Atsuhime (Princess Atsu) is the story of the real life Princess Atsu of the Satsuma Domain of Japan during the final years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. In a move to influence the Shogunate policies concerning the new threat from the West, Princess Atsu would be adopted from her birth parents to Lord Nariakira of the Shimizu Clan of Satsuma (Present Day Kagoshima, Japan). Princess Atsu will be readopted to be positioned to be sent to Edo Castle to marry the 13th Tokugawa Shogun Iesada. What she was not told is that the aloof Shogun Iesada was perceived to be a "fool" who was both indifferent to his country's political crisis and his newlywed Atsuhime's affections. Through her determination, she will win over her eccentric husband. But as the foreign crisis looms over Japan, the young princess is widowed at the age of 22 and must now find her place as the newly minted Lady Tenshoin in the private world of the Ooku of Edo Castle. Political intrigue and revolution play backdrop to this riveting 47th NHK Taiga Drama starring Aoi Miyazaki as one of the most influential women of the Bakumatsu - The final days of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
—Louis E. Rosas