The Unfettered Shogun

The Unfettered Shogun

1978
8.1
12 Seasons
Family Drama Action & Adventure

Set in the 18th century, the show follows the Shogun Yoshimune, who likes to disguise himself as a low-ranking samurai and go into his capital of Edo to see the life of the common man, as well as to seek out and punish evildoers who would hurt his citizens. He is aided by Magistrate Oo'oka and a vivacious fireman, Tatsugoro, as well as a rotating cast of other recurring characters. Along with Zenigata Heiji and Mito Kōmon, it ranks among the longest-running series in the jidaigeki genre. Like so many other jidaigeki, it falls in the category of kanzen-chōaku, loosely, "rewarding good and punishing evil."

Season

Episodes

Ep 1

The Star of Edo

Roughhousing daimyo Tokugawa Yoshimune of Kishu reluctantly becomes the Shogun so that he may bring prosperity to everyone in the country. On his procession to Edo Palace, he runs into his old friend Tatsugoro, and a little girl begging for a pardon for her father on death row. Yoshimune decides to sneak out of Edo Palace and do a little detective work.

Ep 2

The Remarkable Charlatan

Ogyu Shosen is called a quack doctor, but Yoshimune thinks he should be made surgeon-general.

Ep 3

The First Fireman Banner

Hatamoto firemen are causing a nuisance and thieving in town, so fiery Tatsugoro and his gang of construction workers aim to take them down.

Ep 4

Mother From Long Past

A hatamoto's spoiled brat daughter is in the habit of thieving and blaming it on commoners. Meanwhile, Yoshimune becomes preternaturally obsessed with a den-den taiko (a type of child's toy).

Ep 5

Spring in the O'oku

Ep 6

The Splendid Potato Samurai

Ep 7

The Man of River Styx

Ep 8

The Befouled Truncheon

Ep 9

The Chivalrous Thief

Ep 10

The Blossoming Meyasubako

Ep 11

The Finest Kiyari Song

Ep 12

The Amazing Kishu Woman

Yoshimune's old friend from Kishu, a female lumberjack, comes to Edo to engage in lumber trade, but gets in trouble.

Ep 13

The Perilous Souvenir Gift

Yoshimune's old friends from Kishu, Sakichi and Onatsu of the lumber store, are leaving town, so Yoshimune comes to bring them a present. He ends up getting in the way of a drug bust and is mistaken for a drug dealer.

Ep 14

The Golden Crow Charms

Fireman Genzo wins the lottery, but is then reported to the police for having a forged ticket.

Ep 15

The Quack Who Calls Forth Spring

Even though he has been made surgeon-general, nobody trusts Ogawa Shosen or Yoshimune's city hospital. Yoshimune decides to get himself admitted as Shin-san to investigate from within.

Ep 16

Showdown at Beautiful Yoshiwara

Ep 17

Love and the Guardian Deity

Satsuma domain bully a store that is in their debt by trying to steal the storekeeper's girlfriend, and by framing them for theft. Only a man of stone can save Tamba-ya from destruction!

Ep 18

The Beat of a Taiko Drum in Edo

Yoshimune really wants to attend a festival in Edo, but he has important business to attend to in the palace. Jii says he can go out as long as he is back by 4 PM. This doesn't seem likely, since Yoshimune gets involved in a big fistfight and village drama.

Ep 19

A Ballad of a Fireman

Tatsugoro's family is indebted to a samurai family, so Tatsugoro gives the samurai family his very best fireman to adopt, since the samurai have no heir of their own. The other samurai do not like him.

