Saka no Ue no Kumo (TV series)

Saka no Ue no Kumo
Titling by Ryōtarō Shiba
Written by Hisashi Nozawa
Takeshi Shibata
Mikio Satō
Directed by Takeshi Shibata
Mikio Satō
Taku Katō
Starring Masahiro Motoki
Hiroshi Abe
Teruyuki Kagawa
Miho Kanno
Satomi Ishihara
Takako Matsu
Mieko Harada
Yukiyoshi Ozawa
Takahiro Fujimoto
Kōji Matoba
Masaya Kato
Shinya Owada
Onoe Kikunosuke V
Tsurutaro Kataoka
Shirō Sano
Takaaki Enoki
Akira Takarada
Jun Kunimura
Ren Osugi
Masao Kusakari
Kyōko Maya
Masakane Yonekura
Akira Emoto
Hiroshi Tachi
Keiko Takeshita
Naoto Takenaka
Tōru Emori
Shirō Itō
Kōji Ishizaka
Toshiyuki Nishida
Go Kato
Hideki Takahashi
Tetsuya Watari
Narrated by Ken Watanabe
Ending theme Stand Alone by Sarah Brightman
Composer(s) Joe Hisaishi
Yuzō Toyama (Theme Music Conductor)
Country of origin  Japan
Original language(s) Japanese
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 13
Production
Executive producer(s) Yoshiki Nishimura
Producer(s) Yasuhiro Suga
Koichi Fujisawa
Running time approx. 90 min.
Release
Original network NHK
Picture format NTSC 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Audio format Dolby Digital with 5.1 channels (BS-hi)
Two-channel stereo (sub channel: Note channel, General TV, BS-2)
Original release November 29, 2009 – December 2011
External links
Website

Saka no Ue no Kumo (坂の上の雲) (lit. “Clouds Above The Slope”) is an NHK 21st Century special drama which was aired over three years starting from November 29, 2009. The series runs 13 episodes at 90 minutes each. The first series, with 5 episodes, was broadcast in 2009, while series two and three, each with 4 episodes, were broadcast in late 2010 and 2011. While most episodes were shot in Japan, one of the episodes in season two was shot in Latvia. The TV series is based on the novel of the same name by Ryōtarō Shiba and adapted by Hisashi Nozawa.[1]

The theme song of the drama series is titled "Stand Alone". It was composed by Joe Hisaishi, written by Kundō Koyama, and performed by British soprano singer Sarah Brightman.

Staff

Cast

Akiyama family

Masaoka family

Army officials and their family

Politicians and their family

Ordinary people

Foreigners

Others

Series overview

SeasonOriginally airedDVD release datesDiscs
Season 1 2009 March 15, 2010 5
Season 2 2010 Spring, 2011 4
Season 3 2011 Spring, 2012 4

Season 1 : 1868 - 1900

Season #Episode #TitleDirected byRatingOriginal airdate
1 1 "Shōnen no Kuni" (少年の国) Takeshi Shibata 17.7% November 29, 2009
2 2 "Seiun" (青雲) Takeshi Shibata 19.6% December 6, 2009
3 3 "Kokka Meidō" (国家鳴動) Takeshi Shibata 19.5% December 13, 2009
4 4 "Nisshin Kaisen" (日清開戦) Takeshi Shibata 17.8% December 20, 2009
5 5 "Ryūgaku Sei" (留学生) Ryūji Isshiki 12.9% December 27, 2009

Season 2 : 1900 - 1904

Season #Episode #TitleDirected byRatingOriginal airdate
1 6 "Nichiei Dōmei" (日英同盟) Mikio Satō 14.7% December 5, 2010
2 7 "Shiki, Yuku" (子規、逝く) Mikio Satō 15.0% December 12, 2010
3 8 "Nichiro Kaisen" (日露開戦) Takafumi Kimura 14.7% December 19, 2010
4 9 "Hirose, Shisu" (広瀬、死す) Takafumi Kimura 9.7% December 26, 2010

Season 3 : Russo-Japanese War

Season #Episode #TitleDirected byRatingOriginal airdate
1 10 "Ryojun Sō Kōgeki" (旅順総攻撃) Taku Kato 12.7% December 2011
2 11 "203 Kōchi" (二〇三高地) Taku Kato 11.0% December 2011
3 12 "Tekikan Miyu" (敵艦見ゆ) Takafumi Kimura 11.1% December 2011
4 13 "Nihon Kai Kaisen" (日本海海戦) Taku Kato 11.4% December 2011

Awards and nominations

The series was nominated in the 38th (2010) and 39th (2011) International Emmy Awards for ‘Best Drama‘.

Soundtrack and books

Soundtrack

  • "Saka no ue no kumo" Original Soundtrack (December 18, 2009) EMI Music Japan

Books

  • NHK Special Drama, Historical handbook, Saka no ue no kumo(October 30, 2009) ISBN 978-4-14-910729-5
  • NHK Special Drama guide, Saka no ue no kumo Part1(October 30, 2009) ISBN 978-4-14-407160-7
  • NHK Special Drama guide, Saka no ue no kumo Part2(October 25, 2010) ISBN 978-4-14-407173-7

Accolades

Year Award Result
2010 International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series Nominated
2011 Nominated

References

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