Ooku Dai-ishou

Deep within Edo Castle was the oh-oku (the inner palace)\the expansive living quarters for the wives and concubines of the Tokugawa Shogun. The entrance was under the tightest security, and the corridors were barred to all men except the Shogun himself. It is said that over 1,000 women lived in the oh-oku to serve the Shogun. For him, life in the oh-oku was like living in paradise.

Oh-oku is the story of the picturesque lives of the women living in the hidden, maze-like inner structure of Edo Castle. Inside, the women wielded their beauty and knowledge: some of them to win the Shogun's love, to obtain political power, or to climb the ladder of the oh-oku hierarchy. Their lives were filled with romance, hatred, anger, envy, tears, and persecution.

The previous Oh-oku series aired from June to August 2003, and focused on the last several years of the oh-oku history. It told the story of the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the oh-oku, and the lives of the women who lived through these times.

Oh-oku - Episode One- will be focusing on the birth of the inner palace. The 2nd Shogun Hidetada's wife Oeyo established the oh-oku. It was then enhanced and perfected by Kasuga-no-Tsubone, the nanny of the 3rd Shogun Iemitsu\also known as one of the most influential and powerful women in the oh-oku, and the main character of this drama. The story takes place in the Sengoku Era, also called the Warring States Period. Learn how the Shogun's women struggled to survive in the oh-oku\the prison for women.

Synopsis: Fuji TV