Japanese films/TV adaptations of the Taiping Rebellion?

In the 1850's and 60's, the Taiping Rebellion broke out in China, observed by both the Tokugawa Bakufu and subsequently the Meiji Imperial government. Some 200 years earlier, Japan had suffered its own rebellion (at Shimabara) with some similar characteristics: e.g., began in the far south of the country, their leaders were supposedly children of prophecy (or sons of God), both were inspired (or at least heavily influenced by) Christian or pseudo-Christian theologies, both were extremely bloody, etc.

The Taiping Rebellion has led to a number of film/TV adaptations in China:

"Twilight of a Nation" (1988), 45 episode drama (Hong Kong, TVB)
"The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" (2000), 48 episode drama (CCTV)
"The Warlords" (2007), indirectly referencing the Taipings (

and the Shimabara Rebellion has likewise been adapted in Japan. My question is: have the Japanese ever produced film/TV interpretations of the Taiping Rebellion? What was the Japanese perspective of the conflict, represented through their audiovisual media?

japanese-cinema

Best Answer

There is not too many in audiovisual format but a few joint production like this one Noroshi wa Shanghai ni agaru (1944) . There are other works in books or manga format. I guess it might not be a popular idea to have a specific view of foreign political incident. Not to mention it's quite controversial political agenda and historical perspective before WW2 and afterwards (for example: Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a popular Japanese idea before WW2 to impose quasi-colonialization idea to China)