Brothers in Arms (TV series)
2026 Japanese TV series or program
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Brothers in Arms (豊臣兄弟!, Toyotomi Kyōdai!)[1]is a Japanese historical drama television series starring Taiga Nakano as Toyotomi Hidenaga. The series is the 65th NHK taiga drama.[2][3]
Written byHiroyuki Yatsu
Directed byYoshio Watanabe and others
Starring
- Taiga Nakano
- Sosuke Ikematsu
- Riho Yoshioka
- Minami Hamabe
- Sei Shiraishi
- Maki Sakai
- Emma Miyazawa
- Anna Kurasawa
- Onoe Ukon II
- Ayumu Nakajima
- Kouhei Matsushita
- Shunsuke Daito
- Jun Kaname
- Masaki Suda
- Makiya Yamaguchi
- Aoi Miyazaki
- Shun Oguri
Narrated bySakura Ando
| Brothers in Arms | |
|---|---|
| |
| Written by | Hiroyuki Yatsu |
| Directed by | Yoshio Watanabe and others |
| Starring |
|
| Narrated by | Sakura Ando |
| Composer | Hideakira Kimura |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original language | Japanese |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production company | NHK |
| Original release | |
| Network | NHK General TV |
| Release | January 4, 2026 |
Plot
Born into a poor farming family, Koichiro (later Toyotomi Hidenaga) spent peaceful days tilling the fields with his family. However, one day, his long-missing elder brother, Tokichiro (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi), returned. Tokichiro had become a samurai serving Oda Nobunaga and asked Koichiro to work as his assistant. Koichiro hesitated briefly, but ultimately accepted. This is where the grand success story of the two brothers, bound by a strong bond, truly begins.
Cast
Starring role
- Taiga Nakano as Toyotomi Hidenaga
- Seigou Hirayama as young Hidenaga
His family
- Sosuke Ikematsu as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hidenaga's brother
- Yura Kimura as young Hideyoshi
- Riho Yoshioka as Chika, Hidenaga's wife
- Minami Hamabe as Nene, Hideyoshi's wife
- Maki Sakai as Naka, Hidenaga and Hideyoshi's mother
- Kensaku Kobayashi as Yaemon, Hidenaga and Hideyoshi's father[a]
- Emma Miyazawa as Tomo, Hidenaga and Hideyoshi's sister
- Shusaku Kamikawa as Yasuke (Miyoshi Yoshifusa), Tomo's husband
- Sakura Otokida as Yorozumaru, Tomo and Yasuke's son
- Anna Kurasawa as Asahi, Hidenaga and Hideyoshi's sister
- Mizuki Maehara as Jinsuke (Soeda Yoshinari), Asahi's husband
- Ichirōta Miyagawa as Asano Nagakatsu, Nene's father
- Yoko Moriguchi as Fuku, Nene's mother
- Coco Masui as Yaya, Nene's sister
- Nobunaga Daichi as Asano Nagayoshi, a.k.a. Asano Nagamasa. Yaya's husband.
- Nagi Inoue as Chacha, Hideyoshi's concubine
Hideyoshi's vassals
- Masaki Suda as Takenaka Hanbei
- Yuki Kura as Kuroda Kanbei
- Tsutomu Takahashi as Hachisuka Masakatsu
- Hiroki Numaguchi as Inada Tanemoto
- Leo Matsumoto as Ishida Mitsunari
- Gen Ito as Katō Kiyomasa
- Yuki Matsuzaki as Fukushima Masanori
- So Kaku as Tōdō Takatora
- Jun Nishiyama as Hirano Nagayasu
- Ikuma Nagatomo as Katagiri Katsumoto
The people of Nakamura village
- Sei Shiraishi[b] as Nao, Hidenaga's first love
- Rana Izutani as young Nao
- Koji Okura as Sakai Kizaemon, Nao's father
- Yōji Tanaka as Ryoun, a monk
- Jiei Wakabayashi as Shinkichi
- Yuki Takao as Genta
Oda clan
- Shun Oguri as Oda Nobunaga
- Shuga Murakami as young Nobunaga
- Aoi Miyazaki as Oichi
- Makiya Yamaguchi as Shibata Katsuie
- Shunsuke Daito as Maeda Toshiie
- Yūka Sugai as Maeda Matsu, Toshiie's wife
- Jun Kaname as Akechi Mitsuhide
- Yuta Koseki as Oda Nobutada
- Kousei Yuki as Oda Nobutaka
- Naoto Takenaka as Matsunaga Hisahide
- Daikichi Sugawara as Sakuma Nobumori
- Hiroto Kanai as Sakuma Morishige
- Taro Suwa as Hayashi Hidesada
- Kenji Mizuhashi as Mori Yoshinari
- Ichikawa Danko V as Mori Ranmaru
- Tetsuhiro Ikeda as Niwa Nagahide
- Jin Shirasu as Sassa Narimasa
- Kento Shibuya as Maeno Nagayasu
- Masanobu Katsumura as Yokokawa Jinnai
- Masaki Kaji as Kido Kozaemon
- Shingo Murakami as Takeda Sakichi
- Takenori Kaneko as Yanada Masatsuna
- Motoki Nakazawa as Oda Nobukatsu (Nobuyuki), Nobunaga's brother
- Shoma Ishita as young Nobukatsu
- Atsushi Ogata as Tsuda Nobuzumi
