suzuki Matsuo as Tachibanaya Enkyō IV, Shinshō's master

Tokio Emoto as Manchō

Rina Kawaei as Chie, Gorin's lover

Yoshiyoshi Arakawa as Imamatsu

Kyōko Koizumi as Mitsuko, Shinshō's eldest daughter

Maki Sakai as Kimiko, Shinshō's second daughter

Nakamura Shichinosuke II as Sanyūtei Enshō VI

Asahi Shimbun

Lily Franky as Taketora Ogata, Masaji's boss

Kenta Kiritani as Ichirō Kōno, Masaji's rival

Hiroto Ōshita as young Ichirō

Kazuhiro Yamaji as Ryōhei Murayama

Jirō (Sissonne) as Odaka

Tengu Club

Shinnosuke Mitsushima as Shinkei Yoshioka

Koen Kondo as Rinsen Nakazawa

Sō Takei as Shunrō Oshikawa

Other athletes

Kento Nagayama as Genzaburō Noguchi

Koharu Sugawara as Kinue Hitomi

Rintarō Ikeda as Chūhei Nambu

Naruki Matsukawa as Mikio Oda

Yūsuke Gambale as Sohn Kee-chung, a.k.a. Son Kitei

Kai Inowaki as Yoshinori Sakai

Mikuri Kiyota as Kumie Suzuki

Ken Sugawara as Kōkichi Tsuburaya

Takumi Saitoh as Katsuo Takaishi

Takahiro Miura as Kazuo Noda

Moka Kamishiraishi as Hideko Maehata

Shunsuke Daitō as Yoshiyuki Tsuruta

Kento Hayashi as Tsutomu Ōyokota

Ōshirō Maeda as Reizo Koike

Mai Kiryū as Hatsuho Matsuzawa

Arisa Sasaki as Kazue Kojima

Nagisa Nishino as Yukie Arata

Yūta Uchida as Masaji Kiyokawa

Jun Nishiyama as Yasuji Miyazaki

Kosuke Kitajima as Hironoshin Furuhashi

Daisuke Hosokawa as Shiro Hashizume

Sakura Ando as Masae Kasai

Other politicians

Tadanobu Asano as Shōjirō Kawashima, the secretary-general of the LDP

Issey Ogata as Hidejirō Nagata

Kitarō as Toratarō Ushizuka

Kenichi Hagiwara as Korekiyo Takahashi

Sansei Shiomi as Tsuyoshi Inukai

Sei Hiraizumi as Shigenobu Ōkuma, the founder of Waseda University

Kenta Hamano as Hirobumi Itō

Katsuya Kobayashi as Gorō Miura

Tatekawa Danshun as Hayato Ikeda

Hideaki Matsunaga as Kōichi Kido

Hiroshi Ōkōchi as Kenji Fukunaga

Foreigners

Nicolas Lumbreras as Pierre de Coubertin , the founder of the IOC

Jappe Claes as Henri de Baillet-Latour , the third president of the IOC

Michael Sorich as Avery Brundage , the fifth president of the IOC

Don Johnson as Avery Brundage in the 1930s

Dasha Teranishi as Mrs. Brundage

Dino Spinella as Benito Mussolini

Francesco Biscione as Alberto Bonacossa

Daniel Schuster as Adolf Hitler

Huang Shi as Wang Zhengting

Laz B as William May Garland

Didier as Auguste Gérard

Eduardo Breda as Francisco Lázaro

Edvin Endre as Daniel , an interpreter

Max Backholm as Paul Zerling

Marc-Olivier Caron as Buster Crabbe

Marthe Romund as Martha Genenger

Kai Hoshino Sandy as Jacob , an interpreter

Derebe as Abebe Bikila

Danny Winn as Douglas MacArthur

Steve Wiley as Edwin O. Reischauer

Lutfi Bakhtiyar as Sukarno

NHK

Gen Hoshino as Kazushige Hirasawa, a foreign affairs commentator

Tortoise Matsumoto as Sansei Kasai

Masato Wada as Teru Yamamoto

Daichi Watanabe (Kuroneko Chelsea) as Hisaya Morishige

Taishi Masaoka as Seigorō Kitade

Other journalists

Mizuki Yamamoto as Honjō

Sō Yamanaka as Zenmaro Toki

Other people related to the 1964 Summer Olympics

Ryuhei Matsuda as Kenzō Tange, an architect

Kōki Mitani as Kon Ichikawa, a film director

Kenta Hamano as Haruo Minami, a singer

Daisuke Kuroda as Nobuo Murakami, a chef

Tetsu Hirahara as Kenkichi Oshima

Kenta Maeno as Yūsaku Kamekura, a graphic designer

Umika Kawashima as Yasuko Ōgawara, an interpreter

Taro Suruga as Haruhide Matsushita, an aircraft pilot

Ren Sudō as Tadamasa Fukiura

Yoshimi Tokui (Tutorial) as Hirofumi Daimatsu

Akihiro Kakuta (Tokyo 03) as Eiichi Morinishi, a taxi driver

Cunning Takeyama as the owner of Suimeitei

Hideto Iwai as Hideo Kitahara

Shinshō Nakamaru as Shigeru Yosano

Others

Hiroko Yakushimaru as Marie

Yuina Kuroshima as Tomie Murata

Itsuji Itao as Daisaku Murata, Tomie's father

Hajime Inoue as Sadatsuchi Uchida

Kenta Satoi as Dr. Haruno, Suya's father

Bengal as Kinji Tajima

Raikō Sakamoto as a katsudō-benshi

Kang Sang-jung as Mr. Gojō

Hiroaki Nerio as a man with a mustache

Shiyun Nakamura as Count Maresuke Nogi

Makita Sports as a prisoner

Moemi Katayama as Chii-chan

Lisa Oda as Naomi

Shōko Nakajima as Mitsue Maehata, Hideko's mother

Suon Kan as Fukutarō Maehata, Hideko's father

Naozumi Masuko (Dohatsuten) as Akira Kurosawa, a film director

Tetsuya Chiba as Yoshijirō Umezu

Ryosuke Otani as Ryōzō Hiranuma

Yamagen (Charcoal Zone) as Sadaharu Oh

Mariko Tsutsui as Teruko, Ryotaro Azuma's wife

Mitsuru Fukikoshi

Kankurō Kudō as a taxi driver

Production

Music – Otomo Yoshihide

