(The following description should ideally be read under falling Cherry Blossoms.)
Jidaigeki (meaning "period drama") is a genre of Historical Fiction and Period Pieces found in Japanese Media.
These works are set before (or around the beginning of) the Meiji Restoration when the Shogunate
was deposed. The time subdivisions most often found in Japanese media include the Sengoku Period (or "Warring States", an era of civil war from about 1467 to 1573), the Edo Period (after Japan was united under the Tokugawa shogunate, 1603–1868),note and the Bakumatsu/early Meiji Period (1853–1868, the part of the Edo Period leading into the Meiji Period, 1868–1912).
Jidaigeki can be idealized or realistic, operate as rigorous Historical Fiction that show their work. It can also be like the American Western, soapy drama or hardass action, and feature a rich cast of character tropes. Jidaigeki that emphasize swordplay are often referred to as chanbara (meaning "sword fighting"), especially the live-action movies, and counted on for lots of hot Samurai action (Ninja, Rōnin, and Yakuza are also frequent players).note Given the fact that there are plenty of Edo-era buildings in Japan still standing, and that Edo-era costumes are dime-a-dozen, that period appeals a lot to Japanese TV producers. Compare the sheer number of BBC costume dramas set in the Victorian era, or the innumerable Chinese films and series set during the Qing dynasty.
The Jidaigeki films considered most notable by Western audiences tend to feature samurai, and from this they tend to assume that the term Jidaigeki refers to samurai films in particular. This is an exaggeration. Jidaigeki basically means historical settings or something set in the past, and does not by itself concern samurai or ronin by default. A number of Jidaigeki exist that focus on women, on painters, actors, and even burakumin (the lower-caste Japanese underbelly who are the ancestors to Yakuza). In the classical era of Japanese cinema, Jidaigeki was the most prestigious and serious genre.
Also, although it may seem American and European directors have been borrowing (or, depending on your POV, appropriating) these conventions — sometimes whole plots — for years, Jidaigeki pieces have long borrowed/appropriated in equal measure from Westerns and Film Noir. Akira Kurosawa, himself, was known to be a fan of director John Ford. George Lucas took some inspiration from this cross-pollination while writing Star Wars — guess where he got the word "jedi". Even before that, Jidaigeki borrowed and took inspiration from American films (e.g., Stella Dallas, a popular melodrama in Japan) and from European drama (e.g., Henrik Ibsen and Leo Tolstoy). Kurosawa likewise won fame for his transpositions of William Shakespeare to feudal Japan. Klingon society as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation also took from this era for inspiration.
For Western depictions of Japanese history, see Hollywood Medieval Japan. Compare The Middle Ages and The Wild West, two popular Western historical periods that are roughly analogous to Jidaigeki. See also Wutai for Fantasy Counterpart Cultures that are based upon Japan. Related to Samurai Stories and Ninja Fiction, which focus on fictional works that focus on the samurai and shinobi respectively, usually overlapping with Jidaigeki.
Some notable historical names that have been originating from this era include:
- Heian Period (794–1185)note
- Fujiwara
- Genji
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Sei Shonagon
- Abe no Seimei
- Sugawara no Michizane
- Heike
- Taira no Masakado
- Minamoto no Yorimitsu and the Four Heavenly Kings.note
- Genpei War (1180–1185):note
- Nasu no Yoichi
- Minamoto no Yoritomo
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune
- Musashibo Benkei
- Taira no Kiyomori
- Tomoe Gozen
- Kamakura and Muromachi Periods (1185–1573):
- Sengoku Period (1467–1603):
- Edo Period (1603–1868):
- Bakumatsu Period (1853–1868):
- The Four Hitokiri/Manslayersnote
- Saigo Takamori
- Sakamoto Ryōma
- Sarutobi Sasuke
- The Shinsengumi
- The Four Hitokiri/Manslayers
Examples of shows taking place in this era:
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Vague Period
Anime and Manga
- Mononoke skips around madly between the Sengoku and post-Meiji eras thanks to its immortal protagonist. None of said eras are particularly well-defined or historically accurate, though.
- Shura no Toki (mostly) self-contained story arcs is set in multiple periods, except Azuchi-Momoyama (yes, none of the Mutsu encountered Oda Nobunaga or his contemporaries). Well, except for one arc set in American frontier.
