Asian Drama

A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) submarine sank in a maritime accident near Japan. Japan was shocked by the news that the survival of all 76 crew members, including the captain, Second Lieutenant Shiro Kaieda, was hopeless. However, the crew actually survived. They were selected as crew members for a nuclear submarine built in top secret by Japan and the United States.

(Source: Japanese = silent-service.jp)

Adapted from the manga series "The Silent Service" (沈黙の艦隊) by Kawaguchi Kaiji (川口開治).

Adapted from the novel "Shylock no Kodomotachi" (シャイロックの子供たち) by Ikeido Jun (池井戸潤).

This drama focuses on the fireworks industry, which is suffering from a decline in events due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Mochizuki Fireworks Store" is a fireworks store that has been running for generations. Mochizuki Kou is the fourth generation owner who passes away at the age of 80, leaving his son Seitaro alone and at a loss for words. Few months later, Kou, who was supposed to be dead, appears in front of Seitaro as if he is still alive. This is a heartwarming fantasy, depicting the mysterious daily life of the father and son fireworks masters.

This drama focuses on the fireworks industry, which is suffering from a decline in events due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Mochizuki Fireworks Store" is a fireworks store that has been running for generations. Mochizuki Kou is the fourth generation owner who passes away at the age of 80, leaving his son Seitaro alone and at a loss for words. Few months later, Kou, who was supposed to be dead, appears in front of Seitaro as if he is still alive. This is a heartwarming fantasy, depicting the mysterious daily life of the father and son fireworks masters.

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Aoba Ippei, a police officer in the Police Dog Section of the Forensics Division, and his police dog buddy, Oliver, take on a series of inexplicable cases. As they try to solve the cases, they find themselves in the midst of various conflicting incidents...

(Source: NHK)

Episodes: 3

Duration: 45 min.

Aired On: Friday

Mikami, an ex-yakuza of middle age with most of his life in prison, gets released after serving 13 years of sentence for murder. Hoping to find his long lost mother, from whom he was separated as a child, he applies for a TV show and meets a young TV director Tsunoda. Meanwhile, he struggles to get a proper job and fit into society. His impulsive, adamant nature and ingrained beliefs cause friction in his relationship with Tsunoda and those who want to help him.

Adapted from the novel "Mibuncho" by Ryuzo Saki.

When Shimizu Mokomi was a child, she created her own imaginary world. She would have conversations with stuffed toys, stones, and plants. She also could sense the emotions of inanimate objects. Due to this, she was considered as a weird kid and scolded by people. Mokomi stopped going to school when was she in the 5th grade of elementary school. She eventually graduated from high school by taking correspondence courses. She continued to spend most of her time talking with things in her room and indulging in her fantasy world. She didn't always stay inside though. Her older sibling sometimes took her out. At the age of 20, Mokomi began working part-time at a small factory on her mother's recommendation. Her job was to pick out defective items. A year later, Mokomi still has her part-time factory job and she does her job well. Sometimes, she talks to things in the factory as if they have feelings. This causes trouble at the factory. She decides she doesn't want to work at the factory anymore. On her 22nd birthday, someone visits her.

"Tora-san, Welcome Back" is the fiftieth film in the "Tora-san" series. Its release is also set to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the series. Kiyoshi Atsumi, who played the eponymous character, will appear via scenes intercut with previous films.

Tamio Hakkaku works as a subsection chief for a company. He has not received a promotion in a long time. Other members including Makoto Kitagawa as the manager of the same department work very hard. One day, Manji Harashima is assigned to work as the new vice manager in the department. A secret exists within the company.

Hasumi Kyoko is a former lawyer who quit her job when she became a mother. Her husband is an elite prosecutor who works as the leader of a special investigation department at the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office. However, he is charged with corruption and gets arrested. A scandal with another woman is also revealed. Kyoko's life as a "good wife" begins to change. To protect her children, she decides to work again as a lawyer. She is hired temporarily at a law office and begins to work as a lawyer for the first time in 16 years.

Yuri Ishikawa and her team try to crack unresolved cold cases in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Based on true story of the wife of Ando Momofuku, the businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd. and the inventor of instant ramen, the 99th Asadora follows the life of Tachibana Fukuko, a young woman who tries to survive tough times in Osaka with her husband from before WWII to the rapid economic development era. Together they overcome various setbacks before they succeed in creating instant noodles.

The Hirata family have a lively household with three generations living under the same roof. One day, the secret stash of money that homemaker Fumie had put aside gets stolen. When her husband Konosuke snidely complains that she was squirreling away his earnings, Fumie loses it and leaves home. Her absence threatens the Hirata household with ruin.

