NHK大河ドラマ第17作。
平家打倒の旗印を掲げ、源氏の嫡流たる源頼朝のもとに結集した関東武士団の栄光と悲劇を描くドラマ。頼朝の妻となる北条政子を大河初出演の岩下志麻が演じ、源平の争乱から鎌倉幕府の創設、やがては源氏の衰亡へと移ろう愛憎の歴史劇が展開される。ちなみに、大河において女性を主人公とするのは初めての試みで、それと同時に家族関係の描写などにはホームドラマ的な要素が盛り込まれた。これは以後『おんな太閤記』や『春日局』に代表される橋田壽賀子ドラマの登場につながっていく。また、本作では一ノ谷や壇ノ浦など、野外ロケを多用した合戦のスペクタクルシーンに力を入れる一方、劇中の会話をすべて現代語調に統一。この点については視聴者の賛否両論を呼んだ。
01 第一回 蛭が小島の流人
02 第二回 恋文
03 第三回 二人義経
04 第四回 政子略奪
05 第五回 婿殿、舅殿
06 第六回 密使は走る
07 第七回 頼朝起つ
08 第八回 石橋山の合戦
09 第九回 頼朝再起
10 第十回 鎌倉へ
11 第十一回 兄の涙・弟の涙
12 第十二回 飢餓亡者
13 第十三回 若君誕生
14 第十四回 政子狂乱
15 第十五回 愛のかたみ
16 第十六回 人質
17 第十七回 義経出陣
18 第十八回 亀裂
19 第十九回 京の白拍子
20 第二十回 壇の浦
21 第二十一回 義経凱旋
22 第二十二回 鎌倉の刺客
23 第二十三回 都の盗賊たち
24 第二十四回 静の舞
25 第二十五回 頼朝上洛
26 第二十六回 法皇崩御
27 第二十七回 義時の妻
28 第二十八回 富士の巻狩
29 第二十九回 曾我兄弟
30 第三十回 大姫錯乱
31 第三十一回 黒いつむじ風
32 第三十二回 頼朝の死
33 第三十三回 姫君毒殺
34 第三十四回 頼家乱行
35 第三十五回 梶原景時の滅亡
36 第三十六回 悪禅師全成
37 第三十七回 北条の陰謀
38 第三十八回 比企滅亡
39 第三十九回 頼家追放
40 第四十回 修善寺
41 第四十一回 華燭
42 第四十二回 畠山討伐
43 第四十三回 父と子
44 第四十四回 後鳥羽院頌歌
45 第四十五回 小夜菊
46 第四十六回 和田合戦
47 第四十七回 幻の船
48 第四十八回 船霊
49 第四十九回 実朝暗殺
50 第五十回 三浦義村の策謀
51 最終回 承久の乱

纸雕艺术家泽田八重（吉永小百合 饰）和函馆日报的记者鸟饲希代子（岩下志麻 饰）从大学时代就是非常亲密的好友，她们曾携手参加著名的安保运动，并恋上同一个男人（林隆三 饰）。毕业后，两人分居东京与函馆，为了各自的人生努力。某天，八重被诊断患有重病，第二次手术后她搬到函馆居住，分别二十多年的好姐妹再次相遇。此前，希代子和报社同事高尾耕介（玉置浩二 饰）维持着情人关系，而八重的贤淑与恬静却深深吸引着高尾。他无法抑制心中澎湃的爱恋，这却让两个好友陷入左右摇摆的矛盾之中……
本片根据日本作家高樹のぶ子的同名原著改编。

1965 film by Hideo Gosha

Set in the icy wilderness of Hokkaido during the early days of the Meiji era, where the brutal warden of Kabato Prison terrorizes convicts sentenced to forced labor to build the roads needed to open up the territory.

When Sokichi stops providing his long-time lover Kikuyo enough money to pay for the care of their three young children, Kikuyo leaves the children with Sokichi - and his very surprised and angry wife Oume - and disappears.

Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.

Shuhei Hirayama is a widower with a 24-year-old daughter. Gradually, he comes to realize that she should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

An outlaw pushes the residents of Edo's red light district to rebel against a growing number of stifling, moralistic laws.

A car going at 25 mph plunges into the sea at Shinko Harbour, Toyama prefecture. Inside is the local business magnate Fukutaro Shirakawa, who perishes. Riding alongside him and surviving unhurt is his second wife, Kumako. It soon comes to light that Kumako’s husband was insured for 300 million yen and she is arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband for the insurance money. The newspapers denounce her as an evil woman, while the public is in no doubt about Kumako’s crime. Ritsuko Sahara is chosen as her defence attorney but the pair clash over almost everything...