- Made explicit in Millennium Actress, which recounts the story of Chiyoko's life largely in the form of scenes inspired by her films. So the setting follows Japanese history from the Heian era all the way through to the modern world and even beyond into science fiction with callbacks to earlier eras embedded in some of the later ones. Lampshaded when a supporting character asks another "Aren't you dressed for the wrong era?" after a particularly abrupt transition.
- Sgt. Frog: The entire Musha Kero arc takes place on an Alternate Universe planet vaguely like ancient Japan. All the best-known Jidai Geki tropes are played straight, from the alternate Idiosyncratic Episode Naming to Keroro saying "Kore nite, ikken rakchaku... de arimasu."
- In universe example for Kamen Rider Double has Shotaro and Akiko become fans of a Jidai Geki series, including a themed dream sequence.
- Although set in the modern day, Kamen Rider Gaim seems to be taking influence from the genre: the Transformation Trinkets are called "Sengoku Drivers" in reference to the time period, and the Rider vs. Rider rivalries are directly compared to the time's civil wars, with one of the characters even pointing out how it's developing into a modern day Sengoku War. As the episodes go on, the tone begins to shift and the Sengoku War feel fades away. It doesn't go into obscurity, as the main character retains this feel with his Super Modes giving him a general motif.
- The backstories for Juzo and Daiyu in Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. The series as a whole uses tropes and conventions of the genre despite being set in the modern day.
Theatre
- The Touken Ranbu stage plays jump all over the timeline. Tou Myu likes to come back to the Genpei War, and both it and Tou Stage come back to the Heian period, the Bakamatsu period, and especially the Sengoku period.
- Akanesasu Sekai de Kimi to Utau is set in a separate universe that mimics seven eras of Japanese history, reaching as far back as Yayoi-Asuka period and as recent as Meiji-Shōwa period, along with Japanese Mythology thrown into the mix for good measure, compressed into a single world. The Cast Full of Pretty Boys the protagonist interacts with are established as similarly named stand-ins for historical figures of our world and have similarities in terms of personalities and backgrounds as their historical counterparts.
- Fate/Grand Order: The GUDAGUDA events based on the Koha-ACE comics practically takes place in a wacky combination between the Sengoku and Bakumatsu era (which may include mechanized soldiers or UFO). Chief Servants from this include Gender Flip versions of Okita Souji and Oda Nobunaga. Other periods pop up in the main story, mixed up during the 3rd Epic of Remnant Shimousa, and focusing mostly on the Heian Era in the Lostbelt side story Naraka Mandala: Heian-Kyo.
- Ikki, an early Sunsoft game set during some farmer's rebellion.
- Kenseiden in which Benkei shows up as a boss and the final boss is an indeterminate individual named "Yonensai".
- Kengo is a series centered on japanese swordmanship school duels, and they focus on famous samurai from the 14th century to the end of the Bakumatsu. That also means that the Player Character can somehow watch (or participate in) the Ganryujima duel and Ryoma Sakamoto's murder.
- Kengo: Legend of the Nine takes it further, since you play as one of the famous samurai and have to defeat the other eight during their own historical events without any explanation.
- Ōkami: Sure it's an alternate world, but the setting clearly takes inspiration from Heian and Sengoku stories, events and characters.
- Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban includes a rather insane mishmash of Japanese historical figures.
- Toukiden has "Ages" loosely corresponding to periods of Japanese history from its legendary beginnings to the Meiji era. Toukiden 2 explicitly establishes the Awakening takes place in the Meiji period, with Western-style houses and ships in Yokohama before it's destroyed in the game's opening sequence.
- Touken Ranbu technically takes places 20 Minutes into the Future, but it involves going back in time to various times in Japanese history (from the Sengoku to Bakumatsu periods) in order to prevent historical revisionists from changing history. The characters, apart from the Featureless Protagonist, are Anthropomorphic Personifications of famous Japanese swords, ranging from the 10th to 19th centuries.
- Tengai Makyou: The series is a parody of this genre, fueled by Western misconceptions and stereotypes about Feudal-Era Japan. It was supposedly based on a book called Far East of Eden written by a P.H. Chada, a orientalist that worked at the Smithsonian Museum. In reality, Chada is a pseudonym for Ouji Hiroi, the real creator and author of the series.
Heian Period (late 8th century to 12th century)
Anime and Manga
- GARO: Crimson Moon
- Otogi Zoshi (first arc)
- Shōnen Onmyōji
- Genji monogatari
- Kuroneko
- Onmyōji (2001)
- Rashomon
- Sansho the Bailiff
- The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
- Six Rules
- 99 Spirits
- Heiankyo Alien
- Hikaru no Go: Heian Gensou Ibunroku
- Kuon
- Onmyōji is an interesting case. Being a Sino-Japanese game, it is guilty of both this and Hollywood Medieval Japan.
- Otogi: Myth of Demons
- Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines
- In one of the missions from Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time, you have to help Murasaki Shikibu overcome her writer's block after the first chapter of The Tale of Genji is stolen by one of Carmen's thieves.
Genpei War (1180-1185)
Film
- Sukiyaki Western Django (Alternate History version)
- Those Who Tread On The Tigers Tail, early Akira Kurosawa feature dramatizing the flight of Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
- The Tale of the Heike
- Tomoe Gozen Saga (a fantasy alternate Earth version thereof)
- Cosmos: A Personal Voyage recreates the battle of Dan-no-ura to explore artificial selection based on the resemblance of the Heike crabs to the Samurai.
- Genji
- Genpei Tōma Den, naturally.
- Lords of the Rising Sun
- Total War: Shogun 2: Rise of the Samurai DLC
- Yoshitsune Eiyuuden is a reasonabily faithful Real-Time Strategy Hack and Slash retelling of the Genpei War according to the Tale of the Heike and the Gikeiki, with a dose of Demythification.
- Gikei, an adaptation with Historical Gender Flip, in which three characters from the present time end up stuck in the late Heian period up to the Genpei War, assuming the role of three historical characters in their place. Features a good amount of Infodump on the Heian period and its numerous customs, while also being a faithful adaptation of the Heike Monogatari and the Gikeiki, detailing the political intrigue between the samurai clans.
Kamakura and Muromachi Periods (1185–1573)
Anime and Manga
- Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki takes place during the 1274 Mongol invasion of Japan. The story begins very shortly before the Mongols make landfall and focuses on the desperate first 7 days of the invasion as a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits and War Refugees attempt to fight back and survive against the invaders.
Film
- Ghost of Tsushima is set during the Mongol invasion of Japan in the year 1274. The protagonist is a samurai defending the island of Tsushima.
- The very first Total War game, Shogun: Total War, has its expansion pack, Mongol Invasion, present an Alternate History scenario where the kamikaze storm that stopped the 1274 Mongol invasion of the Japanese main islands in real life never happened. With the full force of the Mongolian Empire landing in Kyushu, the invasion turns into a grueling years-long war of attrition. Players can choose to be either the Mongols or the Hojo Clan in the campaign.
Sengoku Period (15th to 17th centuries)
See here.
Edo Period (1603-1868)
Anime and Manga
- Amakusa 1637
- Amatsuki... well, the virtual setting at least.
- Azumi - set during the last years of the Sengoku period and the beginning of the Edo period
- Basilisk
- Blade of the Immortal
- Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran
- Efu No Shichinin, an Alternate Universe Massive Multi Player Crossover based mostly on Shigurui and Exoskull Zero, is set on a Schizo Tech version of the last years of Ieyasu Tokugawa's shogunate (1615). However, there are blatant Anachronism Stew characters such as The Shinsengumi or Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto.
- Gintama... all things considered.
- Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku
- House of Five Leaves
- Lone Wolf and Cub
- Miss Hokusai: Follows the life of Hokusai's daughter.
- Mushishi
- Ninja Scroll: The Series
- Oh! Edo Rocket
- Ōoku: The Inner Chambers is an Alternate History (specifically, Gender Flip) take on this era, at least in the majority of the volumes (Volume 13 is when it starts drifting into the Bakumatsu period, and Volume 18 is when Meiji assumes the throne).
- Rakugo Tennyo Oyui, at the very tail end.
- Samurai 7
- Samurai Champloo...technically.
- Samurai Deeper Kyo
- Samurai Executioner
- Shigurui takes place in the early 1600s during the reign of Tokugawa Iemitsu.
- Tokugawa Buraichou
- Tsukigasa
- Vagabond
- An Actor's Revenge
- Azumi
- The 47 Ronin
- Chushingura
- The Crucified Lovers: early 18th century, based on a play from that era
- The Ghost of Yotsuya — based on a famous kabuki play written in 1825, during the Edo period
- Harakiri
- Hanzo the Razor — Basically, it's an Exploitation Film trilogy about a metsuke in Edo Japan who rapes his female victims into submission in order to expose nefarious plots by corrupt and devious officials.
