What Will You Do, Ieyasu?

What Will You Do, Ieyasu? (どうする家康, Dousuru Ieyasu; What Would You Do, Ieyasu?^[1])^[2] is a Japanese historical drama television series starring Jun Matsumoto as Tokugawa Ieyasu.^[3][4] The series is the 62nd NHK taiga drama.^[5][6]

What Will You Do, Ieyasu?
Written by	Ryota Kosawa
Directed by	Naoki Murahashi and others
Starring	Jun Matsumoto Kasumi Arimura Junichi Okada Nanako Matsushima Keiko Kitagawa Nao Ōmori Yuki Yamada Yosuke Sugino Rihito Itagaki Takuma Oto'o Masahiro Kōmoto Kanata Hosoda Win Morisaki Ryūto Sakuma Nanoka Hara Gordon Maeda Junpei Mizobata Nakamura Shichinosuke Alice Hirose Takayuki Yamada Tsuyoshi Muro Kenichi Matsuyama Emi Wakui Yutaka Matsushige Mansai Nomura Hiroshi Abe
Narrated by	Shinobu Terajima
Composer	Hibiki Inamoto
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of episodes	48
Production
Running time	45 minutes
Original release
Network	NHK
Release	January 8 (2023-01-08) – December 17, 2023 (2023-12-17)

Cast

Starring role

• Jun Matsumoto as Tokugawa Ieyasu
  • Waku Kawaguchi as Matsudaira Takechiyo (young Ieyasu)

Tokugawa clan

• Kasumi Arimura as Sena, Ieyasu's first wife
  • Seiko Utsumi as Sena's double
• Nanako Matsushima as Odai no Kata, Ieyasu's mother
• Kisuke Iida as Matsudaira Hirotada, Ieyasu's father
• Kanata Hosoda as Matsudaira Nobuyasu
  • Mahoro Terajima as Takechiyo (young Nobuyasu)
• Shiori Kubo (Nogizaka46) as Gotoku
  • Natsuki Matsuoka as young Gotoku
• Ami Touma as Kamehime
  • Honoka Yoshida as young Kamehime
• Alice Hirose as Lady Oai
• Yūtarō Iisaku as Saigō Yoshikatsu
• Win Morisaki as Tokugawa Hidetada
  • Rihito Shigematsu as Chōmaru (young Hidetada)
• Maiko as Gō
  • Yūka as young Gō
• Yunho as Takechiyo (young Tokugawa Iemitsu)
• Aoto Ichimura as Fukumatsu (young Matsudaira Tadayoshi)
• Takumi Kizu as Yūki Hideyasu
  • Ryūsei Iwata as Ogii (young Hideyasu)
• Yutaka Matsushige as Ishikawa Kazumasa
• Tae Kimura as Nabe, Kazumasa's wife
• The Four Heavenly Kings of the Tokugawa
  • Nao Ōmori as Sakai Tadatsugu
  • Yuki Yamada as Honda Tadakatsu
  • Yosuke Sugino as Sakakibara Yasumasa
  • Rihito Itagaki as Ii Naomasa
• Kenichi Matsuyama as Honda Masanobu
• Yūki Inoue as Honda Masazumi
• Issey Ogata as Torii Tadayoshi
• Takuma Oto'o as Torii Mototada
• Kotone Furukawa as Mochizuki Chiyo, a Kunoichi and a retainer of Takeda Clan, who later became Mototada's second wife
• Shinya Kote as Ōkubo Tadayo
• Akihito Yoshiie as Ōkubo Tadamasu
• Dai Okabe (Hanako) as Hiraiwa Chikayoshi
• Takayuki Yamada as Hattori Hanzō
• Masahiro Kōmoto as Natsume Yoshinobu, a.k.a. Natsume Hirotsugu
• Kazuki Namioka as Honda Tadazane
• Subaru Kimura as Watanabe Moritsuna
• Tetsuya Chiba as Ōnezumi
• Marika Matsumoto as Onna-ōnezumi
• Kazuo Kawabata as Anaguma
• Tsubaki Nekoze as Toyo
• Kana Kita as Oyō
• Asahi Seino as Ofū
• Shuri Nakamura as Miyo
• Rena Matsui as Oman
• Katsuya Maiguma as Ōoka Yashirō
• Kenta Nitta as Ban Yoshichirō
• Takato Yonemoto as Yamada Hachizō
• Wakana Matsumoto as Lady Acha
• Tatsumasa Murasame as William Adams, a.k.a. Miura Anjin
• Takeshi Nadagi as Ina Tadatsugu
• Ryōsei Tayama as Konchi'in Sūden
• Tetsuo (Waraimeshi) as Hayashi Razan
• Maiko Itō
• Shinobu Terajima as Lady Kasuga/narrator
• Shun Oguri as Nankōbō Tenkai

