Asian Drama

Writer Tsutomu lives alone at a mountain cabin in Nagano. He collects fruits and mushrooms from the mountain. He also raises vegetables in a field. Everyday, he cooks his meals with these natural ingredients. Doing that, he can feel the flow of the seasons and he writes his book. Sometimes, his editor/girlfriend Machiko visits him. They cook with seasonal ingredients and eat together. They have a good time together. Tsutomu seems to be enjoying an easygoing life, but he is still unable to bury his dead wife’s ashes in a grave. His wife died 13 years ago.

Adapted from the essay "Tsuchi wo Kurau Hibi " by Mizukami Tsutomu.

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In the turbulent last days of the Edo period, Kawai Tsugunosuke, a Japanese samurai serving the Makino clan of Nagaoka, dreamt of independence from the restraints of vassalship. Despite his progressive views and his desire for his estate to remain neutral during the Boshin Civil War, he was bound by loyalty and duty to the clan and was compelled to choose sides.

Adapted from the novel "Toge: Saigo no Samurai" (峠 最後のサムライ) by Shiba Ryotaro (司馬遼太郎).

Omameda Towako recently become the president of the construction company "Shirokuma Housing". She has experienced three divorces and is currently living with her 15 year old daughter, Uta. Although Towako has been divorced thrice, she remains bright and lives her life strongly. However, her life is constantly disrupted by her three troublemaker ex-husbands.

Kishibeno Yuri is a housewife who lives with her husband and their two children. Yuri attends her sister Tono Misaki's funeral where she meets her niece Ayumi for the first time in many years. Ayumi is still unable to accept her mother's death and, because of this, she can't open a letter left behind by her mother. Yuri attends her sister's reunion to inform them about her sister's death. A misunderstanding occurs at the reunion and Yuri is mistaken for her late sister. Yuri meets her first love Otosaka Kyoshiro who mistakenly believes she is Misaki. They exchange contact information. A few days later, Yuri receives a message from Kyoshiro that says "Can you believe that I am still in love with you?"

Three murder cases take place in Tokyo. Numbers are left at the murder scenes, possibly hinting at where the next murder will take place. An investigation begins of the serial killer and Detective Nitta Kosuke works on the case. He believes the next murder will take place at Hotel Koruteshia Tokyo. To catch the killer, Kosuke goes undercover and begins working at the front desk of the hotel.

<[>Yamagishi Naomi works at the front desk of Hotel Koruteshia Tokyo. She is selected to train Kosuke for his front desk job, but they can't get along. Kosuke is focused on catching the killer, but Naomi prioritizes the safety of the guests. As they begin to understand each other's differences, they also begin to build trust between each other. Who is the murderer?

Kimijima Hayato works for a big manufacturing company. He wants to be successful at his job and he is mentioned for a promotion, but he opposes the company undertaking a project led by his boss. This leads to Kimijima Hayato being demoted to a chief of general affairs position at a factory in the province. He is also ordered to work as the general manager of the company's rugby team named Astros. The Astros were once a formidable team, but they have been losers in their recent past. Kimijima Hayato hopes to regain his standing at the company by rebuilding the Astros into a powerhouse, but he doesn't have any knowledge about rugby.

Maki Maki, Sebuki Suzume, Beppu Tsukasa and Iemori Yutaka happen to meet and form a quartet. They even begin to live together in Karuizawa during the winter, but there is a big hidden secret.

Maki, who has a negative personality and barely gives her opinions, plays the lead violin in the quartet. She has family and only goes to Karuizawa on the weekends for performances. Suzume, who is unemployed, plays the cello, while Yutaka plays the viola in the quartet. The leader of the quartet and the one providing his grandfather's villa as a base for them is Tsukasa. He plays the second violin in the quartet and comes from a musical family. A man of many secrets, he also works at a donut company.

In 1963 (Showa 38), Naoki Prize-winning writer Fujisawa Shuhei (Higashiyama Noriyuki) was a reporter for Shokuhin Shimbun using his real name Kosuge Tomeji. Eight months after the birth of their daughter Nobuko, his wife passed away. Tomeji sent for his...

Prosecutor Kohei Kuryu (Takuya Kimura) takes charge of a case with a foreign embassy possessing the key to solve the case. Due to the extraterritoriality involving the case, the investigation has not gone anywhere. A crisis then ensues. Kohei Kuryu...

Takeharu Takami is a bank teller who becomes allergic to money. Because of this, he decides to quit his job and move to a poor village in the Tohoku region where he can live a humble existence without having to deal with money at all. However, when he arrives he discovers the local villagers are some of the strangest people he’s ever met. Can he really handle living without money?

