Also known as: Chronicle in Praise of Yoshimune: The Bold Shogun (Yoshimune Hyoubanki: Abarenbou Shogun)

A Japanese historical drama set in the eighteenth century which showed fictious events in the life of Tokugawa Yoshimune (1684-1751), the eighth Tokugawa Shogun. The main series ran from 1978 to 2003, and ranks among the longest-running shows in its genre.

Actor Matsudaira Ken originated the role of Yoshimune, the main character, a nearly invincible samurai warrior who roams freely about his capital punishing evil and rewarding good in the guise of Tokuda Shinnosuke (Shin-san), a freeloader at the Megumi fire company. He played that role for the entirety of the show's run.

An antiques dealer who has for some years owned a small shop, 'Agi Antiques,' on Gojou Avenue in Kyoto. He sold the corpse-hair mandala to Hazama Shigeharu 20 years ago and is helping him sell it in turn to bolster his failing confectionery business. After several incidents, Agi left the mandala with his acquaintance Eishou of Kurama Temple for safe-keeping.

He is friendly with Hazama and calls him 'Shige.' He is described as a short-statured old man with white hair and an idiosyncratic appearance.

Aida Kengo is an elderly sailor of a cruiser that collides with a cargo ship in Osaka Bay.

Naoe and Ayako visit Aida Kengo at his home in Akashi City to interview him about the incident. He mentions to them that on the night of the collision, he witness WWII-style battleships as well as Sengoku-era iron-armored warship in the bay.

Also known as: Aidu

In ancient Japan, a feudal domain known as Aizu-han, a part of the Mutsu Province; today, the region which is the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture. The area was ruled by the Hoshina Clan, former retainers of the Takeda Clan, which was known for its martial skill.

The owner of a golf course in Ibaraki Prefecture who seeks Tachibana Yoshiaki's help with a statue which he believes to be possessed. He is described as a bespectacled man around sixty years of age, who has a slightly sun-burnt, long, thin face and looks like he would be more comfortable in farm clothing than in a suit.

A large residential and commercial area located in northern Minato, Tokyo.

Title: Hyuga no Kami
Also known as: Koreta Mitsuhide

A talented general and poet who belonged to the inner circle of Oda Nobunaga's vassals. He later ambushed Nobunaga at Honnou Temple in 1582, killing both Nobunaga and his heir, Oda Nobutada. Akechi Mitsuhide then proclaimed himself the new shogun, but soon clashed against Toyotomi Hideyoshi's forces and was defeated in the Battle of Yamazaki only 13 days later. He was killed en route to his stronghold of Sakamoto Castle in the village of Ogurusu by a bandit with a bamboo spear (though an alternate theory states that he was not killed but became a monk instead).

Also known as: Geishuu (藝州/芸州)

An ancient province of Japan located in the Chuugoku region of western Honshuu, which is now the western part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It was the seat of the Mouri Clan during the Sengoku era.

A former hostess who becomes Murauchi Senzou's common-law wife. She loves morning glories and is fond of Kasahara, who promised to bring her seeds for the blue variety.

An English teacher at Old Castle High School who died in the six months after Mikuriya Juri takes over the student council and before Takaya and Chiaki infiltrate the school. Like Nakajima and Ikeda, he was elderly and opposed the gym renovation project.

He was the first of the three to die and became deathly afraid of snakes the night before his death.

The Red Whales strategist, who was once a direct retainer to the Chousokabe clan. Kusama appears to place a great deal of trust in him, though Reijirou suspects he has ulterior motives. Unlike most of the other Red Whales, he wears traditional Japanese clothes. He is described as a man of impressive vigor and intensity, with a look of keen and penetrating intelligence.

A castle built by Toda Ujikane in 1617 at a strategic site crossed by two rivers flowing into the ocean, allowing for boat landings. It was located in what is now the City of Amagasaki, Hyougo Prefecture.

The castle was known for being the place where Araki Murashige fled to in his failed revolt against Oda Nobunaga. It was demolished in 1873 and rebuilt in 2018.

The Candy Fair Festival which is held in Matsumoto in the second weekend in January, formerly a salt fair.

A more formal way to address an older sister than "onee-san" or its variants; could be translated as "honorable elder sister".

A more formal way to address an older brother than "onii-san" or its variants; could be translated as "honorable elder brother".

Title: King
Race: Human

Also known as: Sendai-jou (仙台城), Gojourou (五城楼)
Lit. 'Fresh Leaves Castle Ruins'

The ruins of a castle located in Sendai City built by Date Masamune in 1601. It was the governmental seat of Sendai-han and designated a historical landmark of Japan.