Several years after Shuzo settled his wife’s birthday-surprise divorce proposal (What a Wonderful Family, 40th), the Hirata family faces new problems. Ignoring his family’s worry that he is too old to drive, Shuzo takes his old schoolmate for a spin after carousing. Soon, a new disturbance arises for the Hirata family. Veteran director Yamada Yoji continues his comedy about the “perfect“ Japanese family turned upside down in chaos, laughters and understanding. This time, with an additional taste of death.

Keisuke Ninomiya, who works as a construction consultant, becomes acquainted through his work with yakuza Yasuhiko Kuwabara. One day, film producer Koshimizu brings a movie investment proposal to yakuza leader Shimada. Shimada decides to invest in the film and he assigns Yasuhiko Kuwabara to oversee his investment. When Koshimizu runs away, Keisuke and Yasuhiko struggle to get Shimada’s money back from him.

Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko (Yoko Maki) and he has an 11-years-old son Shingo (Taiyo Yoshizawa). His mother Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki) lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.

In his fiftieth year of marriage to Tomiko, Shuzo decides to buy her a birthday present for a change. However, she tells him she wants his seal on an application for divorce. Their children swiftly convene a family meeting.

Shinonome Jinpachi has returned to the Kyoto Prefectural Police’s First Investigative Division as a specially commissioned detective. Meanwhile, Natsuki Asako, a team leader, has just been assigned to the division. Shinonome and Asako solve the same cases with completely different investigation methods. Shinonome has many information sources that he cultivated through his years of investigation. He would hit the streets and gather information that is not considered to have a direct relationship with a case. Asako has many fans within the police because she has moved from post to post. She is adapt at mobilising these allies and makes use of her inexperience in investigations to carry out daring ones. When these two investigation methods overlap, there will never be a typical investigation and unknown facts a step ahead of the solution will emerge.

Yanagida Kiriko (Horikita Maki) works at a food processing factory in Kita Kyushu as she lives a modest life with her intellectually disabled younger brother, Masao (Furuhata Niino). When work at the factory ends, she declines invitations from her colleagues, and waits for half-price at the supermarket so that she can buy Masao’s favourite squid rings. Then she heads straight home where her brother is waiting. Masao stuffs squid rings into his mouth with child-like delight as Kiriko fondly gazes at his smile. The next day, Masao is overjoyed to get his salary. On the way home, Kikue who is seeing off a young man from a house nearby, spots Masao counting the notes inside an envelope. She has an uncomfortable smile on her face when she jams 10,000 yen into his pay packet and asks if he can keep quiet about this. His hand is taken by Kikue and placed on her chest. A shaken Masao is left speechless. Hearing that he had accepted 10,000 yen from Kikue, Kiriko admonishes him. He is not supposed to take money from other people for no reason. Kiriko is about to go and return it, but Masao says he will go alone tomorrow. The next day, Masao visits Kikue’s home. His heart unexpectedly races as he recalls her behaviour yesterday. However, Kikue has been murdered by someone and Masao is detained as a suspect. Getting word of this, Kiriko desperately asserts, “My brother is different from an ordinary person!” But the police officers do not listen to her. On the other hand, Masao trembles in the interrogation and is not able to give an answer. If this goes on, he could end up becoming the murderer. A fretful Kiriko is reminded of the activities of the famous lawyer Otsuka Kinzo (Shiina Kippei) whom she had seen in the news and goes to Tokyo on her own. She pounds on the door of Otsuka’s law firm. Otsuka, who has been extremely busy, is exhausted. He has cleared a big court case and is going on a holiday with his lover, Kouno Michiko (Kimura Yoshino). That is when Kiriko comes to visit. “Can you help my brother? Please!” Otsuka seems moved by Kiriko’s emotional appeal, but Michiko has already come to get him. When he snubs Kiriko, telling her that his fees will go up in price even for cases in faraway places. She concludes, “I see, so you won’t help the poor” and leaves. Bile rises up in Otsuka … … Returning home Kiriko scrambles about for Masao’s sake, but he is sentenced to life in prison at the trial. Even so, Kiriko tries to save him. However, her brother dies of heat stroke while in prison. The abysmal conditions of the cell resulted in his death. Kiriko does not even shed tears in front of Masao’s dead body. She feels an emotion seething within her and vows revenge on Otsuka.

The drama tells the story of Yamaguchi Yoshiko, a Japanese woman born and raised in China during the Japanese occupation of Manchuria. She debuts as the Chinese singer and actress Li Xianglan (Ri Kouran in Japanese), in the hopes that her efforts will work towards the benefit of both Japan and China. Hiding her true nationality, however, she slowly discovers herself becoming a puppet of the Japanese military's propaganda efforts in Manchuria, starring in "national policy" films that humiliate the Chinese people. But billed as the "star of Greater East Asia," her popularity soars across borders to Japan, where she holds a concert that draws thousands to the Nihon Gekijou Theatre and leads to a riot that injures several people. Based on her autobiography, this is the story of her personal struggle amidst military strife between her two homelands.

