Masato Sakai

Sanada Maru is the 55th NHK taiga. It centers on the life of Sanada Nobushige, one of the most revered samurai in Japanese history.

Naoki Hanzawa is a banker at the Tokyo Central Bank. Despite his having exposed many injustices inside the bank, the story begins with his being sent off to a subsidiary company, Tokyo Central Securities. Hanzawa commands a band of workers who are part of the so-called "lost generation." Together, they confront and overcome numerous workplace challenges. Can they secure "double returns" for clients and their outlandish demands? Convention-busting banker hero, Naoki Hanzawa, underwrites a new legendary chapter in the financial world.

The series consists of adaptations of six modern classics of Japanese literature: Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human (Ningen Shikkaku) & Run, Melos! (Hashire, Melos!), Natsume Soseki's Kokoro, Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Hell Screen (Jigoku Hen) & The Spider's Thread (Kumo no Ito), and Ango Sakaguchi's In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom (Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita).