Yositaka

Samurai drama

The Ghost in Period Drama — Kaidan, Supernatural Justice and the Unquiet Dead

By Yoshi | Japan UnveiledThe ghost arrives in the jidaigeki differently from the ghost in the Western horror tradition. ...
Samurai drama

Fire in Edo — Disaster, Rebuilding and the City That Kept Burning

By Yoshi | Japan UnveiledEdo burned regularly. This is not a rhetorical flourish — it is one of the most consequential e...
Samurai drama

The Doctor in Jidaigeki — Medicine, Poison and the Healing Arts

By Yoshi | Japan UnveiledThe doctor who appears in jidaigeki is one of the most morally complex recurring figures in the...
Samurai drama

The Landscape of Fate — Mountains, Rivers and Geography in Period Drama

By Yoshi | Japan UnveiledI want to begin with a specific image: the approach to a mountain pass in winter. The screen is...
Samurai drama

The Magistrate’s Dilemma — Law, Justice and Pragmatism in Period Drama

By Yoshi | Japan UnveiledThe magistrate — the bugyō or daikan, the official invested with judicial and administrative au...