Asian Drama

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New season.

In 1990, Hagizaki Tatsuo, the accounting department chief of Ukishima Electric Works, was busy negotiating on getting a loan together with Sekino, the company's general manager. However, just as they were about to get the funds, Sekino was involved in a 200 million yen fraud and he later disappeared with the loan. The company decides to cover up the incident to protect its image, but Hagizaki wants to get to the bottom of the matter with the help of his newspaper reporter friend, Muraki. Hagizaki later notices that the case becomes darker and darker as he continues to investigate. He then meets a beautiful woman, Uezaki Etsuko, whom he believes hold the key to the entire incident.

“Try stopping my murders with words.” This is the line in a letter delivered to Ippongi Toru, a roving reporter for Taiyo Shimbun’s local news desk, and the random serial murders which have shaken the Tokyo metropolitan area are described in detail. The criminal designates Ippongi and demands a public debate in the newspapers. Using a journalist’s power of words, Ippongi goes head to head with the criminal who warns of another murder. The unprecedented dialogue between the serial killer and newspaper reporter eventually rocks society.

Depicts the lives of three generations of women who have close links to the English lessons on radio which began in 1925.

Depicts the lives of three generations of women who have close links to the English lessons on radio which began in 1925.

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

Sara Masaki is a detective of Investigation Team 1 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. His colleague, Detective Saito Kota, dies during an investigation of a murder case. Afterward, Masaki is transferred to the Personnel Department 1 of the Inspection Division. He still suffers from the death of his colleague. The other workers around Masaki are hostile to him. One day, a letter reaches the personnel department. The letter claims that Detective Minaguchi Nako leaks secret information. Detective Nako used to work with Masaki Investigation Team 1. Masaki begins to investigate the claim in the letter. His investigation leads him to the unsolved case of the death of his colleague.

Adapted from the novel "Mikkoku wa Utau" (密告はうたう) by Igane Gentaro (伊兼源太郎).

Hajime works in the I.T. department of a newspaper company. He has worked there for 7 years. He often neglects his work and he is more interested in writing manga. His colleague at the newspaper company is Yutaka. He insists to Hajime that he values life more than his job, but he doesn't look happy to Hajime. Looking at his colleague Yutaka, Hajime suddenly wonders if his life is okay like this or will he become a person who does his job well.

Based on manga "Hatarakazaru Monotachi" by Sarenda Hashimoto.

Manabu runs a ranch on a mountain in Shimane prefecture where he grew up. In his town, there is a dance called 'KAGURA', which is said to be the origin of kabuki. Local teenagers make their debut at the annual festival. The dance is the pride of the local community. His son, Tatsuya, is supposed to make his debut at the festival this year, but he is skipping Kagura practice. Manabu worries that his son will leave the region like many young people do. Meantime, the town decides to close the elementary school that he graduated from because of the decreasing number of children. Population decline due to the outflow of young people to cities is one of the major problems in the region. As a result, not only Kagura, but also the transmission of many traditions and crafts unique to the region, is in a critical state. A story of people who, in the midst of a region where the population drain cannot be stopped, earnestly try to live while preserving the tradition, pure as a clear stream.

Aspiring university student Aiba Takashi is studying in order to try again for the university examination. One midday time seems to stand still for everyone and everything around him. Moreover, this phenomenon repeats daily. Yet, he is not the only one who is aware of the situation. There is an explanation and there is someone who holds the key to that explanation. Aiba Takashi failed to get into a university and studies to take his entrance exam again, while he isn't really interested in anything particular. One day, at 12:15 PM, time seems to stand still for everyone and everything around him for a whole 1 hour. Takashi then encounters a golden-brown eyed girl, Shinomiya Tokine, who can also move when everything else is stopped. Since then, at 12:15 PM every day, everything stops for 1 hour. During this "loss time", in a world where only two people move, the distance gradually decreases and so as his feelings for her grow.

But Tokine seems to have a big secret, related to this magical phenomenon, and Doctor Issey Asami holds an important key to it.

Kenji Amo is a 2nd generation Japanese-American. He was born in America but went to school in Japan. He returned to America to study at UCLA. Now, Kenji Amo works as a reporter for a newspaper in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles.

