Asian Drama

Kagawa Eiji is a detective who looks more like a gangster. He previously worked at the Metropolitan Police Department investigating organized crime groups, but he was recently demoted to the Sakuramachi Chuo Police Station without given a reason why. Kagawa Eiji desires to return to the Metropolitan Police Department to get answers. Meanwhile, he works with Detective Hasumi Kosuke at the Sakuramachi Chuo Police Station. Detective Hasumi Kosuke carries a big secret that has never been revealed.

A case comes up, where a housekeeper, working at a professor's house, is stabbed to death. At that time, a rookie detective, Mizuki Nao, begins to work with them. Kagawa Eiji and Hasumi Kosuke are bothered by her. She is the daughter of the assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police Department. They begin to work together.

Adapted from the novel "Keishicho Outsider" (警視庁アウトサイダー) by Kato Miaki (加藤実秋).

Kagawa Eiji is a detective who looks more like a gangster. He previously worked at the Metropolitan Police Department investigating organized crime groups, but he was recently demoted to the Sakuramachi Chuo Police Station without given a reason why. Kagawa Eiji desires to return to the Metropolitan Police Department to get answers. Meanwhile, he works with Detective Hasumi Kosuke at the Sakuramachi Chuo Police Station. Detective Hasumi Kosuke carries a big secret that has never been revealed.

A case comes up, where a housekeeper, working at a professor's house, is stabbed to death. At that time, a rookie detective, Mizuki Nao, begins to work with them. Kagawa Eiji and Hasumi Kosuke are bothered by her. She is the daughter of the assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police Department. They begin to work together.

Adapted from the novel "Keishicho Outsider" (警視庁アウトサイダー) by Kato Miaki (加藤実秋).

The novel tells the tales of four women, working the graveyard shift at a Japanese bento factory. All four women live hard lives. Masako, accepted as the leader of the four women, feels completely alienated from her estranged husband and teenage son. Kuniko, a plump and rather vain girl, has recently been ditched by her boyfriend after the couple were driven into debt leaving Kuniko to fend off a loan shark. Yoshie is a single mother and reluctant caretaker of her mother-in-law, who was left partly paralyzed after a stroke. Yayoi is a thirty-four-year old mother of two small boys. She hates to leave her children home alone to go to work. More than that, she hates the thought of her drunken, gambling husband returning home and hurting them or, more likely, herself. Returning home one night, Yayoi discovers her husband has gambled away all their savings and loses control of her temper. She strangles him to death. She desperately persuades Masako, who eventually gets Yoshie and Kuniko involved, to help her dispose of the body. ~~ Adapted from the novel "OUT " by Kirino Natsuo.

Naoko Tanaka is a 26-year-old office lady (OL). Her job is typical, but her workplace has fierce fights among different cliques. Other OLs are absorbed in the daily clique fighting. One day, due to an OL at the company, Naoko Tanaka's company is targeted by OL from all over Japan.

Naoko Tanaka is a 26-year-old office lady (OL). Her job is typical, but her workplace has fierce fights among different cliques. Other OLs are absorbed in the daily clique fighting. One day, due to an OL at the company, Naoko Tanaka's company is targeted by OL from all over Japan.

The story is set in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture in the era around the Second World War. When the story opens in 1928, the heroine, Sakurako, is a very active seven-year-old girl who is interested in becoming a jazz pianist, and music features extensively in the plot.

In August, 1918, Matsuura Ito lives in a coastal village of Toyama with her husband and three children. During the summer, there wasn't much fish to catch, so her husband has been far away from home to catch fish. To support herself and her children, Ito carries goods from ships like the other women in the village. Meanwhile, the residents encounter rising prices for rice. The women are unable to feed their family due to the high prices of rice. The women ask a nearby rice store to sell rice at lower prices, but it fails. The price of rice continues to rise daily. Due to an incident, Ito and the other village women step up to the plate.

Akashi Koji’s father committed suicide. His father was a whistleblower, involving a large corporation. Akashi Koji's family now faces ruin. Kitamura works at an orphanage. He approaches Akashi Koji. To protect the children, Kitamura does not mind committing crimes. Due to Kitamura, Akashi Koji thinks of taking revenge.

Journalist Shigeko Maebata (Miki Nakatani), young Shinichi Tsukada and elderly Yoshio Arima all suffer from and become involved in a serial kidnap and murder case. Shinichi Tsukada first discovers a cut arm and handbag from the murder case. Elderly Yoshio Arima's granddaughter is a murder victim. "Murder’s record" is found at a man’s house who died in a car accident.

Kasahara Sachiko’s (Kitagawa Keiko) parents died young and she lives in a Tokyo apartment with her only sister Nobuko (Koike Eiko), a journalist for a newspaper’s cultural department. She has not found a job and has been interviewing at a number of companies. On this day, Sachiko bids farewell to Nobuko who is leaving for a holiday at Lake Towada in Tohoku, and sets off for another company interview. This should have been the usual scene of the two sisters who share a close relationship. But that night, Sachiko gets news that Nobuko was killed in an accident, and for some reason, Nobuko lost her life in Nagano which is a different place from what she had told her. Nobuko’s colleague and fellow journalist Yoshii Ryoichi (Mukai Osamu) suddenly shows up before a grieving Sachiko. He sets out to investigate the mystery of Nobuko’s death together with Sachiko, but she does not know his true intentions. Meanwhile, Sachiko starts to work at the newspaper as her sister’s replacement and goes to meet the cultural figures that Nobuko had been in charge of when she was alive. Among these people with habits which are unimaginable from their glamorous appearances, is the pediatrician Nishiwaki Mitsutaro (Sawamura Ikki) who writes a column for the newspaper. He seems to be the greatest philanderer in celebrity circles even though he has a wife (Nishida Naomi), and calls Sachiko out many times. But right after that, Machida Tomoe (Sakai Wakana), who had been her sister’s colleague in the same department, commits suicide. She leaves behind cryptic words for Sachiko regarding Nobuko’s death. “There is someone who should take responsibility”, “All the more if it is a famous person”. Sachiko’s hunch is that her sister’s death is connected to someone prominent that she had been dating while alive. However, the more she attempts to learn the truth, the more “suspects” meet suspicious deaths one after another until she no longer knows who is her friend or foe. Sachiko has unwittingly been sucked into a deep darkness as if she is wandering about in a dark, dense sea of trees with no exit.