Life is often likened to a stage of a play. And you are the star of your life. Everyone should have a story or two to tell. But some people just don't realize it and stay out of the limelight choosing to live in someone else's backstage just like our heroine. Since she lost her parents when she was only 3, she just has been accepting what life gives her instead of trying to get more. But when she starts working for a seasoned Shakespeare actor who has his own problems as his manager, she finds a strange bond with him and develops a special relationship like a family. This is a heartwarming comedy with full of struggle, humor, witty conversation, and love. "--Fuji Creative"

Love Generation, as the title suggests, revolves around the relationship of the two leading protagonists, Katagiri Teppei and Uesugi Riko, who begin their relationship as squabbling colleagues before falling in love. Katagiri Teppei is a talented designer and very popular among women. Unfortunately, Teppei, who despises conformity, is forced to move to the sales department for his egocentric behavior. Throughout the series, he is forced to adapt to the new working environment, which includes cutting his precious locks of hair to create a neater and more professional image. As he struggles to adapt, he meets Uesugi Riko. While she does not like him at first, she eventually falls for him. However, Teppei runs into his high school sweetheart Mizuhara Sanae, and discovers that his ex-girlfriend is now engaged to his brother Soichiro. Fortunately, Riko is there to console him, and this eventually blooms into a romance. Not long after, however, Sanae realizes she still has feelings for Teppei, and thus creates a love triangle. To make the matter even more complicated, Soichiro starts to have an affair with his past girlfriend.

Omnibus bus drama series "Oyaji no Senaka" tells 10 different stories about fathers and their sons and daughters.

Middle school teacher Moriguchi Yoko's life comes crashing down after the murder of her 4-year-old daughter. Eventually, Yoko suspects some of her own students to have been responsible for her daughter's death. She comes up with an elaborate plan for revenge against the students who killed her innocent daughter

Middle school teacher Moriguchi Yoko's life comes crashing down after the murder of her 4-year-old daughter. Eventually, Yoko suspects some of her own students to have been responsible for her daughter's death. She comes up with an elaborate plan for revenge against the students who killed her innocent daughter.

Kuryu Kohei is an unconventional prosecutor at the Josai branch of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. One day Kuryu is asked to take on a case which his colleague, Shibayama, prosecuted. The case looks simple with a confession by the accused, but the accused changes his plea at the first hearing and now claims his innocence.

Kuryu is faced with Gamo Kazuomi, an attorney who prides himself with the highest number of winning acquittals for criminal cases in Japan. While Kuryu is puzzled by the appearance of such a high profile attorney for a relatively minor case without publicity, Gamo steadily drives Kuryu into a corner with his unperturbed and varied tactics.

Meanwhile, Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office is conducting the special investigation on the a bribery case of Hanaoka Renzaburo, a major Diet member. Unbeknownst to Kuryu, it turns out that the adjudication of the case holds the key to a bribery case of Hanaoka Renzaburo. Kuryu and Hanaoka had an encounter in the past, but Kuryu concentrates on bringing out the truth of his case and with his legal aide Amamiya.

Adapted from the bestselling Japanese autobiography of the same title, the gentle coming-of-age drama Tokyo Tower - Mom and Me and Sometimes Dad concerns an adolescent boy, Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered.

Five years after leaving Josai bureau, Kuryu Kohei, who has been working in Sapporo, Hokkaido, is transferred to Nijigaura, Yamaguchi (a fictitious town, its real name is Nijigahama), a quiet place on the seaside where he arrives precisely when the first murder in eleven years has been committed. Soon, Takita Akihiko, the most beloved and influent person of the town, is suspected and Kuryu has to deal with this problem, as the other members are too frightened to take any action.

An SP in which the atmosphere of the renzoku series is kept, even though the cast has been almost entirely replaced. The fact that the story is located in the countryside gives the little bit of originality this episode needed. And it is with great pleasure that we meet again several characters of the renzoku series who make an apparition as guests.

It's New Year's Eve for the Hotel Avanti, and the whole place is in panic mode. There's an award ceremony and countdown party to prepare for, guests to greet, entertainment to organise, a persistent call girl to deter, an escapee duck to find, and more.

It is near impossible to sum up this film in a few neat concise paragraphs. The level of writing that has gone into this film is fantastic. Throughout, it really feels like a stage play. The viewer feels intimate with the story and characters, and there is a real warmth and closeness there that is rare to find. Perhaps it the writer's experience with the stage that allows that quality to come through, and as such it is a real strength for the film.

This intimacy really helps the viewer to involve themselves in the story, which is incredibly fast-paced and deliciously mischievous in design. The film is really funny, and represents a very full spectrum of humour, from "hmmm" funny to "hah hah", and wry to downright silly, but still manages to be quite understated. This isn't the kind of film that you will make Pepsi come out your nose, but it is really funny all the same, and and there are some hilarious cock-ups that will have you giggling gleefully.

The jokes of course wouldn't work without the film's biggest strength: the characters. They are all so enjoyable to watch, as their adventures and mishaps tangle and spiral together, gathering momentum in one huge snowball effect. Some scenes are the culmination of so many threads that it is wonderfully painful to watch it all come together. It is hard not to talk at the TV. To the writer's credit though, the film is often refreshingly unpredictable, and I was impressed to find that this comedy of errors didn't just rely on the same old gags as similarly styled comedies.