Charlie Tamiya also studied at UCLA with Kenji Amo. Charlie Tamiya has feelings for Nagiko who works with Kenji Amo at the same newspaper company. Knowing that, Kenji Amo holds complicated feelings. At this time, Nagiko's friend Emi Hatanaka asks Kenji Amo to marry her. He accepts her proposal, but the Pacific War begins. Circumstances surrounding Kenji Amo changes.

The murder of Sudo Isao, a used car dealer, occurs in Shizuoka Prefecture in 2008. Detective Kusaka Satoru of the Shizuoka Prefectural Police’s Susuno Precinct, checks his background. He learns that Sudo’s young son Obata Mamoru from a previous marriage, died in a kidnapping incident in Shizuoka in 1974. In 1988, with just one year before the statute of limitation on the kidnapping case ran out, a special investigation unit was formed under the instructions of the Shizuoka Prefectural Police’s police chief Hashibami Yasuhide. Shigeto Seiichiro, who rose to the rank of superintendent despite being a non-career officer, became the director and led a group of six capable detectives in the re-investigation. Kusaka cannot comprehend why Sudo, who lived in Tokyo more than 20 years after the death of his son, was murdered in Shizuoka Prefecture. He instinctively knows that delving into the kidnap and murder of the child will shed light on the case. Kusaka visits Shigeto who has left the police for a long time and searches for clues. He makes contact with Mamoru’s mother Saeko and her older sister Rie, and gradually draws near the real culprit.

Nagatsu Ryoko, who belongs to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, is found dead in the mountain. One month ago, she discovered a Buddha statue at a mountain shrine. Her death seems accidental, caused by Ryoko slipping, but Itomura Satoshi determines that her death was not accidental.

Itomura Satoshi is back again, but in Kyoto and with a new team. He begins work at the 1st Investigation Division of the Kyoto Prefectural Police Station. The 1st investigation division with deals with the most difficult cases.

Rei Kiriyama is a 17-years-old shogi player. He debuted as a professional shogi player when he was in middle school. He lives by himself in Tokyo, because his parents and younger sister died in a traffic accident when he was little. One day, Rei Kiriyama meets three sisters who are his neighbors. The three sisters are Akari Kawamoto, Hinata Kawamoto, and Momo Kawamoto. This is his first meeting with someone outside of the shogi world in many years. Having meals with the Kawamoto family brings warm feelings to Rei Kiriyama. As Rei Kiriyama continues his shogi career, his interactions with his neighbors allow him to grow as a shogi player and as a person.

Kiriyama Rei is a 17-years-old shogi (Japanese chess) player. He debuted as a professional shogi player when he was in middle school. He lives by himself in Tokyo, because his parents and younger sister died in a traffic accident when he was little. One day, Kiriyama Rei meets three sisters who are his neighbours. The three sisters are Kawamoto Akari, Kawamoto Hinata and Kawamoto Momo. This is his first meeting with someone outside of the shogi world in many years. Having meals with the Kawamoto family brings warm feelings to Kiriyama Rei. As Kiriyama Rei continues his shogi career, his interactions with his neighbours allow him to grow as a shogi player and as a person.

Kaori Fujimiya is always alone because all of her happy memories, including time spent with her friends, disappear every Monday. Deciding that he wants to be friends with her anyway, Yuuki Hase tries to get close to Kaori each week, wishing that she would one day call him "a friend."

Adapted from the manga "One Week Friends" (一週間フレンズ。) by Matcha Hazuki.

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

The Japanese version of Warner Bros ‘Cold Case'.

“If you want help, but have no one to consult … At such times, make a phone call first!” Akenabe Yugo’s occupation is a “rental saviour”. He is a “saviour” who shows up to handle any kind of impossible demand for a limited time only. This is a peculiar, innovative rental service which has appeared as a result of a movement in the rental industry. But Akenabe is certainly not a fellow to be worshiped as a saviour. He is just a very good-natured middle-aged man who is forced to be one as a way to make supplementary income through this commission-based, for-profit, confidential service because he has a huge debt and a wife and child. On the other hand Aoi Denjiro, who is a “rental saviour” together with Akenabe, is a big show-off who loves attention.

A hustler who gets in trouble with a gang boss in the port town of Sukago agrees to make good with the don by putting him in contact with a mysterious hitman -- an assassin the hustler has no idea...