Ep 20

Iris and Sympathy

Ep 21

Fireman's Standard was Watching

Ep 22

Friendships Support the World

Ep 23

Rage of the Fishmonger

Ep 24

The Dreadful Shichi-ri Messengers

Ep 25

Heavens! Great Trouble in Edo

Ep 26

The Drunken Man Who was Promoted

Ep 27

The Woman Who Challenged the Yagyu Family

Ep 28

A Flower Blooms in the Dark

Ep 29

The Goofiest Pickpocket in Edo

Ep 30

The Misjudged Betrayer

Ep 31

The Woman Who Disappeared from the Hunting Ground

Ep 32

The Best Announcement of the Winner in Japan

Ryuko and Isonokaze were sumo wrestlers for a clan who tried to make them throw a match. Ryuko hides out at the fire house and meets Shin-san, who is very excitable and really, really wants to wrestle him. Eventually Shin-san learns of the wrestling drama that is unfolding...

Ep 33

A Daimyo's Famed Shiruko Restaurant

A certain han ruled by a child lord is having money trouble, so one of the han's samurai starts a sweet bean soup restaurant to try and raise funds. The samurai has some trouble getting customers...

Ep 34

The Women Who Dance in a Tempest

Ep 35

The Bride with an Explosive

A land reclamation project is taking place largely with Shogunate funds, carried out by contract with 2 companies (which are marrying their kids together as the ultimate symbol of the contract). One of the companies invents a bomb with a long fuse, to blow up a mountainous area in the reclamation zone. The other company decides to assassinate the first company, and steals the bomb...

Ep 36

The Deceiving Mole Under a Woman's Eye

Ep 37

Feel Her Heart

Ep 38

The Woman Who Challenged Her Master

Ep 39

A Sweet Snare from RyuKyu

Ep 40

Go! The Prodogy of the Commoners

Ep 41

Hara-Kiri! The Drunkard Magistrate

Ep 42

A Hot Man and a Brazen Hussy

Ep 43

The Shogun's Secret Ninja

Female ninja Osono's dad Seiemon comes to town. He is now a cotton-farming country samurai. Needs dried sardines for fertilizer. The hatamoto of sardineland is driving the fishermens' prices down so all the farmers secretly sell to Seiemon. The merchant tries to assassinate Seiemon and fails, since Seiemon is a ninja. Seiemon stays at the firehouse and plans to secretly assassinate the criminals, then kill himself, because he's depressed.

Ep 44

Fresh Blood on the Bestowed Sword

Ep 45

The Counterfeit Coins and the Candy Man

A man makes little pretty sugar candies for kids and tells funny stories. He used to be a counterfeiter because of his great manual dexterity, but vowed to turn his life around. Shin-san becomes interested in candy just when the guy's old friends force him to counterfeit again...

Ep 46

A Grand New Year's Gift

Ep 47

The Female Doctor with a Fist

Edo is invigorated by an unusually aggressive and outspoken female doctor, Oshino, who physically beats her patients if they do not obey her.

Ep 48

Hell in the Heavenly Bath

Ep 49

The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword

Ep 50

The Great Packed Lunch of a Woman

Ep 51

The Bride of the Fish Market

Ep 52

The Downfall of Ooka Echizen No Kami

A bad gang leader kidnaps Tadasuke's wife (who never appeared before or since), as she went to the shrine to pray for a baby. Tadasuke decides that justice outweighs his bride and prepares to prosecute the gang leader anyway, so Shin-san lets the prisoner go secretly to try and follow him to Tadasuke's bride...

Ep 53

The Best Dry Sake for Mother and Son

Clannish Edoite sake sellers turn against a travelling Osakan female sake seller to force her out of the market; only her long-lost son, an Edoite sake seller, can save her.

Ep 54

The Female Doctor Who Loves Money

Oshino, the female doctor with a fist, is in charge of a temple that gives free medical service to orphans, but it is reputed that she is stealing all the money instead.

Ep 55

This Small Incident Occured Ten Years Ago

Shoheiko, the official Shogunate college, has an admissions scandal where the bureaucrats turn out to have been accepting bribes for admissions. Yoshimune suggests opening it to commoners and calls up some obscure scholars; the vicious bureaucrats attack and kill one. Shin-san absolutely loses his mind, but Tatsugoro is there to give him a helping hand.

