Idaten (TV series)

Idaten: Tokyo Orinpikku-banashi (いだてん〜東京オリムピック噺〜) is a Japanese historical drama television series and the 58th NHK taiga drama. It stars Nakamura Kankurō VI and Sadao Abe as marathon runner Shiso Kanakuri and swimming coach Masaji Tabata respectively. It began broadcasting in 2019 as part of the lead up to the 2020 Summer Olympics for which NHK was, under the Japan Consortium, principal co-host broadcaster. This drama marks the 55th anniversary of the 1964 Summer Olympics, which the NHK broadcast. It is the second post-war taiga drama in NHK history (the first was Inochi: Life in 1986) and the last series to premiere in the Heisei era and the first series to air during the Reiwa era. The series received an average rating of 8.2%, the lowest in history for a taiga drama.

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.

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
 * Miho Izumikawa as Emiko Miyamoto
 * Koharu Sakai as Kinuko Tanida
 * Nagisa Matsunaga as Yuriko Handa
 * Shen Tanaka as Yoshiko Matsumura
 * Miyū Kitamuki as Sata Isobe
 * Yūko Watanabe as Emiko Suzuki

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 🇵🇹 Athletics_pictogram.svg
 * Edvin Endre as Daniel 🇸🇪, an interpreter
 * Max Backholm as Paul Zerling 🇸🇪 Athletics_pictogram.svg
 * Marc-Olivier Caron as Buster Crabbe 🇺🇸 Swimming_pictogram.svg
 * Marthe Romund as Martha Genenger Swimming_pictogram.svg
 * Kai Hoshino Sandy as Jacob, an interpreter
 * Derebe as Abebe Bikila Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1936; 1941-1974).svg Athletics_pictogram.svg
 * Danny Winn as Douglas MacArthur 🇺🇸
 * Steve Wiley as Edwin O. Reischauer 🇺🇸
 * Lutfi Bakhtiyar as Sukarno 🇮🇩
 * Eduwart Manalu as Allen 🇮🇩, an interpreter
 * Raja as Guru Dutt Sondhi 🇮🇳
 * Alioune as Léon Yombe Athletics_pictogram.svg
 * Max as Henri Elendé Athletics_pictogram.svg

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.

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)
 * Japanese-American Old Man: (To Masaji Tabata, just after the Japanese swimming team has won a bunch of medals at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics) Today, a white person spoke to me. What do you think he said? [...] "Are you Japanese? Congratulations!" [...] What's important is he talked to me. It's been 27 years since I came to the United States. This was the first time. A white person holding my hand, saying, "Congratulations! Congratulations!" I've never been happier in my life. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 3)
 * Hideko Maehata: (To Masaji Tabata) Stop saying Ganbare (Do your best)! If doing my best was good enough, I would've won in Los Angeles! (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 4)
 * Martha Genenger: (To Hideko Maehata, just after losing to Maehata in the women's 200m breaststroke event at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, with a big smile) Let's swim again sometime! (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 4)
 * Reizo Koike: My cousin enlisted [as a soldier]. We're basically the same age. I feel guilty. I can't focus on swimming. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 4)
 * Masaji Tabata: (To Jigorō Kanō, who is adamant about holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo on schedule) I beg you. Please... Give back the Games. We can't do this. It's disrespectful to the Olympics under these circumstances. I understand how you feel. It's excruciatingly embarrassing. But know this. The only person who can do it, is you. [...] Is this the Japan you want to show the world? [...] Think of the future. Think! If you gracefully bow out now, after the war we'll have another chance. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 4)
 * Masaji Tabata: (As Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers and not allowed to take part in the 1948 London Olympics) I was enraged, so we held The Other Olympics. [...] Same day, same time as the swimming events. The exact same schedule. (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 5)
 * Masaji Tabata: (To Kazushige Hirasawa, who is not keen on Tokyo becoming the host city for the 1964 Olympics) We did some awful, disgusting things in Asia. We must do something fun for people! Too early? You must be kidding. It's almost too late! (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 5)
 * Kazushige Hirasawa: (At an IOC session to select the host city for the 1964 Olympics) I have here with me a textbook used by the sixth graders at Japanese primary schools. Seven pages of this textbook are devoted to an article called "The Flag with Five Circles." The article begins this way. "Olympics. Olympics. Our hearts jump a bit when we hear these words. Athletes gather from all over the world, hoisting aloft their national flags. The athletes compete against each other under the same rules and the same conditions. Peoples from widely separated parts of the world develop friendship while vying for victory. It might be said that the Olympic Games form the biggest festival of youth dedicated to peace." Is this not the time for the fifth continent represented by the Olympic Circles to let the Olympic Games come to the continent Asia? (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 5)
 * Masaji Tabata: (To Yukiaki Iwata, watching together the closing ceremony of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where the athletes rush the field, sometimes arm in arm or riding piggyback, in a disorganized and chaotic spectacle) Iwata, once more, I need to... express my gratitude. Thank you. It was perfect! They were my Olympics. Now they're everybody's! (IDATEN The Epic Marathon to Tokyo: Episode 6)