Brimming with the Japanese values of giri and ninjō, the fishmonger Tasuke is the epitome of the Edokko, the son of Edo.
A stock character in works set during the time of the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu (who ruled from 1623 to 1651), he collaborates with the veteran samurai Ōkubo Hikozaemon.
In kabuki, Tasuke is a character in Medashi Yanagi Midori no Matsumae (芽出柳翠緑松前).
Akira Kurosawa wrote the screenplay for the 1945 Appare Isshin Tasuke starring Kenichi Enomoto (directed by Kiyoshi Saeki for Toho).
These aired on TBS (1969, 52 episodes starring Tarō Yamada), Fuji (1971, 25 episodes, starring Ryōtarō Sugi), Asahi (ANB) (1989, a New Year special starring Tōru Nakamura), Nippon Television (1990, a special with Morio Kazama), and NHK (1999, 24 episodes on Friday evening prime time) with Naoto Ogata as Tasuke.