Ep 56

The Man Who Died in the Light Snowfalls in Spring

Ryuko's friend is killed by a rice wholesaler. Shin-san investigates this and discovers a whole sordid rice-based drama, including collective punishment, famine, and assassination.

Ep 57

Eliminations of Black Sheep

Ep 58

The Best Cherry Blossom Dance in Edo

Ep 59

The Firemen's Standard is the Firemen's Heart and Soul

Ep 60

Only the Sun Knew

Ep 61

The Perished Love in a Spring Storm

Ep 62

A Single Flower in the Dark

Ep 63

The Fallen Flower in the Game of Chance

Ep 64

Holding a Fire Standard for a Spear

Ep 65

The Troublesome Tea Urn Trip

Ep 66

Daruma Smiled on Joshu Road

Ep 67

Commissioner Ooka Committs Hara-Kiri!

Ep 68

A Bogus Complaint

Ep 69

Very Proud of the Celebrated Sword

An unbalanced ronin wants to become the sword teacher to a daimyo, so he can get enough money to buy back his really sexy sword from the pawn shop. However, a competitor attacks him, crippling the ronin's hand. Shin-san is really mad about this, even though the ronin attacked him earlier.

Ep 70

A Loach Pot Rather Than A Domain

Ep 71

The Best Godfather in Japan

Ep 72

Revenge Colored with Safflowers

A pregnant safflower farmer's husband is run over by the local lord's horse. She's lured to the daikan's office to get compensated but is raped and turned into the lord's concubine instead. She schemes to have herself murdered so Ooka Echizen will enter the manor and discover these great crimes.

Ep 73

A Man Passionate About the Snow on Mount Fuji

A kind but untalented kitchen-supervisor samurai is assigned to accompany his domain's gift to the Shogun: big blocks of ice. Shin-san, tramping around Shinjuku, accidentally discovers this delivery and starts accompanying it too, and discovers a rival domain is trying to kill the ice to humiliate the first domain.

Ep 74

Kick the Edo Illness Out!

A mysterious illness (beriberi) becomes common and Yoshimune calls his doctor to find out what the cause is. His doctor says only his own special blend of medicine (very expensive) can cure it. Oshino, the female doctor with a fist, however, believes the solution is more simple (and involves punching people).

Ep 75

Gorozaemon Kano's Disappearance

Kano Gorozaemon, who is practically Yoshimune's adoptive father, goes out into Edo to get a surprise present for the Shogun, and is kidnapped by a nutter who wants to frame him for murder to steal his job.

Ep 76

Suspicion Begets Idle Fears

A lord lets 3 master ghost actresses into his house as maids, somehow doesn't connect this with supernatural happenings in his house.

Ep 77

The Bride That Came From Kishu

Kikue, the daughter of a potter, comes to Edo and meets her old friend Shin-san, who she recognizes as the Shogun. She came to marry Kano Gorozaemon, who proposed to her when she was eight (??!) but Kano backed out.

Ep 78

A Man Hunting the Whole Country

The Ogobanshu (kind of like a guild of hatamotos) want to hunt, but in setting the borders of the hunting area they recklessly steal the corner of a VERY sensitive farmer's farm.

Ep 79

Peerless! The Taste of Momma

Matsumae domain officials and the store Ebisu-ya are conspiring to give predatory loans to alcohol shops. Lady merchant Omasa from Osaka wants to get a better deal, and her son unfortunately took the debt from his main sake supplier, so now she needs to get money to save both their skins.

Ep 80

The Direct Retainers of the Shogun Run Wild

Hatamotos, a domain, a runaway killer samurai from the domain, the firemen, and jii for some reason, all end up in a gigantic free for all fight.

Ep 81

Heroes in the Darkness

Ep 82

Angelic Neighborhood Bully

Ep 83

Thief Targeting the Nation

Ep 84

O-sai Flies!