- Jirocho Fuji — the early career of legendary yakuza Shimizu Jirocho, in the late Edo period
- The Kamen Rider OOO movie temporarily transports the main characters and a crowd of random people back to this period.
- The Life of Oharu
- The 1925 silent film Orochi is set in the early 1700s
- Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto actually starts at the tail end of the Sengoku period, showing the Battle of Sekigahara that ended the shogunate wars, and then continues on to the start of the Edo period.
- Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
- Samurai III Duel At Ganryu Island
- Samurai Rebellion
- Samurai Reincarnation
- Sanjuro
- Silence by Martin Scorsese which adapts a Japanese novel about the failure of the Jesuit mission.
- 13 Assassins
- Yojimbo
- Zatoichi.
- Zatoichi (2003), in particular, is set at the tail end of the period (if the presence of a Civil War–era revolver is any indication).
- Zenigata Heiji
- Gai-Jin
- Katanagatari, set in a fantastic Alternate History where a different shogunate came to power at the end of the Sengoku period.
- Onihei Hankachou
- The Sano Ichiro series.
- Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven
- Young Samurai, which is set during at the end of the Sengoku and beginning of the Edo Periods.
- Abarenbo Shogun
- Chou Ninja Tai Inazuma!
- Kage no Gundan (Shadow Warriors)
- Kaiketsu Lion Maru
- Juken Sentai Gekiranger. At least for two episodes.
- Mito Komon
- Touyama no Kin-san
- The Yagyu Conspiracy
- Yojimbo of the Wilderness
- Ganbare Goemon, though the later games became heavily anachronistic.
- Kanshakudama nage Kantarō no Tokaidō Gojūsan Tsugi, a Sunsoft game for the Famicom based on a famous series of woodblock prints from the period.
- Kaze Kiri
- Kid Niki: Radical Ninja. The type of oval coins dropped by one enemy are specific to the Edo period.
- The Legend of Kage 2
- Muramasa: The Demon Blade
- The Mysterious Murasame Castle
- Mystical Fighter
- Oh! Edo Towns
- Samurai Shodown
- Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
- Soul of the Samurai
- Trek to Yomi
- Way of the Samurai 2
- ChuSinGura 46+1, depicting the events of the Ako Incident and the stories of The 47 Ronin.
- Look to the West is an alternate history story that, at one point, features Japan balkanized by the European powers after an apocalyptic civil war.
Bakumatsu/Early Meiji (1853-late 19th century)
Anime and Manga
- Ayakashi Ayashi
- Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto
- Blade of the Immortal: Bakumatsu Arc
- The Dagger of Kamui, based on a novel series revolving around the intrigues of a ninja clan working for the Bakumatsu Shogunate during the period leading to the Meiji Restoration. The protagonist goes on an extended trip to the American West during the second act of the film.
- Gintama
- Jin
- Kaze Hikaru
- Moeyo Ken
- Intrigue in the Bakumatsu
- Lady Snowblood
- Laughing Under the Clouds
- Peacemaker Kurogane
- Rurouni Kenshin, a deconstruction of the genre itself.
- The third arc of Shura no Toki
- Sidooh
- Winter Cicada
- Eijanaika — set in 1867 just as the shogunate is ending
- More from Akira Kurosawa:
- Gohatto
- The Last Samurai is very loosely based on the Satsuma revolt
- Red Sun, where the idea of jidai-geki being the Japanese equivalent to the western is taken to its logical conclusion.
- The Sword of Doom
- Sword of the Beast
- The Twilight Samurai
- Bakumatsu Rock, naturally, but with rock bands!
- Fuun Shinsengumi covers the eponymous organization's story from their creation to the end of the Boshin War. The Mission-Pack Sequel, Fuun Bakumatsuden, expands the story with an alternate pro-Imperial perspective.
- Hakuouki
- Keio Flying Squadron
- The Last Blade, as told in its Japanese title of Bakumatsu Roman: Gekka no Kenshi ("A Bakumatsu Romance: Swordsmen in the Moonlight"), and evidenced in many visual elements in the game.
- Like a Dragon: Ishin!
- The ninja chapter of Live A Live
- Ninja Spirit
- Total War: Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai DLC
- Way of the Samurai
- Miburo, depicting the history of the Gender Flipped Shinsengumi and the various power plays of the Bakumatsu Era.
