A statue to commemorate a TV drama?

So I went out with my family to a park in Minamiuonuma recently (the Muikamachi Zenibuchi Park) to see the cherry blossoms and we chanced upon an interesting statue.

To me it seemed like some of others I’ve seen in similar parks throughout Japan that celebrate the famous daimyo or samurai from the region, but as I approached it, I saw this on the plaque:

“2009年NHK大河ドラマ「天地人」放映記念”

“In commemoration of the broadcast of the 2009 NHK Taiga drama Tenchi-jin”

If you haven’t heard of Taiga, it is an anthology series on NHK.  NHK produces one historical drama a year telling stories ranging from the samurai era to postwar period. It’s a cultural mainstay in Japan, and many famous Japanese actors got their big break in Taiga, such as Ken Watanabe, who played the iconic Date Masamune back in 1987 (he reprised the role again in the nineties).

Still, I was surprised to find a statue in the park there with such a direct reference to Taiga dramas. To NHK’s credit, the producers try to film as much as possible on location where the historical figures would have lived, so I imagine that Muikamachi was the site of some of the filming for Tenchi-jin. The statue was pretty neat, too, considering the drama’s hero, Naoe Kanetsugu, is the local icon--so even though it was commemorating a TV program, at least it had the history tied to it, too.

Has anyone else seen Taiga Drama memorial statues in your neck of the woods? Would love to hear about them in the comments section below!