The castle sat on Aoba Hill and was naturally defended by a 400-foot cliff on one side and the Hirose River on the other. Masamune built the Inner Citadel and the Western Wing on Aoba Hill, and Date Tadamune built the Second Wing and Third (Northern) wings at its base. The ruins of the Third Wing is now the Sendai Museum.

All that remains of the original castle today are old stone walls; the rest were dismantled or destroyed in fire, earthquakes, and bombings.

Also known as: Misaki Castle (三崎城); Koajiro Castle (小網代城)

Arai Castle, a natural fortress located on a cliff at the tip of the Miura Peninsula, is surrounded by Sagami Bay on three sides. It was the main castle of the Sagami Miura Clan and where the last heads of the Miura Clan, Miura Yoshiatsu and his son Miura Yoshioki, fell to Houjou Souun in 1516 after a three-year siege.

Title: Settsu no Kami

A vassal of Oda Nobunaga, born in what is now Ikeda City in Osaka as eldest son and heir to Araki Yoshimura (some say Araki Takamura). He served as vassal to Ikeda Katsumasa and married the daughter of Ikeda Nagamasa. He later served the Miyoshi Clan when they took over the Ikeda Clan, but was noticed by Nobunaga and allowed to become a vassal of the Oda Clan.

Nobunaga gave him Settsu Province as well as several castles, and Murashige fought in many of Nobunaga's wars, including the ten-year siege of Ishiyama Hongan Temple.

In October of 1578, Murashige suddenly revolted against Nobunaga. (Opinions differ on why he did so; Nobunaga apparently held Murashige in high esteem, and his betrayal came as a shock.) Oda's army besieged Murashige at Itami Castle, and he resisted bitterly for the space of a year. However, when his attendants Nakagawa Kiyohide and Takayama Ukon betrayed him, he was left at a severe disadvantage. Thereafter he fled alone to the Mouri Clan. His wife and children as well as soldiers and everyone else left behind at Itami Castle (some 600 people) were executed at Kyoto.

In 1582, after Oda's death and Toyotomi Hideyoshi came to power, Murashige returned to Sakai City in Osaka as a master of the tea ceremony. In the beginning he called himself Araki Douhun (荒木道糞), formed of the characters for "road" and "excrement" in remorse for abandoning his wife and children. Later, Hideyoshi forgive him his past errors and gave him the name Doukun (道薫), with "excrement" changed to "fragrance".

He died in Sakai at the age of 52.

Also known as: Itami Castle (伊丹城)

A flatland castle constructed by the Itami Clan during the Northern and Southern Courts period (1336 - 1392) and renovated in 1475, Itami Castle contained the oldest castle keep in Japan. It fell in 1574 to Araki Murashige, who changed its name to Arioka Castle and greatly expanded it into one of the largest castles in the region.

However, when Murashige later rebelled against Oda, Oda laid siege to the castle and took it in 1579. His general Ikeda Motosuke demolished it. Today its ruins are located just in front of Itami Station.

Asagiri "Morning Mist" Bridge spans Uji River in Uji City, Kyoto Prefecture to Tachibana Island (Kyoto Prefecture Uji Park). It is 74m long (~243 feet) and was built in 1972. It is located directly across from the historic Byoudou-in. Tachibana Bridge completes the connection to the shore on the other side.

A Japanese-style inn owned by Asaoka Maiko's family located on the banks Lake Chuuzenji. It has two stories, with the second affording a gorgeous view of the lake.

Asaoka Maiko's younger brother, who is in a coma and comes to his sister in her dreams asking for help.

Naoe learns that Shinya's soul has been devoured by the tsutsuga and bound into one of the sacred cedar trees at Futarasan Shrine because of his ability to see people's deaths before they happen.

Title: Koga Kubou (1535 - 1552)

Haruuji was born eldest son to Ashikaga Takamoto. He formed an alliance with Houjou Ujitsuna in 1538 and married his daughter Houjunin. However, he was hostile towards Ujitsuna's successor Houjou Ujiyasu, and formed an alliance with Ougigayatsu-Uesugi Tomosada and Yamanouchi-Uesugi Norimasa. He joined them in a attack on the Houjou in the Battle of Kawagoe Castle in 1546, the loss of which deprived him of the power of Koga Kubou. He was forced to confer that title on his second son Ashikaga Yoshiuji (whose mother was Houjunin) in 1552. Two years later, his castle at Koga was attacked by Ujiyasu, and he was confined to Hatano in Sagami. He was allowed to return to Koga Castle in 1557, but was confined to Kurihashi Castle when the coup he was planning to bring his eldest son Ashikaga Fujiuji back to power came to light.

He died in 1560 at the age of 53.