5 Things Japan Gets Right: Customer Service, Convenience Stores, and…Japanese Historical Dramas?

While no country is perfect, Japan does seem to get a lot of things right. Amazing convenience stores on every corner. Customer service so good, it makes us want to tip generously… but there’s no tipping Japan, so we can’t. I’ve also been impressed at the support the country gives to Japanese historical dramas, which are an important cornerstone to culture in the country. Let’s explore this topic in this blog post!

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Bake The Ghost Writers Wife Japanese Historical Drama

The Ghost Writer’s Wife, a Japanese Historical Drama

Currently Japanese TV viewers are thrilling to each episode of Bakebake, aka The Ghost Writer’s Wife, a daily Japanese historical drama bout the life of Irish-Greek writer Lafcadio Hearn, who came to Japan in 1890 and fell in love with the culture. Hearn married Setsu, the daughter of a samurai family, who turned him onto stories of Japanese ghosts (youkai). He wrote news articles about Japanese culture and several books, including Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan. He took Japanese citizenship, taking the name Koizumi Yakumo, and was one of the first to build bridges of understanding between Japan and the rest of the world. He’s basically the father of all Japan bloggers like me.

The role of Lafcadio Hearn in the drama went to British actor Tommy Bastow, who was always interested in Japanese cinema and taught himself Japanese as a hobby. When the casting call went out, he applied, and was selected out of 1767 applicants. He also had a role as a Jesuit priest in the outstanding recent remake of Shōgun.

Dear Radiance, A Historical Drama About Murasaki Shikubu

The Taiga Drama

Every year NHK, Japan’s version of the BBC, launches a huge tentpole historical drama that runs all year long and takes on a different slice of Japanese history. A new episode drops every Sunday, and generate lots of buzz in the new week.

Some of the more interesting Japanese historical drama series have been:

Hideyoshi, which detailed the rise and fall of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the second of Japan’s three unifiers. He was a fascinating individual who started out as a peasant and became the de facto ruler of all Japan.
Ryoma Den, the story of Ryoma Sakamoto. He helped end the Tokugawa Shogunate in a nearly bloodless revolution that created modern Japan. He was the first samurai to wear Western boots.
Atsuhime, which focused on the life of a woman from Satsuma who became the wife of the final Shogun, immediately before the Meiji Restoration.
Massan, the story of Masataka Taketsuru, a Japanese chemist who became passionate about making whisky. He married a Scottish woman named Rita, who lived with him in Yoichi, Hokkaido during WWII, starting the Nikka whisky distillery. She stayed in Japan during the war, one of the few Westerners to do so.
Dear Radiance, which told the story of Murasaki Shikibu, the female writer of The Tale of Genji. Many consider this book to be the first modern novel.

Where can you watch these amazing Japanese dramas? Unfortunately they can be hard to find if you’re outside of the country. South Korea has had great success exporting its dramas around the world — I hear they’re all the rage in Saudi Arabia. But Japan has always favored close copyright protection to exporting its dramas abroad . You might want to check out websites like My Drama List for information on how to find Japanese dramas.

What About Historical Anime?

Since anime is such a fanciful artform offering an escape from the stresses of daily life, it’s more common for it to tell stories using the themes and tropes of history without actually limiting itself to actual historical events. An isekai with a genderswapped Japanese warlord (The Ambition of Oda Nobuna), an alternate history where the Edo Period never ended (Samurai Girls), and a world in which every amazing warrior in history is summoned to fight (Drifters) are three examples.

Some historical-ish anime you might enjoy are:

Golden Kamuy, an amazing anime set in Japan’s northernmost islands in the early 20th century. It’s getting a high-budget live-action release this month that actually looks good.
Rurouni Kenshin, set during the Meiji Period, as old Japan was fading and a modern country was emerging. Not unlike America’s own Wild West, where gunslingers and outlaws found themselves obsolete as the land was settled.
Dororo, a remake of the classic Osamu Tezuka anime about a boy whose body parts are sold to demons.
The Rose of Versailles. Let’s learn about the French Revolution through anime!
Finally, my beloved Vinland Saga, a deliciously detailed story set in Iceland and England in the 10th century. Because you don’t have any enemies.

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My History With the BBC

I’m quite a unique American because, at the age of six, my mother packed me and my sister up and moved us to Auckland, New Zealand for a computer job. This was in 1976, so the country was a lot less developed than it is today. There was exactly one McDonald’s and one Pizza Hut in the country at the time, and being the American family that we were, we visited both often. When I met Temura Morrison (Boba Fett) at a Star Wars convention, I freaked him out a little by being the only American in the room who could sing his national anthem.

There were exactly two TV channels in New Zealand at the time, and one seemed to show nothing but historical dramas. I vividly remember watching Edward the Seventh in 1975, about the reign of Edward, son of Queen Victoria. While I wasn’t terribly interested in the subject at such a tender age, I was left with the impression that British countries really honor their history more than we do in America. I thought a historical drama from 51 years ago must be lost in the sands of time forever, but of course it’s all up on YouTube.

Historical Dramas Done Right: Franklin

I guess my time in New Zealand left a mark on me, because I became a fan of historical dramas that told stories of America’s past, and went out of my way to watch them whenever I found one.

In 2024, Apple TV premiered Franklin, which detailed the important work Benjamin Franklin did in his years in Paris to secure financial support for the fledgling United States. When I started the show I assume it would be mostly in English, but to my great delight more than 50% of the drama was in French, since Michael Douglas speaks the language. It was especially great to get a lot of screen time with the Marquis de Lafayette, a person who was extremely important to American history, but which most don’t think about enough.

Washington Trailer American Historical Drama

One film I would totally go see if I were in the U.S. is the upcoming Young Washington, a film about the events of George Washington’s life before becoming the most famous man of his century. It premiers July 3, marking the 250th anniverary of the Declaration of Independence. I doubt if it will open in Japan without a big time delay, so if you’re in the U.S., go see it for me. Thanks!

Thanks for reading this blog post exploring some things Japan gets right, including expressing respect for its culture through historical dramas. Which Japanese dramas have you watched, historical or otherwise? Let us know in the comments!

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