"Mito Komon is one of the most famous (and most filmed) Jidaigeki stories. Lord Mito is the sage who wanders the countryside rectifying government corruption along with his faithful attendants Suke-san and Kaku-san. The historical Mito Komon aka Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1700) was the grandson of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. During the latter half of the Edo period and the Meiji period, a kōdan (narrative tale) named "Mito Mitsukuni Man'yūki" fictionalized the travels of Tokugawa Mitsukuni. This tradition of dramatizing his life continued with a novel and, in 1951, the first television series to portray him as a wanderer, masquerading as a commoner, who castigated the evil powers in every corner of the nation. In 1969, the TBS series Mito Kōmon began, and today continues to attract audiences.