The film also carries a dramatic message, and while all of the characters are caricatures of sorts, they are much deeper than that, and live and breath to the extent that the viewer finds themselves genuinely caring about what happens to them. There are so many great characters and scenes in this film that it would be a very cynical viewer that couldn't take away something memorable from it.

The Uchoten Hotel is a delightful film, expertly written, directed and performed. Even as the film effortlessly straddles zaniness and sophistication, and its many threads entwine together, the viewer can, just as the Hotel Avanti promises, think of the place as their second home.

An honest, low-ranking samurai, Munezo Katagiri finds himself buffeted by the confusion of old and new in mid-19th century Japan. Facing outside pressure, the Shogunate is trying to open Japan to the West and some carefully selected Western ways, while maintaining its fragile political base. Munezo, and his colleague Samon Shimada try to maintain their footing, paying heed to the demanding moral code of the samurai while also learning new military strategies, particularly the mastery of Western artillery. But Munezo also has a personal complication. He is secretly in love--so secretly, he may not even admit it to himself--with his family's maid, the sweet and beautiful country girl, Kie. His passion leads him to rescue Kie from a loveless marriage after she leaves his household; the samurai even shocks propriety by carrying away the low-caste young woman on his back. Just as Munezo starts to get his domestic situation in something to resembling order, Munezo hears devastating news. A comrade, Yaichiro Hazama, has been caught up in a plot in Edo. Their clan has sent the rebellious samurai home in the humiliating transport of a "prisoner's basket." Munezo comes under suspicion because he and Yaichiro, the clan's best swordsmen, shared a famed instructor, but Munezo refuses to cooperate with the chief retainer's witch hunt. Tension finally leads Munezo to confess his growing affection to Kie, a development that the young woman begins to hope will lead to the abandonment of caste structures. But before Munezo can realize his romantic destiny, Yaichiro escapes. Munezo is ordered to kill him, and the loyal, honorable samurai is faced with one final challenge to his principles.

Kohei Kuryu is a former juvenile delinquent who drops out of junior high and goes on to earn a high school equivalency diploma. After passing the law board exams, Kuryu becomes a prosecutor. Not your typical prosecutor, which is quickly seen through the clothes that he wears, Kuryu possesses quick instincts and a kind of cleverness that only someone raised on the streets could have.

Maiko Amamiya is a shrewd public prosecutor who has her eyes set on passing the exam to become a deputy prosecutor and tries her best to be noticed by her boss. Kuryu, on the other hand, after earning a reputation for doing top-notch work, is transferred to Amamiya's division, and finally opens his eyes to the possibility of promotion. Unfortunately, his unprecedented work behavior abruptly brings things to a halt.

Although earning a reputation as a bad apple, the influence from Kuryu's strong pursuit of justice slowly begins to change things around him. This drama is filled with it all; love, laughs and lots of emotion.

Nakatani Setsuko (Matsu Takako) quit her job as a stewardess in order to marry her boyfriend at the time, Hiroshi. But that didn't work out, and so Setsuko's parents, worried that time is passing her by, decide to introduce her to someone using 'Omiai' - a traditional Japanese meeting custom - in the hope she will marry. She meets Hirose Koutaro (Yusuke Santamaria), who is then pressured by his boss to marry Setsuko after a misunderstanding promises to bring shame on their families. Initially, the two are clearly not interested, but gradually, they begin to respect each other.

Following up on the phenomenal success of his Love Letter and Swallowtail Butterfly, Shunji Iwai spins this sweet tale about a young lass' first steps in the bustle of the big city.

Uzuki Nireno (Takako Matsu) is leaving her rural home in the snowy north of Hokkaido for college in Western Tokyo. Her transition to big city life isn't easy; she muffed her self-introduction in class and she had an unfortunate incident in a movie theater with an overly solicitous pervert. In spite of this, she starts to feel settled after she unpacks and after she explores her neighborhood. She also befriends tough-talking Saeko (Rumi) who invites her to join the school's fishing club. Though she initially has no interest in the pursuit, she soon is practicing her cast in a parking lot as upper classmen lavish her with attention. Uzuki, however, is not interested. When she was in high school, she fell for a hunky classmate (Seiichi Tanabe) who just so happens to be working in a local bookshop. Will she summon the courage to say "hi?"

Sena is a college music graduate who dreams of becoming a professional musician and a world-class pianist. Unfortunately, he has not been able to find any breakthrough opportunities and has to settle for currently teaching piano at a local piano school.

Minami is an out-of-work model. On her wedding day, she was dumped by her fiancé, and when she rushed to her fiancé's apartment, she finds out that not only was her fiancé Sena's flatmate but that her fiancé had also skipped town along with all her savings. Rendered penniless, she then moves into Sena's apartment, occupying the empty room that was her former fiancé's.

The two down-on-their-luck persons with very different personalities find themselves bonding over their similar situations in life.

The 35th NHK Taiga Drama is Hideyoshi, the story of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle. He is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the restriction that only members of the samurai class could bear arms. Hideyoshi is regarded as Japan's second "great unifier".

The drama won 11th Television Drama Academy Awards (1996-Dec-20) for best drama.