- Kenta Izuka as Takigawa Kazumasu
- Arata Horii as Ikeda Tsuneoki
- Tortoise Matsumoto as Araki Murashige
- Kasumi Yamaya as Dashi, Murashige's wife
- Takato Nagata as Mōri Shinsuke
- Nao Kakuya as Hattori Koheita
Tokugawa clan
- Kouhei Matsushita as Tokugawa Ieyasu
- Takaya Sakoda as Ishikawa Kazumasa
- Omi Natsuki as Honda Tadakatsu
Azai clan
- Ayumu Nakajima as Azai Nagamasa
- Takaaki Enoki as Azai Hisamasa, Nagamasa's father
- Kosei Omi as Manpukumaru
- Donpei as Miyabe Keijun
- Kanata Irei as Endō Naotsune
Saito clan
- Tatsuomi Hamada as Saitō Tatsuoki
- Daigo as Saitō Yoshitatsu, Tatsuoki's father
- Akaji Maro as Saitō Dōsan, Tatsuoki's grandfather
- Tetsushi Tanaka as Andō Morinari, Chika's father
- Eiji Okuda as Horiike Yorimasa, Chika's father-in-law
- Yumi Asō as Horiike Kinu, Chika's mother-in-law
- Satoru Matsuo as Osawa Jirozaemon
- Kurara Emi as Shino, Jirozaemon's wife
- Rairu Sugita as Osawa Mondo
- Yasuhito Shimao as Inaba Yoshimichi (Ittetsu)
- Yamato Kochi as Ujiie Naomoto
Ashikaga shogunate
- Onoe Ukon II as Ashikaga Yoshiaki
- Yoshiaki Kameda as Hosokawa Fujitaka
- Ryosuke Mikata as Mitsubuchi Fujihide
- Takamasa Tamaki as Wada Koremasa
Mōri clan
- Shogo Hama as Mōri Terumoto
- Tatekawa Danshun as Ankokuji Ekei
Others
- Gitan Ohtsuru as Imagawa Yoshimoto
- Shosuke Kajiya as Rin'ami
- Masanobu Takashima as Takeda Shingen
- Kazuaki Ishii as Yamagata Masakage
- Junya Kudo as Uesugi Kenshin
- Shingo Tsurumi as Asakura Yoshikage
- Mansaku Ikeuchi as Asakura Kageaki
- Hiroshi Shigeoka as Asakura Kagetake
- Hiroyuki Isobe as Chōsokabe Motochika
- Masato Wada as Imai Sōkyū
- Magy as Tsuda Sōgyū
- Ryouhei Abe as Iwanari Tomomichi
- Hideki Nakano as Miyoshi Nagayasu
- Yohei Okuda as Miyoshi Soi
- Koji Yamamoto (Time Machine No. 3) as Noto-ya
- Futoshi Seki (Time Machine No. 3) as Tachibanaya Matasaburo
- Naoyuki Fernandez as Luís Fróis
- Suguru Adachi as Murakawa Takenosuke
- Miou Tanaka as Bessho Yoshichika
- Shugo Oshinari as Bessho Shigemune
- Daisuke Kuroda as Kakujo
TV schedule
| Episode | Title | Directed by | Original airdate | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Nihiki no Saru" (二匹の猿) | Yoshio Watanabe | January 4, 2026 | 13.5% |
| 2 | "Negai no Kane" (願いの鐘) | January 11, 2026 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | "Kessen Zen'ya" (決戦前夜) | January 18, 2026 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | "Okehazama!" (桶狭間!) | Tetsuya Watanabe | January 25, 2026 | 13.1% |
| 5 | "Uso kara deta Makoto" (噓から出た実) | Tadashi Tanaka | February 1, 2026 | 12.5% |
| 6 | "Kyodai no Kizuna" (兄弟の絆) | February 15, 2026 | 11.8% | |
| 7 | "Kesshi no Chikujo Sakusen" (決死の築城作戦) | Yoshio Watanabe | February 22, 2026 | 10.9% |
| 8 | "Sunomata Ichiya-jo" (墨俣一夜城) | March 1, 2026 | 12.1% | |
| 9 | "Takenaka Hanbei to iu Otoko" (竹中半兵衛という男) | Tetsuya Watanabe | March 8, 2026 | 10.4% |
| 10 | "Nobunaga Joraku" (信長上洛) | March 15, 2026 | 12.1% | |
| 11 | "Honkoku-ji no Hen" (本圀寺の変) | Yu Sakai | March 22, 2026 | 11.6% |
| 12 | "Odani-jo no Saikai" (小谷城の再会) | Yoshio Watanabe | March 29, 2026 | 11.4% |
| 13 | "Giwaku no Hanayome" (疑惑の花嫁) | April 5, 2026 | 11.8% | |
| 14 | "Zettai Zetsumei!" (絶体絶命!) | Shinichiro Ishikawa | April 12, 2026 | 12.2% |
| 15 | "Anegawa Daikassen" (姉川大合戦) | Tetsuya Watanabe | April 19, 2026 | 11.6% |
| 16 | "Kakugo no Hieizan" (覚悟の比叡山) | Yu Sakai | April 26, 2026 | 11.9% |
| 17 | "Odani Rakujo" (小谷落城) | Yoshio Watanabe | May 3, 2026 | 10.4% |
| 18 | "Hashiba Kyodai!" (羽柴兄弟!) | May 10, 2026 | ||
| 19 | "Kako kara no Shikaku" (過去からの刺客) | May 17, 2026 | ||
| 20 | "Honmono no Hiragumo" (本物の平蜘蛛) | May 24, 2026 | ||
| 21 | "Fuun! Takeda-jo" (風雲! 竹田城) | May 31, 2026 | ||
Notes
- Although Hideyoshi and Hidenaga were long believed to be half-brothers, recent research suggests that both were children of Yaemon and Naka. This drama adopts the latter theory.
- The role was initially announced to be played by Mei Nagano, but she withdrew from the part just before the start of filming after reports about her in Shūkan Bunshun. NHK urgently sought a replacement actress, and Sei Shiraishi was chosen.[4]