is a television jidaigeki

Jidaigeki

is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...

series. It ran in prime time on the TV Asahi

TV Asahi

, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....

 network in Japan. The first episode aired on January 27, 1996, and the 19th and final installment was broadcast on June 29 of that year. The series starred Kunihiko Mitamura with Yoko Minamino

Yoko Minamino

is a Japanese idol, singer, and actress born on June 23, 1967 in Itami, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. She graduated from Horikoshi High School in the Chūō district of Nakano, Tokyo. She is well known for her role as Saki Asamiya in the second season of the live action Sukeban Deka TV series, replacing...

, Yūji Kishimoto, and Bengal as the team of secret agents working under the leadership of Kōtarō Satomi

Kotaro Satomi

is a Japanese actor from the city of Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. He appears in both contemporary and jidaigeki roles.-Selected filmography:Satomi has appeared in over 130 films...

. Kyōko Tsujisawa also appeared regularly.

The series is set during the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 of the history of Japan

History of Japan

The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...

. The eighth Tokugawa

Tokugawa clan

The was a powerful daimyo family of Japan. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa and were a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Nitta clan. However, the early history of this clan remains a mystery.-History:...

 shogun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

, Yoshimune

Tokugawa Yoshimune

was the eighth shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.-Lineage:...

, had officially had 17 families of oniwaban, his private ninja guards. The title group was the secret 18th group. The series begins some months after Yoshimune's death as his fourth son Hitotsubashi Munetada

Tokugawa Munetada

was a Japanese samurai of the mid-Edo period who was the founder of the Hitotsubashi-Tokugawa family, one of the Gosankyō, the three lesser branches of the Tokugawa family. He was the fourth son of Tokugawa Yoshimune, the eighth shogun. Munetada's wife was Tomohime , the daughter of the imperial...

 (Satomi) brings the group back together. The team leader is Kanō Ametarō (Mitamura), a hairdresser. The other members are Miki (Minamino), a doctor; Otojirō (a chef); and Inokichi (an acrobat). Oharu (Tsujisawa) owns the small restaurant where her brother Otojirō works.

Many actors and actresses appeared in guest roles. Among them were Hiroshi Arikawa

Hiroshi Arikawa

was a Japanese actor and voice actor from Kagoshima Prefecture affiliated with Engekishūdan En.Formerly affiliated with Gekidan Haiyūza, Arikawa enrolled in Gekidan Kumo in 1965. It wasn't until 1975 that Arikawa would enroll in Engekishūdan En...

, Yoriko Douguchi

Yoriko Douguchi

is a Japanese actress.-Selected filmography:* Charisma * Tomie * 20th Century Boys 2: the last hope * Yuriko, Dasvidaniya -External links:*, the fansite approved by Yoriko Doguchi...

, Saiko Isshiki, Shun Ōide, Mitsutaka Tachikawa, Naoya Uchida

Naoya Uchida

is a male seiyū, actor, and singer born on May 1, 1953 in Tokyo. He has played several minor roles of authority in various TV dramas. He debuted in 1972 to the NHK and continued acting in theater and TV dramas until the late 90's...

, Kenichi Endou

Kenichi Endou

is a Japanese actor.-Filmography:*Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger The Movie: Full Blast Action*Nobody Knows*Ninja Sentai Kakuranger*Visitor Q*Origin: Spirits of the Past*Lion-Maru G*Kikoku*Big Bang Love, Juvenile A*Kōshōnin...

, Seizō Fukumoto

Seizo Fukumoto

is a Japanese actor.Born February 3, 1943, he entered acting at age 15 in Kyoto, the capital of Japanese cinema. A specialist in film and television jidaigeki set in the Edo period, he most often plays a ronin, but in his hundreds of appearances he has taken nearly every role. His forte is...

, Ken Nishida

Ken Nishida

is a Japanese actor and voice actor. He is noted for his roles in Return of Ultraman, Eyeful Daisakusen, Uchuu Keiji Gavan, Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, G-Men '75, and Shin Kyoto Meikyū Annai. His guest roles have included multiple episodes of Key Hunter, Mito Kōmon, Taiyō ni Hoero!, Zenigata Heiji,...

, Shun'ya Wazaki, Yuki Ninagawa

Yuki Ninagawa

Ninagawa Yuki is a Japanese actress, daughter of the poet Mizuno Akiyoshi.-Feature filmography:*Shogun's Ninja *Crazy Fruit 狂った果実...

, Kenta Satoi

Kenta Satoi

, born May 14, 1957 in the Chiba Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese theatre and film actor. His roles most often consist of either father-type roles, or conversely, villain roles in police dramas and action movies...

, Hiroshi Miyauchi

Hiroshi Miyauchi

is a prolific Japanese actor from Chiba Prefecture. He is best known for playing some of the most memorable roles in Tokusatsu history, such as Kazami Shiro in Kamen Rider V3 and Ken Hayakawa in Kaiketsu Zubat...

, Kei Taguchi, Susumu Kurobe

Susumu Kurobe

, given the birth name of , was born on in Kurobe, Toyama, Japan.He is commonly known for having played the character role Shin Hayata in the Ultraman series, a role he reprised in episode 47 of the 2006 television series Ultraman Mebius and its theatrical film adaption, Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman...

, Seiichirō Kameishi, Shinsuke Mikimoto

Shinsuke Mikimoto

was a Japanese actor. His credits include at least fifty films, as well as numerous television appearances, in a career that spanned several decades....

, Tsutomu Isobe

Tsutomu Isobe

is a Japanese actor and seiyū from Tokyo.-Television animation:*Blade *Black Lagoon *Gungrave *Monster -Theater animation:...

, and Gorō Mutsumi

Goro Mutsumi

is a Japanese actor with more than 25 films to his credit. He has also appeared in numerous television shows, especially jidaigeki, in which he specializes in villains, and in tokusatsu...

. Three guests had portrayed oniwaban on the television series Abarenbō Shōgun

Abarenbo Shogun

is a Japanese television program on the TV Asahi network. Set in the eighteenth century, it showed fictitious events in the life of Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa shogun. The program started in 1978 under the title Yoshimune Hyōbanki: Abarenbō Shōgun...

, including the versions that preceded and followed Shōgun no Onmitsu! Kage Jūhachi in the same time slot on TV Asahi.

The closing theme is the song Utakata, sung by Mayumi Itsuwa

Mayumi Itsuwa

is a Japanese vocalist, composer, lyricist, and keyboardist who made her debut in 1972.Her first studio album entitled Shoujo was recorded in Los Angeles, produced by GRAMMY Award winner John Fischbach, with distinguished musicians such as David Campbell, Carole King and Charles Larkey who was...

.

The series originally appeared in the Saturday 8:00–8:54 p.m. prime-time slot on the TV Asahi network. It aired during the hiatus between the sixth and seventh versions of the jidaigeki Abarenbō Shōgun. The Jidaigeki Channel rebroadcast the series via satellite and cable.

Source

This article incorporates material found in 将軍の隠密!影十八 (Shōgun no Onmitsu! Kage Jūhachi) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on May 10, 2009.