Reach Beyond the Blue Sky

Narrated byNami MorimotoTheme music composerNaoki SatōCountry of originJapanOriginal languageJapaneseNo. of episodes41ProductionProducerMaiko ItagakiRunning time45 minutesOriginal releaseNetworkNHKReleaseFebruary 14, 2021 (2021-02-14)

Reach Beyond the Blue Sky (青天を衝け, Seiten o Tsuke) is a Japanese historical drama television series starring Ryo Yoshizawa as Shibusawa Eiichi, a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". The series is the 60th NHK taiga drama, premiered on February 14, 2021.^[1]

• Ryo Yoshizawa as Shibusawa Eiichi (also known as Eijirō, Eiichirō, Tokudayū, Tokutarō)
  • Masahito Kobayashi as young Eiichi
• Kaoru Kobayashi as Shibusawa Ichirōemon, Eiichi's father
• Emi Wakui as Shibusawa Ei, Eiichi's mother
• Eri Murakawa as Shibusawa Naka, Eiichi's older sister
  • Nanoha Oda as young Naka
• Ryōko Fujino as Shibusawa Tei, Eiichi's younger sister
  • Honoka Yoshida as young Tei
• Kengo Kora as Shibusawa Kisaku (later known as Shibusawa Seiichirō), Eiichi's cousin
  • Shūto Ishikawa as young Kisaku
• Riko Narumi as Shibusawa Yoshi, Kisaku's wife
• Sei Hiraizumi as Shibusawa Sōsuke, Eiichi's uncle
• Mayumi Asaka as Shibusawa Masa, Eiichi's aunt
• Rina Ono as Shibusawa Uta, Eiichi's daughter
  • Chisato Yamasaki as young Uta
• Sawa Nimura as Ōuchi Kuni
• Yūki Izumisawa as Shibusawa Tokuji
• Shō Kasamatsu as Shibusawa Keizo
• Kentarō Tamura as Hozumi Nobushige
• Kenta Uchino as Sakatani Yoshirō
• Akana Ikeda as Shibusawa Kotoko
• Yuko Oshima as Itō Kaneko, Eiichi's second wife
• Yūki Yagi as Shibusawa Fumiko

• Seiichi Tanabe as Odaka Junchū, Chiyo's older brother
• Shinnosuke Mitsushima as Odaka Chōshichirō
  • Kōsei Sutō as young Chōshichirō
• Ai Hashimoto as Odaka Chiyo, Eiichi's first wife
  • Aiko Iwasaki as young Chiyo
• Kenshi Okada as Odaka Heikurō (later known as Shibusawa Heikurō), Eiichi's cousin
  • Haru Takagi as young Heikurō
• Satomi Tezuka as Odaka Yahe, Odaka family's mother
• Mai Tezuka as Odaka Kise, Junchū's wife
• Mei Hata as Odaka Yū, Junchū's daughter

• Naoto Takenaka as Tokugawa Nariaki, Yoshinobu's father and the 9th Lord of Mito
• Hideko Hara as Yoshiko, Yoshinobu's mother
• Ayumu Nakajima as Tokugawa Yoshiatsu, Nariaki's eldest son and the 10th Lord of Mito
• Rihito Itagaki as Tokugawa Akitake, Yoshiatsu and Yoshinobu's half-brother
• Ikkei Watanabe as Fujita Tōko, Nariaki's confidant
• Kanji Tsuda as Takeda Kōunsai, Nariaki's confidant
• Kisetsu Fujiwara as Fujita Koshirō, Tōko's son

• Tsuyoshi Kusanagi^[2] as Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun
  • Motoi Kasamatsu as Shichirōmaro (young Yoshinobu)
• Shinichi Tsutsumi as Hiraoka Enshirō, Yoshinobu's confidant
• Yoshino Kimura as Hiraoka Yasu, Enshirō's wife
• Rie Mimura as Tokushin-in, Yoshinobu's grandmother
• Rina Kawaei as Mika-gimi (Ichijō Mikako), Yoshinobu's wife
• Toshiya Tōyama as Ikai Katsusaburō, Hitotsubashi House's side servant
• Kazuki Namioka as Kawamura Ejūrō, Enshirō's subordinate
• Kimihiko Hasegawa as Nakane Chōjūrō
• Minosuke as Kurokawa Kahei
• Hiroyuki Onoue as Hara Ichinoshin

• Yoshi Ikuzō as Tokugawa Ieyoshi, the 12th shogun
• Daichi Watanabe (Kuroneko Chelsea) as Tokugawa Iesada, the 13th shogun
• Mone Kamishiraishi as Tenshō-in Atsuhime, Iesada's wife
• Rie Minemura as Utahashi, Iesada's nanny
• Hayato Isomura as Tokugawa Iemochi, the 14th shogun
• Mai Fukagawa as Princess Kazu, Iemochi's wife and Emperor Kōmei's younger half-sister

• Gorō Kishitani as Ii Naosuke, the tairō
• Ryohei Otani as Abe Masahiro, member of Shogun's Council of Elders
• Kenta Satoi as Hotta Masayoshi, member of Shogun's Council of Elders
• Hiroyuki Sase as Kuze Hirochika
• Ryūnosuke Karasawa as Naitō Nobuchika
• Rikiya Koyama as Sakai Tadashige
• Takeshi Matsumura as Mizuno Tadakiyo

• Mitsuru Hirata as Kawaji Toshiakira, Chief Financial Official
• Yasuhi Nakamura as Nagai Naoyuki, Coastal Defense
• Satoru Kawaguchi as Iwase Tadanari

• Keita Machida as Hijikata Toshizō

• Jun Shison as Sugiura Aizō
• Mansaku Ikeuchi as Kurimoto Joun
• Sō Yamanaka as Tanabe Taichi
• Akira Okamori as Mukōyama Kazufumi
• Yoshihiko Hosoda as Dr. Takamatsu Ryōun
• Atsuhiro Inukai as Fukuchi Gen'ichirō
• Shinji Takeda as Oguri Kozukenosuke (Tadamasa)
• Miou Tanaka as Tanuma Okitaka
• Hiroshi Yamamoto as Yamataka Nobuakira

• Seiichi Kohinata as Matsudaira Katamori
• Shunpei Kohinata as Matsudaira Sadaaki

• Jun Kaname as Matsudaira Yoshinaga, a.k.a. Matsudaira Shungaku, Fukui feudal lord
• Teppei Koike as Hashimoto Sanai, Fukui feudal warrior

• Shin'ya Niiro as Shimazu Nariakira, 28th Head of the Shimazu clan
• Narushi Ikeda as Shimazu Hisamitsu, Lord of Satsuma Domain and the guardian of Shigehisa
• Hanamaru Hakata as Saigō Takamori
• Kanji Ishimaru as Ōkubo Toshimichi, Hisamitsu's confidant
• Yu Tokui as Orita Yōzō
• Dean Fujioka as Godai Tomoatsu
• Ryūnosuke Matsumura as Mishima Michitsune
• Joe Hyūga as Kawamura Sumiyoshi

• Onoe Ukon II as Emperor Kōmei, 121st Emperor of Japan
• Naoki Inukai as Emperor Meiji, 122nd Emperor of Japan
  • Suzuri Shibasaki as Prince Sachi
• Takaya Yamauchi as Iwakura Tomomi
• Yōhei Okuda as Prince Kuni Asahiko
• Yuta Kanai as Sanjō Sanetomi
• Keiichirō Mori as Nijō Nariyuki
• Mizuki Tsujimoto as Empress Eishō
• Ryōtarō Okiayu as Ōgimachisanjō Sanenaru
• Masami Horiuchi as Nakayama Tadayasu

• Morley Robertson as Matthew C. Perry, a commodore of the U.S. Navy
• Blake Crawford as Henry A. Adams
• Charles Glover as Townsend Harris
• Kyle Card as Ernest Mason Satow
• Ian Moore as Harry Parkes
• Alexandre Sagar as Alexander von Siebold
• Greg Dale as Paul Flury-Hérard
• Didier Carelock as Léon Roches
• Jeffrey Rowe as Charles de Montblanc
• Julien Jaulin as Napoleon III
• Marie Moilliet as Eugénie de Montijo
• Nozomi de Lencquesaing as Mermet de Cachon
• Arno Le Gall as Leopold II of Belgium
• Massimo Biondi as Paul Brunat
• Riccardo Balzarini as Alexander Allan Shand
• Frederic Benoliel as Ulysses S. Grant
• Michelle Take as Julia Grant
• Brent Olian as Jesse Grant
• Gaetano Totaro as Theodore Roosevelt
• Neil Garrison as William Howard Taft
• Dong Hao as Sun Yat-sen
• Ricky Anderson as Frank A. Vanderlip
• Jamie Schyy as George Eastman
• Don Johnson as Lyman J. Gage