Imagawa clan

• Mansai Nomura as Imagawa Yoshimoto. He was like a father to Ieyasu.
• Junpei Mizobata as Imagawa Ujizane
  • Kuon Kazui as Tatsuō-maru (young Ujizane)
• Mirai Shida as Ito
• Atsuro Watabe as Sekiguchi Ujizumi
• Miki Maya as Tomoe
• Hana Toyoshima as Tane
• Nagisa Sekimizu as Otazu
• Gōta Watabe as Iio Tsuratatsu
• Tōru Nomaguchi as Udono Nagateru
• Uta Yorikawa as Udono Ujinaga
• Sera Ishida as Udono Ujitsugu
• Hiroyuki Amano as Yamada Shin'emon
• Kenichi Yajima as Kira Yoshiakira
• Miou Tanaka as Okabe Motonobu

Oda clan

• Junichi Okada as Oda Nobunaga
  • Kira Miura as young Nobunaga
• Hiroshi Fujioka as Oda Nobuhide, Nobunaga's father
• Yoshi Sakou as Akechi Mitsuhide
• Mitsuo Yoshihara as Shibata Katsuie
• Tatekawa Danshun as Sakuma Nobumori
• Satoshi Tokushige as Ikeda Tsuneoki
• Kenta Hamano as Oda Nobukatsu
• Tomohiro Yoshida as Oda Nobutaka
• Akira Fukuzawa as Niwa Nagahide
• Yu Shirota as Mori Nagayoshi
• Riku Ōnishi as Mori Ran, a.k.a. Mori Ranmaru
• Nozomi Makino as Hirate Masahide
• Aoi Hamada as Sanbōshi

Toyotomi clan

• Tsuyoshi Muro as Toyotomi Hideyoshi
• Emi Wakui as Nene
• Keiko Kitagawa as Yodo-dono and her mother Oichi
  • Tamaki Shiratori as Chacha (young Yodo-dono)
  • Yūwa Kamimura as young Oichi
• Ryūto Sakuma (HiHi Jets) as Toyotomi Hideyori
• Nanoka Hara as Senhime
• Atsuko Takahata as Naka
• Ryuta Sato as Toyotomi Hidenaga
• Maho Yamada as Asahi
• Nakamura Shichinosuke II as Ishida Mitsunari
• Yasushi Fuchikami as Katō Kiyomasa
• Motoki Fukami as Fukushima Masanori
• Shugo Oshinari as Ōtani Yoshitsugu
• Mansaku Ikeuchi as Konishi Yukinaga
• Tsutomu Takahashi as Shima Sakon
• Shinnosuke Abe as Kuroda Nagamasa
• Kozo Takeda as Hachisuka Iemasa
• Rin Amikawa as Tōdō Takatora
• Shin'ya Yamamaru as Yamauchi Kazutoyo
• Takayuki Hamatsu as Asano Nagamasa
• Seminosuke Murasugi as Maeda Gen'i
• Yōhei Kumabe as Mashita Nagamori
• Ikuma Nagatomo as Natsuka Masaie
• Denden as Saishō Jōtai
• Masato Yamashita as Toyotomi Hidetsugu
• Yoshito Kobashigawa as Hori Hidemasa
• Riku Kashima as Kobayakawa Hideaki
• Jun'ya Kawashima as Katagiri Katsumoto
• Tetsuji Tamayama as Ōno Harunaga
• Hacizō Hino as Chōsokabe Morichika
• Takuma Sugawara as Mōri Yoshimasa, a.k.a. Mōri Katsunaga
• Ryūhei Higashiyama as Ōtani Yoshikatsu
• Ken Kurahara as Gotō Matabei
• Hisato Kojima as Akashi Teruzumi
• Shinobu Otake as Ōkurakyō no Tsubone

Council of Five Elders (Go-Tairō)

• Shin Takuma as Maeda Toshiie
• Mitsuru Fukikoshi as Mōri Terumoto
• Kanji Tsuda as Uesugi Kagekatsu
• Shuntaro Yanagi as Ukita Hideie

Takeda clan

• Hiroshi Abe as Takeda Shingen
• Gordon Maeda as Takeda Katsuyori
• Satoshi Hashimoto as Yamagata Masakage
• Seiichi Tanabe as Anayama Baisetsu

Sanada clan

• Kōichi Satō as Sanada Masayuki
• Kaito Yoshimura as Sanada Nobuyuki
• Yui Narumi as Ina, Nobuyuki's wife and Honda Tadakatsu's daughter
• Wataru Hyuga as Sanada Nobushige, later known as Sanada "Saemonosuke" Yukimura