Two Jesuit priests encounter persecution when they travel to Japan in the 17th century to spread Christianity and search for their mentor.

Japan, February 1868. As the Tokugawa shogunate declines and the power of Emperor Meiji grows, Gonzo, a soldier of the Restoration Army, returns to Sawando, his hometown, to announce the end of tyranny.

Misawa Ihei (Nagato) is traveling with his wife Tae (Iwashita Shima) who abhors the practice of sword fighting for prize money. Tae is the daughter of the clan's chief counselor who married the low-ranking Ihei to avoid becoming the clan lord's mistress. Into the mix comes Oba Gunjuro (Tetsurō Tamba), a mysterious ronin who will do anything for money. This leads to a fitting climax as the forces of hate and love converge while the couple attempt to break through the border!

In 1863, when American warships approach Japan, an enigmatic ronin becomes an important figure in a complex game of power between the Shogunate and the empire.

Kumokiri Nizaemon, a former samurai warrior, has abandoned his class to become the leader of a gang of thieves. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan.

In a time of continuous civil wars ravaging the fields of feudal Japan, the eldest son of a very poor peasant family, living alongside the bridge over the Fuefuki river, decides to serve a warlord to escape his miserable condition, being soon followed by his younger brothers. Although not all the men of the family take this tragic path of death, women of the family will be doomed to endure the pain of loss during the next five generations.

The tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokagawa Period, a time in which appearences are very important. Gonza competes with Bannojō for the honor to perform the tea ceremony to celebrate the birth of an heir to the lord of their clan. To see the sacred tea scrolls Gonza promises to marry the daughter of the family which possesses them, even though he is unofficially engaged to another. When studying the scrolls with Osai, the mother of the house, Bannojō sneaks into the house and steals their obis and runs through the town proclaiming the two as adulterers.

A mountain man beheads his many wives to prove his love to an alluring woman he meets in an enchanted forest.

A noble samurai serving the Shogun as 'Kogi Kaishaku-nin' (Official Executioner) is the target of a plot by the evil Yagyu Clan to take away his position and replace him with a member of their own family. When his wife is murdered and evidence is produced that he was plotting against the Shogun the Code of Bushido calls for him and his son to commit sepuku. Instead he defies the Shogun's orders and takes up arms against his enemies, becoming an assassin for hire.

Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan. But when he meets the lovely courtesan Koharu, he becomes a man obsessed. Koharu returns his love, even foregoing other customers while Jihei schemes to somehow buy her freedom. His efforts yield ruinous consequences for his business and his family life, and Koharu is meanwhile purchased by another client.

石橋潔はドイツ語を教えていた有閑夫人の宇佐美夫人との関係を清算し、自力で生活しようと、地方新聞である横浜タイムス社に入社した。ある日、社の先輩津田に喫茶店“朱印船"に連れていかれた。ウェイトレスの千江の清潔なたたずまいに強くひかれた。潔は足繁く“朱印船"に通うようになった。千江目当てに通ってくる客には、木村というブルジョア青年もいた。ある雨の朝、潔は街で千江に会った。二人の間は急速に深まっていった。潔は千江と結婚したいと、先輩の津田に相談した。千江から電話があった。競輪場のスタンドから父が落ちて入院したというのだ。翌日、潔は宇佐美夫人の許を訪れた。金を借りるためだ。夫人はしぶしぶ一万円の小切手を手渡した。潔は急に大阪に出張することになり、千江にも会えず出発した。その留守中に、千江は木村と結婚してしまった。が、この結婚には木村の父親が反対しており、千江の入籍も許されなかった。ある日、買物に出た千江は、自動車にはねられた。それから二カ月たった。初めて千江の輪禍を聞いた潔は、病院に駈けつけた。千江ははねられた時のショックで記憶を失っていた。千江は木村から離縁された。半月後、潔は千江を退院させて自分の下宿へ連れ帰った。潔は千江の記憶が恢復しなくても結婚しようと考えたが、千江は申し入れをきかなかった。潔が出張中干江は自殺を企て海にとびこんだ。未遂に終った。翌朝、千江は潔の名を呼んでいた。失われていた記憶がよみがえったのだ。彼女が一番行きたがっていたところは、彼女が身も心も潔にささげた、港が見える丘にある誰もいない外国人邸宅。庭に転がっている古ぼけた芝刈機だけが妙に印象的なところだった。二人は抱き合った。