• Ikusaburo Yamazaki as Itō Hirobumi
• Kōji Ōkura as Ōkuma Shigenobu
• Aki Asakura as Ōkuma Ayako, Shigenobu's wife
• Shūichirō Masuda as Etō Shinpei
• Masaki Miura as Maejima Hisoka
• Wataru Takagi as Tamano Yofumi
• Kaisei Kamimura as Akamatsu Noriyoshi
• Seiji Fukushi as Inoue Kaoru
• Reika Manaki as Inoue Takeko
• Ren Komai as Inoue Sueko
• Kazuaki Hankai as Komura Jutarō
• Reki Amada as Katō Takaaki
• Kenjirō Ishimaru as Hara Takashi
• Yoshimasa Kondo as Shidehara Kijūrō
• Yoshiyuki Ōmori as Katō Tomosaburō
• Masato Mitani as Tokugawa Iesato
• Tōsei Ishida as Kaneko Kentarō
• Kazunari Uryū as Soeda Juichi

• Nakamura Shikan VIII as Iwasaki Yatarō
• Shugo Oshinari as Iwasaki Yanosuke

• Kin'ya Kitaōji as Tokugawa Ieyasu,^[3] the first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the host of the series.
• Tōru Watanabe as Umeda Shinnosuke, Armor dealer in Edo
• Hiroshi Tamaki as Takashima Shūhan, Western-style gunner
• Yoshi Sakō as Tone Yoshiharu, Okabe Domain magistrate
• Shunya Itabashi as Sanada Hannosuke, swordsman
• Ginnojō Yamazaki as Ōhashi Totsuan, Edo Confucian scholar
• Tetsu Watanabe as Kakubei
• Tomori Abe as Suma
• Shōdai Fukuyama as Kōno Kenzō
• Masataka Matsubara as Inokichi
• Hajime Yamazaki as Rōro Sakatani
• Daikichi Sugawara as Date Munenari, 8th Head of the Uwajima Domain
• Ryūshi Mizukami as Yamauchi Yōdō, 15th Head of the Tosa Domain
• Takuo Inari as Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, 14th Head of the Owari Domain
• Nakamura Mantarō as Fukuzawa Yukichi
• Issey Ogata as Minomura Rizaemon
• Junpei Yasui as Masuda Takashi
• Hisahiro Ogura as Ono Zen'emon
• Katsumi Kiba as Ōkubo Ichiō
• Yōji Tanaka as Hagiwara Shirobei
• Tadashi Ōtake as Hiraoka Junzō
• Ryūji Kasahara as Kijima Matabei
• Kumi Kureshiro as Masuda Eiko
• Takashi Okabe as Ōkura Kihachirō
• Rio Kanno as Ōkura Tokuko
• Kōki Osamura as Sasaki Yūnosuke
• Kanda Hakuzan VI as Kanda Hakuzan II
• Jiro Okamoto as Kijūrō
• Kōzō Haginoya as Kodama Gentarō
• Kazu Murakami as Dr. Takaki
• Hiro Ueno as Yasoda Meitarō
• Yūichi Yasoda as Kitasato Shibasaburō