Yuri, a female university student, saw the video of Sadako calling her and saying that she would surely die two days later. Suzuka, a high school girl, steps into a haunted house by a ghost called Kayako. It is said that the house makes people disappear when they entered it. Kyozo, a medium, tries to save Yuri and Suzuka who were cursed. He cames up with a secret plan to make Sadako and Kayako fight against each other.

Yuri, a female university student, saw the video of Sadako calling her and saying that she would surely die two days later. Suzuka, a high school girl, steps into a haunted house by a ghost called Kayako. It is said that the house makes people disappear when they entered it. Kyozo, a medium, tries to save Yuri and Suzuka who were cursed. He cames up with a secret plan to make Sadako and Kayako fight against each other.

Hoshina Kyoko, Doi Tomohiko and Sakai Miwa have been leading ordinary lives working as adults. Raised at Yoko Gakuen which was isolated from the world and located on the mountain, the three of them enjoyed child-like lives and education and were supposed to be normal children. One day, they were told by their principal Kamikawa Emiko that they are special children who have been given a “mission” from birth and were informed of their “true destiny”. The three are actual clones and they were produced for eventual organ harvesting.

Makita Takahiro works in the Public Relations (PR) Department of Nagawara Seiyaku, a major pharmaceutical company in Japan. One day, on his way to work, he witness someone committing suicide by jumping onto the railway tracks, into the path of an oncoming train. A few days later, he is called into the Vice President, Anjo Takao's office, where he is told that the suicide may have something to do with one of the drugs manufactured by the company. Anjo then assigns Takahiro to work with the police on their investigations. As Nagawara Seiyaku is currently undergoing talks with a major foreign equity group on a possible merger, any bad publicity will put an end to that. The company will definitely go under then, as they are in the red due to the economic crisis. Takahiro has been told to not breathe a word about the investigations to anyone, not even his fiancee, Morita Mayumi, who is working as Anjo's secretary.

When the autopsy records the said drug to be found in the deceased's body, Anjo instructs Takahiro to approach the family, to persuade them on an out-of-court settlement, while they are writing up reports for the Ministry of Health. Torn between his obligation to the public and to the company, Takahiro approaches the company lawyer, Takafuji Tatsumi, for advice and help.

In the end, will Takahiro ignore his conscience in order to protect the company's profit?

Adapted from the 2014 novel "Godan" by Dōba Shunichi.

Yoichiro (Kippei Shiina) is a ice-cool heart surgeon and an associate professor at a medical school. He is well known for developing an innovative method to transform an old heart into a young heart. Kazuhisa (Kenichi Takito), who is suspicious of bureaucrats, asks him to work at the National Neo Medical Center. Yoichiro turns down Kazuhisa’s offer, because of his likely promotion to a professor. Yoichiro then becomes involved in a mysterious document commotion over his past medical mistake. Meanwhile, famous actor Rentaro (Tatsuya Nakadai) is admitted into the hospital because of a cardiac problem. He expects to improve with treatment from Yoichiro.

Mai Hanasaki (Anne Watanabe) and Ken Soma (Takaya Kamikawa) work for Tokyo Daiichi Bank and their job is to fix problems that arise at various local bank branches. Keisuke Matsuki (Hiroki Narimiya) is an enthusiastic and honest bank teller. While working with Mai Hanasaki, he develops feelings for Mai Hanasaki. Meanwhile, insensitive Mai Hanasaki is oblivious to Keisuke's feelings towards her.

Set within the hospitality division of the Koichi Prefecuture, employees attempt to find new ideas to promote tourism in the region. The hospitality division in Koichi Prefecture can't promote the beautiful nature in the area due to a strict rule by the prefecture government. Popular writer and Koichi area native Kyosuke Yoshikado (Kengo Kora) is appointed as a special envoy for tourism in the area. He then receives a recommendation to meet Seien, a former employee of Koichi Prefecture, who once hatched an unusual idea to promote tourism. Seien pushed forward a project to import pandas into the area, but lost his job because of that project. Meanwhile, hospitality division employees Fumitaka (Ryo Nishikido) and Taki (Maki Horikita) visits the tourist house which is run by Seien and his daughter (Megumi Seki). When they arrive, the daughter throws a bucket of water at them, still angry for the way her father was dismissed from his job. From there, a plan for the hospitality division is born.