Others

• Kōtarō Satomi as Tōyo-shōnin
• Ichikawa Udanji III as Kūsei-shōnin
• Arata Furuta as Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the final shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate
• Yūsuke Ōnuki as Azai Nagamasa
• Anne Suzuki as Hatsu
  • Rin Furukawa as young Hatsu
• Aoi Itō as Azuki
• Susumu Terajima as Mizuno Nobumoto
• Lily Franky as Hisamatsu Toshikatsu
• Kento Nagao (Naniwa Danshi) as Hisamatsu Katsutoshi
• Akihiro Kakuta (Tokyo 03) as Matsudaira Masahisa
• Nakamura Kankurō VI as Chaya Shirōjirō Kiyonobu and his son Kiyotada
• Jin Shirasu as Okudaira Nobumasa
• Taiiku Okazaki as Torii Suneemon
• Manami Igashira as Otama
• Ai Tenshō as Ofū
• Amane Tenshō as Orin
• Rie Shibata as an old lady selling dumplings.
• Kenji Yamagami as Tsuda Sōgyū
• Kazu Murakami as Matsui Yūkan
• Kyusaku Shimada as Momochi Tanba
• Kitarō as Tarao Mitsutoshi
• Arisa Nakajima as Ii Hiyo
• Taro Suruga as Hōjō Ujimasa
• Jun Nishiyama as Hōjō Ujinao
• Takahiro as Naoe Kanetsugu
• Tsuyoshi Hayakawa as Maeda Toshinaga
• Tomonori Mizuno as Hijikata Katsuhisa
• Kenji Inoue as Kikkawa Hiroie