Episode	Title	Directed by	Original airdate	Rating
1	"Eiichi, Mezameru" (栄一、目覚める)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	February 14, 2021 (2021-02-14)	20.0%
2	"Eiichi, Odoru" (栄一、踊る)		February 21, 2021 (2021-02-21)	16.9%
3	"Eiichi, Shigoto-hajime" (栄一、仕事はじめ)		February 28, 2021 (2021-02-28)	16.7%
4	"Eiichi, Okoru" (栄一、怒る)	Naoki Murahashi	March 7, 2021 (2021-03-07)	15.5%
5	"Eiichi, Yureru" (栄一、揺れる)		March 14, 2021 (2021-03-14)	16.2%
6	"Eiichi, Munasawagi" (栄一、胸騒ぎ)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	March 21, 2021 (2021-03-21)	15.5%
7	"Seiten no Eiichi" (青天の栄一)	Naoki Murahashi	March 28, 2021 (2021-03-28)	14.2%
8	"Eiichi no Shūgen" (栄一の祝言)	Kensuke Matsuki	April 4, 2021 (2021-04-04)	15.3%
9	"Eiichi to Sakuradamon-gai no Hen" (栄一と桜田門外の変)	Naoki Murahashi	April 11, 2021 (2021-04-11)	14.5%
10	"Eiichi, Shishi ni Naru" (栄一、志士になる)	Kensuke Matsuki	April 18, 2021 (2021-04-18)	13.9%
11	"Yokohama Yakiuchi Keikaku" (横濱焼き討ち計画)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	April 25, 2021 (2021-04-25)	14.1%
12	"Eiichi no Tabidachi" (栄一の旅立ち)		May 2, 2021 (2021-05-02)	13.4%
13	"Eiichi, Kyō no Miyako e" (栄一、京の都へ)	Kenji Tanaka	May 9, 2021 (2021-05-09)	13.9%
14	"Eiichi to Unmei no Shukun" (栄一と運命の主君)		May 16, 2021 (2021-05-16)	15.5%
15	"Tokudayū, Satsuma Sennyū" (篤太夫、薩摩潜入)	Hideaki Kawano	May 23, 2021 (2021-05-23)	15.3%
16	"Onjin Ansatsu" (恩人暗殺)	Naoki Murahashi	May 30, 2021 (2021-05-30)	14.6%
17	"Tokudayū, Namida no Kikyō" (篤太夫、涙の帰京)	Kenji Tanaka	June 6, 2021 (2021-06-06)	14.2%
18	"Hitotsubashi no Futokoro" (一橋の懐)	Hideaki Kawano	June 13, 2021 (2021-06-13)	14.2%
19	"Kanjōkumigashira Shibusawa Tokudayū" (勘定組頭 渋沢篤太夫)	Yūto Osaki	June 20, 2021 (2021-06-20)	13.6%
20	"Tokudayū, Seiten no Hekireki" (篤太夫、青天の霹靂)	Naoki Murahashi	June 27, 2021 (2021-06-27)	14.6%
21	"Tokudayū, Tōki Michi e" (篤太夫、遠き道へ)	Hideaki Kawano	July 4, 2021 (2021-07-04)	16.5%
22	"Tokudayū, Paris e" (篤太夫、パリへ)	Kenji Tanaka	July 11, 2021 (2021-07-11)	14.7%
23	"Tokudayū to Saigo no Shōgun" (篤太夫と最後の将軍)		July 18, 2021 (2021-07-18)	14.1%
Three weeks off due to the Olympic Games broadcast.
24	"Paris no Goisshin" (パリの御一新)	Kenji Tanaka	August 15, 2021 (2021-08-15)	14.3%
25	"Tokudayū, Kikoku suru" (篤太夫、帰国する)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	August 22, 2021 (2021-08-22)	12.0%
Two weeks off due to the Paralympic Games broadcast.
26	"Tokudayū, Saikai suru" (篤太夫、再会する)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	September 12, 2021 (2021-09-12)	12.7%
27	"Tokudayū, Sunpu de Hagemu" (篤太夫、駿府で励む)	Naoki Murahashi	September 19, 2021 (2021-09-19)	12.6%
28	"Tokudayū to Yaoyorozu no Kami" (篤太夫と八百万の神)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	September 26, 2021 (2021-09-26)	13.8%
29	"Eiichi, Kaisei suru" (栄一、改正する)	Akihiro Tajima	October 3, 2021 (2021-10-03)	13.1%
30	"Shibusawa Eiichi no Chichi" (渋沢栄一の父)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	October 10, 2021 (2021-10-10)	13.0%
31	"Eiichi, Saigo no Henshin" (栄一、最後の変身)	Wataru Suzuki	October 17, 2021 (2021-10-17)	14.0%
32	"Eiichi, Ginkō wo Tsukuru" (栄一、銀行を作る)	Naoki Murahashi	October 24, 2021 (2021-10-24)	12.9%
33	"Rongo to Soroban" (論語と算盤)	Kenji Tanaka	October 31, 2021 (2021-10-31)	11.9%
34	"Eiichi to Densetsu no Shōnin" (栄一と伝説の商人)	Hideaki Kawano	November 7, 2021 (2021-11-07)	14.4%
35	"Eiichi, Motenasu" (栄一、もてなす)	Kenji Tanaka	November 14, 2021 (2021-11-14)	12.9%
36	"Eiichi to Chiyo" (栄一と千代)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	November 21, 2021 (2021-11-21)	12.2%
37	"Eiichi, Agaku" (栄一、あがく)	Wataru Suzuki	November 28, 2021 (2021-11-28)	12.0%
38	"Eiichi no Chakunan" (栄一の嫡男)	Tetsuya Watanabe	December 5, 2021 (2021-12-05)	12.6%
39	"Eiichi to Sensō" (栄一と戦争)	Naoki Murahashi	December 12, 2021 (2021-12-12)	11.9%
40	"Eiichi, Umi wo Koete" (栄一、海を越えて)	Hiroshi Kurosaki	December 19, 2021 (2021-12-19)	12.1%
41	"Seishun wa Tsuzuku" (青春はつづく)		December 26, 2021 (2021-12-26)	11.2%
Average rating 14.1% - Rating is based on Japanese Video Research (Kantō region).[4]

Episode	Original airdate	Original airtime[5]
1	January 3, 2022	8:15 - 9:10
2		9:10 - 10:00
3		10:05 - 10:59
4		10:59 - 11:49

• Reach Beyond the Blue Sky at IMDb