Ep 85

Mount Fuji Saw The Wild Spear

Ep 86

The Shogun Permitted a Thief

Ep 87

Bullet Aiming At 8 Million Koku

Ep 88

Burn! Even If You Must Die

Ep 89

Embarrased To Recieve Flowers in Congratulation

Ep 90

Beast Battle! Master Tatsugoro

Ep 91

Duel! In the Stormy Castle

Ep 92

Cheers! Quack Doctor

Ep 93

The Will of the Raging Samurai

Ep 94

The Lanterns of Early Spring and Noon Emerge

Ep 95

I Saw a Rainbow in the Sea of Flames

Ep 96

Get the Vermin Out of the Castle!

Ep 97

I Don't Need a Mother!

Ep 98

The Girl From the Wolf Village

Ep 99

A Dohyori of Fire!

Ep 100

The Fake Shogun

Ep 101

The Eight Million Koku Porter

Ep 102

The Collector Who Collected the Villain's Head

Ep 103

Catastrophe! We Shouldn't Have Gotten Out of the Way!

Ep 104

Japan's Most Wanted Bride

Ep 105

Stop! Uncontrolled Official Carriage

Ep 106

What is a Shogun?

Ep 107

Watch Out! A Female Spy

Ep 108

The Man Who Gives Orders to the Shogun!

Ep 109

Snacks Delight on a Sunny Day

Ep 110

Youth of Edo, Stand Up!

Ep 111

Love Blossoms in Ubasuteyama!

Ep 112

The Proud and Naive Samurai

Ep 113

The Man Who Didn't Stop

Ep 114

I Saw the Real One! The Hayabusa Brat

Ep 115

Beware of the Quick Bucks

Ep 116

The Man Who Died and Flourished

Ep 117

Courage in the Face of Injustice

Ep 118

Thief Training

Ep 119

The Fox Woman Cries, the Banner of Empathy

Ep 120

The Princess Take - Tears from a Wedding Procession

Ep 121

The Flourishing of the Female Bushido

Ep 122

The Sad Song of the South

Ep 123

The New Boss! - Osai, of the Fire Extinguisher

Ep 124

The One Who Stood Out After Being at Risk of Drowning

Ep 125

Floating Lanterns That Mark a New Beginning in a Man's Life

Ep 126

Love Sold for 20,000 Ryu

Ep 127

The Trap in the Wolf Village

Ep 128

Melancholy Ninja Love

Ep 129

Dad, You Used to Be Someone

Ep 130

My Childhood Friend is an Oku Woman

Ep 131

There was a Bullet in the Clam Chowder!

Ep 132

Run! The Shogun's Horse!

Ep 133

Listen! The Chronicles of the Old Man and the Young Master

Ep 134

A Silly Dance in an Oily Hell

Ep 135

Duel on the Steam of Hell

Ep 136

The Woman Who Bet on the Mountain of Fire

Ep 137

Edo's Female Chief

Ep 138

Hakone's Melancholic Drizzle

Ep 139

The One Who Flirted Was to Blame

Ep 140

The Wild Spear Everyone Fears

Ep 141

The Bandit Harusame's Mother

Ep 142

Munenryu Shintoism and Confucianism According to the Hayashi Clan

Ep 143

I Am the Most Unpleasant Person in the World

Shin-san accidentally gets involved with two low-class thieving morons, to Tatsugoro's horror. Tatsugoro finally manages to get rid of them, and one of them is promptly killed by evil ninjas for having seen something he should not have. Yoshimune learns they were raising a bunch of orphans in an awful shack with their scammed money, and decides he must avenge the dead criminal.

Ep 144

One Life For One Isshou of Shochu

Ep 145

The Silent Man's Divorce Letter

Ep 146

Ah! Justice Has Tears!