Hana no Ato is based on a short story by the late Shuhei Fujisawa (The Twilight Samurai, Love and Honor, et al.) The film stars Keiko Kitagawa as Ito, a member of a small clan in the Tohoku region. One day she meets a young swordsman of a lower social caste named Magoshiro (Shuntaro Miyao) and challenges him to a friendly duel with bamboo swords. The exhilarating match sparks feelings between the two, but Ito is already betrothed to another man and decides to put Magoshiro out of her mind and wait for her fiance to return from his studies in Edo. However, when Magoshiro is forced to commit seppuku due to the plotting of a cowardly noble, Ito decides to take it upon herself to seek justice. 

Every day, bank branches encounter various problems like missing money, information leaks, loan problems & breach of duties. Mai Hanasaki's (Anne Watanabe) job is to go there and fix the problems. She is able to do so, even though she is just a bank clerk without higher level powers. Because of her character, Mai Hanasaki will not keep still when she sees a wrong. She's willing to stand up for the side of the weak, regardless of the relation between the top and bottom factions of the bank.

Two prisoners managed to escape after the police truck carrying them crashed. One of them ,is a gangster. The other called "Otowa YonKo" - our protagonist - is a con artist whose cheats money from criminals or terrorists. Accidentally, "Otowa Yonko" then becomes the new teacher for the nearby high school, under the new name "Hachisuka Goro", and according to a deal of "Hammer Session" with the headmaster.

Adapted from the manga series "Hammer Session!" (ハンマーセッション!) written by Koganemaru Yamato (小金丸大和) and Yatsu Hiroyuki (八津弘幸) and illustrated by Tanahashi Namoshiro (棚橋なもしろ).

Set in Edo period, Japan, a women risks her life to keep her true love. Ito (Keiko Kitagawa), daughter of a clan official, encounters Magoshiro Eguchi (Shuntaro Miyao). Magoshiro is a low ranking samurai sparks an attraction with Ito. Ito challenges Magoshiro to a sword match using bamboo sticks. Mahoshiro accepts. The pair's duel causes sparks to fly an attraction from both sides. Meanwhile, Ito faces an arranged marriage with Saisuke Katagiri (Masahiro Komoto) and Magoshiro is with Kayo (Ayumi Ito) .

Two transfer students, Atsuko Maeda and Onizuka Daruma came at the all-girls school Majisuka Gakuen. In this school violence and fighting are common among the Yankee students. Noisy and trouble maker Daruma made a fuss as soon as she entered the school, win in her first fight but then was beaten easily by another gang shortly after. In contrary to Daruma's bold-but-powerless attitude, Maeda who is truthfully a strong girl despite of her silent nature found Daruma is beaten by Team Hormon before her. The word "Majisuka?" (means are you serious?) instantly awaken her true nature and made her won the battle against Daruma's attackers easily, thus made a big fuss at the school and the news even reached the strongest fighting group, Rappapa. Afterwards, Daruma acknowledged Maeda as her boss and as a result the friendship between the two girls began to grow along with their fights with fellow students at their school.

Makabe Rokurota (Hiroshi Abe), a loyal retainer of Princess Yuki-hime (Masami Nagasawa), has been commissioned to transport Yuki-hime and Akizuki's ample treasury of gold bars safely to the politically stable Hayakawa. They disguise themselves as humble firewood peddlers, hiding the gold bars inside the logs they are carrying so as to pass safely through roadblocks set up by Yamana, which is under the control of Takayama Gyobu (Kippei Shiina), whose attire bears a striking resemblance to that of Darth Vader.

Along the way, Rokurota comes across Takezo (Jun Matsumoto) and Shimpachi (Daisuke Miyagawa), who have escaped from forced labor in a gold mine. Takezo and Shimpachi first frown on joining the journey, but eventually agree to help out in the hope of escaping Yamana's oppression and cashing in on the gold reward Rokurota offers them.

Todo Maki, a rookie lawyer, joins a law office run by seven female attorneys who work to help women who have become victims of crime. Todo eagerly goes to work, but when her boss Sugimura Misako assigns her to a case, she discovers there is still much to learn about practicing law. Under the guidance of her six more experienced colleagues, she discovers what it means to be a lawyer.

