Brothers in Arms
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- Locations
- 1
- Countries
- 2026
- Year
Koichiro was born into a poor farming family in Owari and expects nothing beyond the fields he works. Then his older brother Tokichiro, silent for years, comes home in high spirits: he has become a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, he is chasing a name for himself, and he wants his younger brother to follow. Koichiro puts down the hoe and takes up the sword. The two become Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who takes the country, and Toyotomi Hidenaga, the deputy who holds his brother up for a lifetime. NHK's 2026 taiga drama, which premiered on January 4, tells the Sengoku century from the younger brother's side, with Nakano Taiga as Hidenaga and Ikematsu Sosuke as Hideyoshi.
In episode three, Koichiro and Nao sit down to talk in the courtyard of a temple. It is not a temple. The Tochigi Film Commission lists the location as Tsuna Shrine in Mashiko, an open-air shrine whose main hall is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property and whose grounds keep no hours. That gap runs through the whole production. The story moves west out of Owari, while the ground on camera lies scattered across Yamagata, Iwate and Tochigi. Jionji in Sagae, where the cameras first rolled, opens 9:00 to 16:00 every day of the year and charges adults 700 yen; the thatched main hall in episode one and the bell tower in episode two are both here. Iwate holds two stops: Shiwa Castle Ancient Park in Morioka stood in for Oda Nobunaga's Kiyosu Castle early in the run, and Tono Furusato Village charges adults 750 yen, closing at 17:00 from March through October and at 16:00 from November through February. The three drama exhibition halls pull the other way. The Nagoya hall inside Nakamura Park runs through January 11, 2027 at 800 yen for adults, the Yamato Koriyama hall through January 22, 2027 at 600 yen, and the Nagahama hall occupies the assembly hall of Daitsuji. All three show costumes and props rather than filming locations, so standing where the camera stood still means heading north.
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Filming Locations
本山慈恩寺 山形県寒河江市大字慈恩寺地籍31
The first place the cameras rolled on this production, on June 5, 2025. The temple's own website says it was chosen as the site of the crank-in, and the thatched roof of the main hall appears in episode one, the bell of the belfry in episode two. Honzan Jionji stands at 31 Jionji-chiseki, Sagae, Yamagata Prefecture. It admits visitors 9:00 to 16:00 with no closing day, at 700 yen for adults and 600 yen for groups of 15 or more.
志波城古代公園 岩手県盛岡市
On screen this is Kiyosu Castle, the seat of Oda Nobunaga. The filming was done at Shiwa Castle Ancient Park in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, as posted to the National Film Archive's Japan Location Database by the Morioka Area Film Commission on January 5, 2026. Going to the reconstructed Kiyosu Castle keep in Aichi will not put you where this scene was shot. The park has rebuilt some 250 meters of the palisade that Sakanoue no Tamuramaro raised in 803, and it stays open to visitors.
遠野ふるさと村 岩手県遠野市附馬牛町上附馬牛
The village's own site lists this production at the top of its filming record, alongside Sanadamaru and Gunshi Kanbei, though it does not say which episode or which scene. It is an open-air folk museum of relocated magariya, the L-shaped Nanbu farmhouses that put the stable under the same roof as the living quarters, so entire old farmsteads stand as they were. Admission is 750 yen for adults, open 9:00 to 17:00 from March through October and 9:00 to 16:00 from November through February.
綱神社 栃木県芳賀郡益子町上大羽2350
The scene in episode three, on the eve of the decisive battle, where Koichiro and Nao sit talking in a temple precinct was filmed here, according to the Tochigi Film Commission's published record of shoots. What reads as a temple on screen is in fact a shrine, and its main hall was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1950. The address is 2350 Kamioba, Mashiko, Haga District, Tochigi Prefecture, and the grounds are outdoors, so no opening hours apply.
名古屋中村大河ドラマ館 愛知県名古屋市中村区中村町木下屋敷23-1
An exhibition, not a filming location. Nakamura is where the two brothers are said to have been born, and the Brothers in Arms Nagoya Nakamura Taiga Drama Hall sits inside Nakamura Park as one part of the Toyotomi Museum complex. It runs from January 24, 2026 to January 11, 2027, open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30. Admission is 800 yen for high school students and above, 400 yen for elementary and junior high students, free for preschoolers. Come for the costumes and props rather than for ground the camera saw.
DMG MORI やまと郡山城ホール 奈良県大和郡山市
The drama hall for the Yamato half of the story, set up in the first-floor exhibition room of the DMG MORI Yamato Koriyama Castle Hall, beside the castle grounds Hidenaga held as lord. It runs from March 2, 2026 to January 22, 2027, open 10:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30. Admission is 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for elementary and junior high students, dropping to 500 and 250 yen for groups of 15 or more. The displays were reworked on July 24, 2026, adding material on Todo Takatora. This too is an exhibition rather than a filming location.