Ep 147

Megumi Clan's Love Bridge

Ep 148

Japan's Number One Little Thief

Ep 149

Tops Spinning Beneath a False Union

Ep 150

The White Waves That Shame the Flowers

Ep 151

Sado, the Shining Yellow

Ep 152

The Shogun, the Horse Thief, and the Brat

Ep 153

When a Man Sparks

Ep 154

The Love That Blooms Inside a Coffin

Ep 155

I Don't Want to Be the Shogun's Bride

Ep 156

Jongara with a Munen-Ryu Kid

Ep 157

The Cursed Box of 1000 Ryos

Ep 158

Hell's Bells Ring at 6.00 p.m

Ep 159

Rest in Peace, Onaka - The Flowing Lanterns

Ep 160

The Flowers That Fall Without Waiting for Spring

Ep 161

The One Who Smiled in the End

Ep 162

The Blooming Ginseng Flower That the Firefighter's Matoi Made Flourish

Ep 163

The Cowardly Samurai Who Made a Demon Woman Cry

Ep 164

Break the Chains of the Heart With Human Kindness

Ep 165

Whose Ungrateful Son is it

Ep 166

Promise of the Bell the Girl With Bangs and a Sword

Ep 167

The Decisive Duel of the Lantern Samurai

Ep 168

Legitimate Marital Fight

Ep 169

Clear Sky - The Hungry Lancer

Ep 170

The Duel! Blood in the Fuefuki River of Koshu

Ep 171

Burning Tears of the Traitor

Ep 172

The Flower in the Shadow That Made a Man Bloom

Ep 173

Waves of the Seto Maiden

Ep 174

Onomichi - Sunset of Revenge

Ep 175

The Million Kokus Dependent

Ep 176

The Bond of Hatred Between Father and Daughter

Ep 177

The Morning When Demons Wept

Ep 178

The Bet For the Dance Fan in the Sumo Ring

Ep 179

The Samurai Tanuki Performs a Great Feat

Ep 180

The Man Who Steals While Preaching

Ep 181

Oath of Brothers

Ep 182

The One Who Eats From the Table and the One Who Doesn't

Ep 183

The Night Flower That Blooms Once

Ep 184

The Man Who Danced in the Shadows

Ep 185

The Man Who Danced in the Shadows

Ep 186

The Love Story of a Man and His Taiko Drum

Ep 187

Sorry, Shogun! The Change of a Monk

Ep 188

Call of the Storm! The Bride From Megumi

Ep 189

The Heart of a Mother That Made Demons Cry

Ep 190

The Number One Rain Man in Japan

Ep 191

Cold Wind of Yoshiwara, Tears of a Woman

Ep 192

Laughter and Tears, The Dramatic Life of the People of Kawachi

Ep 193

The First Snow is the Make-Up of the Dead of a Sad Woman

Ep 194

The Poor and Nameless Grass

Ep 195

The Fragrance of the Sea, Tastes Like Mama

Ep 196

Why Sadness in Sharing an Umbrella?

Ep 197

A Remora That is More Frightening Than a Pufferfish

Ep 198

Sadness. Fallen Flowers of Those Who Stay

Ep 199

The Villain Who Laughed Last

Ep 200

Laughter and Tears, Three Girls From Edo

Ep 201

The Greatest Achievement of a Drunken Jitte

Ep 202

The Tale of the Fame of the Fool Kanpachi

Ep 203

The Flower That Disappeared in an Avalanche

Ep 204

Farewell Flower, Night Gust

Ep 205

Spring Has Come Again! Spouses' Kanzashi

Ep 206

You're a Child. Don't Cry, Torokichi!

Ep 207

The Farewell of the 808 Towns

Cast

Ken Matsudaira

Ken Matsudaira

Tokugawa Yoshimune

Saburo Kitajima

Saburo Kitajima

Tatsugoro

Tadashi Yokouchi

Tadashi Yokouchi

Oo'oka Echizen-no-Kami Tadasuke