Japan and Korea’s biggest names star in this big-scale drama. Nishijima Sho is a Japanese detective whose father was murdered in Korea when he was still a boy. In hopes of discovering the truth behind his father’s death, Sho is working undercover in a huge secret organization. Choi Yuna is a Korean woman who visits Japan in search of her missing father. She opens a Korean restaurant with her younger sister, but soon faces the mercy of fate. The couple meets in a corner of Tokyo and fall in love. But what waits ahead of them… A "rondo" of fate, love, and history is about to begin.

Three of Japan’s top veteran samurai stars shine in this colour remake of the classic Kobayashi film, Samurai Rebellion. The roles made famous by Mifune Toshiro and Nakadai Tatsuya are taken over by the ever popular Tamura Masakazu and Matsudaira Ken, with the surprise addition of Lady Snowblood’s Kaji Meiko as Suga, the shrewish wife of master swordsman Sasahara Isaburo. Staying true to the original storyline lends authenticity to this new and beautifully executed version. Lord Matsudaira of the Aizu clan has sent his favourite concubine to marry Sasahara’s son Yogoro after she had borne the lord a second son. Bloody violence will erupt when the lord wants her back!

Yasujiro Ozu's 1953 masterpiece Tokyo Story is regarded by many as the greatest film in the history of Japanese cinema, a finely wrought tale of human fragility amidst the rampant social upheaval of post-war Japan.

In Tokyo Family, 81-year-old modern master Yôji Yamada transports Ozu's opus to the Japan of today - a country where economic hope has waned and the threat to tradition is more pronounced than ever.

Elderly Shukichi and Tomiko swap their remote island home for Tokyo to spend some time with their three grown-up and very different children. Overcome with the stresses of the city, the kids absently shuffle their parents from one to the other, but when Tomiko has a stroke, everything they thought they valued is thrown into devastating relief...

Detective Tono Kazuyuki (Sato Koichi) of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's First Investigative Division resigns to take responsibility. However, he gets an appointment letter which he is unprepared for...to become an instructor at the police academy!

It is a useless role in the classroom involving theories about the many violent criminals. Tono, who has thus far used seemingly unorthodox measures to arrest criminals in investigations he obssessed over, assesses better than anyone else that he is least suited to be an instructor ... ... Awaiting him at the police academy he goes to as a new instructor are the naive young people of today who are attracted by the stability of being a civil servant and the cool uniform, particularly the trainee, Miyata Eiji (Miura Haruma), who handles everything tactfully. He is smart, good at sports and popular with both genders, but he has neither encountered hardships nor setbacks, and has nimbly made his way through an innocuous life. In fact, Miyata's way of life is far from the qualities of a police officer who protects the lives and possessions of citizens.

In the last months of the Second World War, the Empire of Japan receives a final gift from the collapsing Nazi Germany: the I-507, a highly-advanced submarine equipped with experimental technology.

The mission, as revealed by the grim Chief of Staff Asakura (Shinichi Tsutsumi) following the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is to intercept U.S. ships transporting a third nuclear weapon to Tinian Island, the principal base from which American B-29s Bombers are striking the Japanese home Islands. The man charged with the mission is Commander Masami (Yakusho Koji) - a brilliant destroyer of enemy ships relieved of his command when he opposed the navy's increasing reliance on suicide tactics. Given a last chance to redeem himself, he is burning with zeal, but is ignorant of the various secrets the I-507 carries on board.

Once at sea, Lt. Takasu (Ken Ishiguro), the owlish technician in charge of the imaging system, refuses to tell Masami what it is or how it works. Masami also discovers that two crew members belong to the "kaiten" suicide corps. He has no idea why they are there -- and neither, for the moment, do they.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy is tracking the I-507 with more than usual interest. What, Masami wonders, is going on here? Enough to say that a sweet-voiced teenage girl (Yu Kashi) is part of the master plan and that one of the minisub pilots (Satoshi Tsumabuki) becomes her protector -- and something more.

When the Inoue family just moves into their new residence, they are shocked to see everyone there so anxious about getting their children into good schools. In order not to be the one left out, they also join in the crowd and train their child hard to score well in the primary school entrance exam. Interestingly, their next door neighbor has a kid same age as theirs and always likes to compete with them. This makes the whole exam process more exciting and stressful, of course.

(Source: wiki.d-addicts)

Episodes: 12

The middle-aged couple at the center of this drama somehow seems to pull through despite constant quarreling. The critical husband has clearly found his match in an equally combative wife, with one hilarious encounter after another revealing the love/hate relationship which typically underlies modern marriages.

Episodes: 11