TV schedule

Episode	Title	Directed by	Original airdate	Rating
1	"Dousuru Okehazama" (どうする桶狭間)	Taku Katō	January 8, 2023 (2023-01-08)	15.4%
2	"Usagi to Ookami" (兎と狼)	Naoki Murahashi	January 15, 2023 (2023-01-15)	15.3%
3	"Mikawa Heitei-sen" (三河平定戦)		January 22, 2023 (2023-01-22)	14.8%
4	"Kiyosu de Dousuru!" (清須でどうする！)		January 29, 2023 (2023-01-29)	13.9%
5	"Sena Dakkan Sakusen" (瀬名奪還作戦)	Taku Katō	February 5, 2023 (2023-02-05)	12.9%
6	"Zoku Sena Dakkan Sakusen" (続・瀬名奪還作戦)	Takeshi Kawakami	February 12, 2023 (2023-02-12)	13.3%
7	"Washi no Ie" (わしの家)	Michi Ono	February 19, 2023 (2023-02-19)	13.1%
8	"Mikawa-Ikki de Dousuru!" (三河一揆でどうする！)	Takeshi Kawakami	February 26, 2023 (2023-02-26)	12.1%
9	"Mamorubeki Mono" (守るべきもの)	Michi Ono	March 5, 2023 (2023-03-05)	11.8%
10	"Sokushitsu o Dousuru!" (側室をどうする！)		March 12, 2023 (2023-03-12)	7.2%[7]
11	"Shingen tono Mitsuyaku" (信玄との密約)	Naoki Murahashi	March 19, 2023 (2023-03-19)	10.9%
12	"Ujizane" (氏真)		March 26, 2023 (2023-03-26)	11.0%
13	"Ieyasu, Miyako e Yuku" (家康、都へゆく)	Takeshi Kawakami	April 2, 2023 (2023-04-02)	11.0%
14	"Kanegasaki de Dousuru!" (金ヶ崎でどうする！)		April 16, 2023 (2023-04-16)	11.4%
15	"Anegawa de Dousuru!" (姉川でどうする！)	Satoshi Tanaka	April 23, 2023 (2023-04-23)	11.1%
16	"Shingen o Okoraseruna" (信玄を怒らせるな)	Taku Katō	April 30, 2023 (2023-04-30)	10.7%
17	"Mikatagahara Kassen" (三方ヶ原合戦)	Michi Ono	May 7, 2023 (2023-05-07)	10.1%
18	"Shin Mikatagahara Kassen" (真・三方ヶ原合戦)	Naoki Murahashi	May 14, 2023 (2023-05-14)	10.9%
19	"Otetsuki shite Dousuru" (お手付きしてどうする)	Taku Katō	May 21, 2023 (2023-05-21)	11.5%
20	"Okazaki Coup d'état" (岡崎クーデター)	Yūdai Noguchi	May 28, 2023 (2023-05-28)	10.4%
21	"Nagashino o Sukue!" (長篠を救え！)	Takeshi Kawakami	June 4, 2023 (2023-06-04)	10.8%
22	"Shitaragahara no Tatakai" (設楽原の戦い)	Satoshi Tanaka	June 11, 2023 (2023-06-11)	10.8%
23	"Sena, Kakusei" (瀬名、覚醒)	Michi Ono	June 18, 2023 (2023-06-18)	10.2%
24	"Tsukiyama e Tsudoe" (築山へ集え)	Taku Katō	June 25, 2023 (2023-06-25)	10.0%
25	"Haruka ni Tōi Yume" (はるかに遠い夢)	Naoki Murahashi	July 2, 2023 (2023-07-02)	10.6%
26	"Burari Fuji Yūran" (ぶらり富士遊覧)	Takeshi Kawakami	July 9, 2023 (2023-07-09)	10.7%
27	"Azuchi-jō no Kettō" (安土城の決闘)	Taku Katō	July 16, 2023 (2023-07-16)	10.0%
28	"Honnō-ji no Hen" (本能寺の変)	Naoki Murahashi	July 23, 2023 (2023-07-23)	12.7%
29	"Iga o Koero!" (伊賀を越えろ！)	Takeshi Kawakami	July 30, 2023 (2023-07-30)	11.5%
30	"Aratanaru Hasha" (新たなる覇者)	Yūdai Noguchi	August 6, 2023 (2023-08-06)	9.4%
31	"Shijō-saidai no Kessen" (史上最大の決戦)	Satoshi Tanaka	August 13, 2023 (2023-08-13)	10.1%
32	"Komaki-Nagakute no Gekitō" (小牧長久手の激闘)	Taku Katō	August 20, 2023 (2023-08-20)	10.2%
33	"Uragirimono" (裏切り者)		August 27, 2023 (2023-08-27)	10.1%
34	"Toyotomi no Hanayome" (豊臣の花嫁)	Michi Ono	September 3, 2023 (2023-09-03)	11.7%
35	"Yokubō no Kaibutsu" (欲望の怪物)	Naoki Murahashi	September 17, 2023 (2023-09-17)	10.1%
36	"Oai Nikki" (於愛日記)		September 24, 2023 (2023-09-24)	9.9%
37	"Saraba Mikawa-kashin-dan" (さらば三河家臣団)	Takeshi Kawakami	October 1, 2023 (2023-10-01)	10.1%
38	"Kara-iri" (唐入り)	Toki Kajiwara	October 8, 2023 (2023-10-08)	7.4%
39	"Taikō, Kutabaru" (太閤、くたばる)	Naoki Murahashi	October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15)	10.4%
40	"Tenkabito Ieyasu" (天下人家康)	Yūdai Noguchi	October 22, 2023 (2023-10-22)	11.1%
41	"Gyakushū no Mitsunari" (逆襲の三成)	Satoshi Tanaka	October 29, 2023 (2023-10-29)	10.1%
42	"Tenka Wakeme" (天下分け目)	Takeshi Kawakami	November 5, 2023 (2023-11-05)	10.0%
43	"Sekigahara no Tatakai" (関ヶ原の戦い)	Toki Kajiwara	November 12, 2023 (2023-11-12)	11.9%
44	"Tokugawa-Bakufu Tanjō" (徳川幕府誕生)	Naoki Murahashi	November 19, 2023 (2023-11-19)	11.0%
45	"Futari no Prince" (二人のプリンス)	Satoshi Tanaka	November 26, 2023 (2023-11-26)	11.6%
46	"Ōsaka no Jin" (大坂の陣)	Shūsuke Nakamura	December 3, 2023 (2023-12-03)	11.6%
47	"Ranse no Bōrei" (乱世の亡霊)	Takeshi Kawakami	December 10, 2023 (2023-12-10)	11.0%
48	"Kami no Kimi e" (神の君へ)	Naoki Murahashi	December 17, 2023 (2023-12-17)	12.3%
Average rating 11.2% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research (Kantō region).[8]

Omnibus

Episode	Title	Original airdate	Original airtime
1	"Hajimari no Toki" (始まりのとき)	December 29, 2023	13:05 - 14:14
2	"Shiren no Toki" (試練のとき)		14:14 - 15:24
3	"Yakudō no Toki" (躍動のとき)		15:29 - 16:39
4	"Kakugo no Toki" (覚悟のとき)		16:39 - 17:49

Reception

The show has the second worst viewerships rating Taiga drama since NHK launched its first historical drama show. The reason was stated that although younger generation of NHK drama viewers increased, the older generations received the show negatively due to the portrayal of Ieyasu being timid and the sympathetic portrayal of Lady Tsukiyama, contrary to the traditional image of both characters since Edo period. Furthermore, this show has garnered mixed views from history academics since it depicted many historical inaccuracies..^[9]