Only three days before their high school festival, guitarist Kei (Yu Kashii), drummer Kyoko (Aki Maeda), and bassist Nozumi (Shiori Sekine) are forced to recruit a new lead vocalist for their band. They choose Korean exchange student Son (Bae Doo-Na), though her comprehension of Japanese is a bit rough! It’s a race against time as the group struggles to learn three tunes for the festival’s rock concert—including a classic '80s punk-pop song by the Japanese group The Blue Hearts called “Linda Linda”...

This drama pits two protagonists against each other. On the one hand there's Makoto, a woman who believes that the TV program is a product and that viewer ratings are the proceeds, and who believes any method is fair in getting those ratings. On the other hand there's Hiromi, a flashy sort of guy who claims that life is to enjoy and boasts that the program is simply a tool in that process. He loves wine, women and gambling. Such a pair is bound to mix like oil and water, but following a fateful reunion, they come to understand each other in the midst of confrontation.

"100 Tales of Horror" is the follow-up to "Onmyoji Abe no Seimei" in the Tuesday night "Super Jidaigeki" time slot. Computer graphics and special effects bring a new face to these stories of horror that have been told for many years.

In February 1972, five members of the Japanese Red Army lock themselves up in a mountain lodge in Karuizawa called Asama Sanso, taking the wife of its proprietor hostage. Sassa Atsuyuki (Koji Yakusho) of the National Police Agency is put in charge by his chief (Makoto Fujita), and rushes to the scene. The case is supposed to be resolved in a few days, but the police do not get permission to use guns, and in addition, there is the severe cold and continuous antagonism between the Metropolitan Police Department and the Prefectural Police, making things extremely complicated. On the tenth day, in an attempt to force a breakthrough, they eventually use a wrecking ball that is operated with a crane truck to break down the outside wall of the lodge, then start to charge in. However, the crane breaks down halfway through, hampering the continuation of this strategy and the ranks fall into confusion. After the head of the riot police sacrifices his life, Sassa takes his place at the forefront and continues the siege. Under his command, the riot police finally raids the room where the kidnappers are. The radicals are all arrested on the spot, and the hostage is safe and unharmed.

Tales of the Unusual: A four-part anthology in the spirit of The Twilight Zone, this film starts off with a group of commuters stranded at a train station in the rain, listening to stories told by one of the group. These include tales of a group stranded in the mountains and haunted by guilt over a death they inadvertently caused, an emotionally broken chessmaster pressed into playing a real-life game for an eccentric millionaire, a wandering medieval samurai who finds a modern-day cell phone on the ground and a person on the other end asking questions about the past, and a young couple who agree to try a computer simulation of what their future as husband and wife would be like.

Pathologist Dr. Andou Mitsuo gets tangled into the web of the video tape and Yamamura Sadako by pure luck. Unbeknown to the circumstances of discovering the tape, Mitsuo resumed the search to find the real 'truth' that was left hanging from Takayama Ryuuji and Asakawa Kazuyuki as Sadako continues to lurk, killing more people faster in another way than by watching the tape.

After graduating from college, Yuuji lands the job of his dreams at the company that manufactures his favorite running shoes. The complete sincerity and selflessness that Yuuji shows everyone he meets causes many to dismiss him as naive or simply stupid. But when his good deeds start paying off, his co-workers begin to come around to the idea that nice guys don't have to finish last.Theme song: Serori (Celery) by SMAP, adapted from manga "Ii Hito " by TAKAHASHI Shin.

Nogami Taeko who works at a foreign fund, is tasked by her company president, Machida Kenichi with restructuring an ailing company that has just been bought out. It is Japan Geothermal Development, a small company in the countryside which develops and supplies geothermal energy. Taeko unhappily wonders if she has been demoted, but gets on board to turn the business around. She grills the present company president Ando Koji about the company’s finances, and announces a restructuring plan that will lay off employees and close unprofitable divisions. This causes a furor among employees like Omuro Kojiro, the head of geothermal energy research, whose life has been consumed by years of research. Taeko plunges ahead based on the conviction of rebuilding the business and securing its profitability. However, she soon learns of the thoughts of people like Omuro who believe that they are developing energy for Japan’s future, and gets to know the potential of geothermal power generation.