While the dispute over shogun's successor heats up, Ii Naosuke, siding with the Kishu-Tokugawa family that pushes Yoshitomi to become shogun, visits Honjuin to ally with her. Atsu-hime, under Nariakira's order to make Yoshinobu the next shogun, is driven into a corner. Nariakira submits an official statement declaring his position on the next shogun to the Tokugawa shogunate, which stirs the shogunate including "Ooku.
Aoi Miyazaki
Okatsu / Atsu-hime
Eita Nagayama
Kimotsuki Naogoro
Maki Horikita
Princess Kazu
Rie Tomosaka
Ikki Sawamura
Komatsu Kiyomichi
Hideki Takahashi
Taizo Harada
Kimiko Yo
Hisa-hime
Hiroshi Tamaki
Kanako Higuchi
Atsuko Takahata
Honjuin
Kyōzō Nagatsuka
Mayu Tsuruta
Yuriko Yoshitaka
Mikako Ichikawa
Oryu
Masato Sakai
Tokugawa Iesachi
Kinya Kitaoji
Masao Kusakari
Abe Masahiro
Tomoko Nakajima
Kenichi Yajima
Mayumi Wakamura
Sumie Sasaki
Yoshinori Okada