On November 16, 2016, NHK announced that its 58th taiga drama will be about Japan's participation in the Olympic Games from 1912 up to 1964, with Kankurō Kudō as writer and Tsuyoshi Inoue as chief director. The drama series' title, Idaten: Tokyo Orinpikku-banashi (subtitle: "A Tale of the Tokyo Olympics"), was revealed on April 4, 2017.

Casting

The main cast of the series was announced on November 1, 2017, which included Nakamura Kankurō VI, Sadao Abe, Haruka Ayase, Toma Ikuta, Hana Sugisaki, Kento Nagayama, and Ryo Katsuji among others. The second cast announcement on November 29, 2017, included Takeshi Kitano as Kokontei Shinshō V. The third cast announcement on March 30, 2018, included Tomorowo Taguchi, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Kenta Satoi, and Yō Takahashi. The fourth cast announcement on December 14, 2018, included Gen Hoshino, Tori Matsuzaka, and Yutaka Matsushige. The fifth cast announcement on March 5, 2019, included Shinobu Terajima, Yuina Kuroshima, Koharu Sugawara, Kaho, and Itsuji Itao. Two more cast announcements were done on April 24 and May 17, 2019.

On March 12, 2019, actor-musician Masanori "Pierre" Taki, who portrayed the role of tabi craftsman Shinsaku Kurosaka, was arrested in Tokyo due to his admission of drug use. This came after authorities searched his home in Setagaya Ward and tested him positive for cocaine use from a urine sample. He was eventually replaced by Hiroki Miyake in the series.

TV schedule

Home media

The first 13 episodes and 11 succeeding episodes of Idaten were released in separate Blu-ray box sets in Japan on April 24, 2020. DVD edition box sets were also released on the same day. Episodes 25 to 36 and 37 to 47 were later released in separate Blu-ray box sets as well on May 22, 2020, along with their respective DVD versions.

Soundtracks

Idaten Taiga Drama Original Soundtrack (Release date: March 6, 2019)

Idaten Taiga Drama Original Soundtrack Part Two (Release date: July 24, 2019)

Idaten Taiga Drama Original Soundtrack Final (Release date: November 20, 2019)

Memorable quotes

Jigorō Kanō: We mustn't burden athletes with the pressure to win. It's about competing fairly, for peace. Competing with respect for your opponent. That's the spirit of the Olympics, just like Japan's martial arts. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 1)

Jigorō Kanō: Earlier, I dreamt of an Idaten (god of running). He was so fast. He had the legs of an antelope. The face of an elephant. Holding a victory cup. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 1)

Jigorō Kanō: (To Shiso Kanakuri) Look! 2 hours, 32 minutes, 45 seconds. You've broken the world record! Kanakuri, you're our Idaten to take on the world! (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 1)

Shiso Kanakuri: (Writing in his diary) July 6, 1912, Sunny. The day has arrived. Mishima holds the flag, I hold the placard. No other athletes on our team. A procession of two. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 2)

Shiso Kanakuri: (To Yahiko Mishima, who has lost his self-confidence after training with towering Westerners) Our one step forward is a step for all Japanese! Don't forget that. No matter how fast or slow we are, our steps have meaning! (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 2)

Portuguese Athlete: (Mourning the death of his teammate Francisco Lázaro, who has competed with Shiso Kanakuri in the marathon and collapsed during the race at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics) Lázaro... Such a poor man... Such a poor man. 42 degrees of fever. He's been rushed to the hospital. And in his death bed, he's still running. He's always running... always running... until his last breath. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 2)

Masaji Tabata: (To Korekiyo Takahashi, Japanese Minister of Finance) We can't just rely on donations anymore. In rich countries, sports are popular nationwide. You politicians should use sports to your advantage. Give us money, and you'll have a say. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 3)

Kinue Hitomi: (After losing the women's 100m sprint in semifinals at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, wildly sobbing) May I run in the 800 tomorrow? Men can go home defeated, but a woman cannot. They'll say women are no good. They'll laugh and say it's pointless to try and run like a man! I'm carrying the hopes of all female athletes. All their dreams will end because of me! (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 3)