Shioya Reiko and Sato Naomi are ordinary women in their 60s. Reiko is the head of an elementary school while Naomi is a grandmother with a sharp tongue, but cannot stand up to her grandson, Yuta. Naomi is delighted to have her daughter, Tomomi, and family come to live together with her. Tomomi and her husband, Masuo, decided to change schools and relocate after Yuta refused to attend school because he was being bullied. Yuta quickly makes friends with Chika who lives next door. The next day, Naomi takes him to elementary school on behalf of her daughter. She meets Reiko, who heads the school and is an old friend, at the opening address. In fact, the two of them were once special investigators with the code names “Salt & Sugar” and they were responsible for covert Japan-US diplomatic espionage. Their last assignment was more than 20 years ago. Naomi, who is suspicious of her neighbour, Takanashi Yoichiro, establishes contact with their former boss, Tokita. Knowing that Chika is Yoichiro’s daughter, she tries to find a solution that will not hurt Yuta. However, Tokita and his subordinate, Shichimi, stop at nothing to force her to proceed with the mission. She and Reiko team up again to uncover the true identity of Yoichiro in an attempt to stop a crime.

Set in the same world populated by Yokai, demon spirits with supernatural powers - Wentz Eiji of WaT reprises his role as half-human, half-yokai hero Kitaro, who takes it upon himself to resolve the problems that arise when human and Yokai collide in modern-day Japan. This time Kitaro and his friends are investigating a series of mysterious disappearances. They stumble upon a yokai conspiracy and a cursed cycle that dates back 1000 years.

Sugimuro Saburo is the son-in-law of Imada Concern's group Chairman, and is currently working as the assistant editor of the the in-house newsletter. One day, on the way back to the office after an interview with ex-board member Mori Nobuhiro, Saburo, his chief editor, Sonoda and his staff, Tejima, are caught in a bus hijack. Together on the bus with them are Tanaka Yuichiro, a metal foundry manager; Sakoda Toyoko, an elderly houewife; Sakamoto Kei, a university drop-out; Maeno Mei, an aspiring patissier; and Shibano Kazuko, the bus driver. The hijacker, Sato Ichiro, had planned well, leaving Saburo and everyone else, no room for escape. He instructs them to call the police, and tells them that he will pay them compensation monies when all has ended. Who is this man, Sato Ichiro, and what are his true objectives? Who is his intended hostage?

It is the Spring of 1814. The restaurant "Tsuru-ka" is gaining much popularity after its chef, Mio, won the prestigious cooking competition. One day, the owner of "Tsuru-ka", Taneichi, employed young Fuki to be the attendant for customers' shoes. Mio could fully empathize with young Fuki, who was an orphan and yet was courageous enough to survive on her own. Around the same time, the famous novelist Seiemon started coming to "Tsuru-ka". Even though Seiemon criticized Mio's cooking each time, he always returned to the restaurant daily. Remembering the words spoken by the samurais that had last seen Komatsubara, "Tokei no Ma", Mio was very tempted to ask Seiemon the meaning of the words! Meantime, "Tsuru-ka"'s rival restaurant, "Toryuro" was always serving food that was similar to Mio's latest creation. Even before Mio had a chance to offer them on "Tsuru-ka"'s menu. It happened repeatedly, which left Mio puzzled and troubled by it all. To add to her worries, Mio heard from Mataji that her dear childhood friend, Noe, who is one of the top oiran (prostitutes) in Yoshiwara (red-light district of Edo), was injured while trying to protect another prostitute from being slashed by a patron. Mio's despair at not having been able to help Noe escape her fate at Yoshiwara all those years ago threatened to overwhelm her completely. Especially since her fellow housemate, O-Ryo's son was stricken by the life-threatening measles at the same time...

Born to a poor family in Yamanashi prefecture, in the year of 1903 at the age of 10, Muraoka Hanako was accepted by a Missionary school in Tokyo. It was her father's Ando Kippei, greatest wish that his daughter gets a higher education. The Missionary school was attended by daughters from noble families, and as a charity case, Hanako was reminded by her father to never be inferior to her rich schoolmates. As the classes were carried out in English, Hanako faced a culture shock when she started school. Unable to understand the teachers nor able to grasp the conversation of her peers, Hanako resolved to work really hard at her studies.This drama follows Hanako from her childhood, through her years at the missionary school, to her life as a school teacher and finally as the translator of L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables".

Born to a poor family in Yamanashi prefecture, in the year of 1903 at the age of 10, Muraoka Hanako was accepted by a Missionary school in Tokyo. It was her father's Ando Kippei, greatest wish that his daughter gets a higher education. The Missionary school was attended by daughters from noble families, and as a charity case, Hanako was reminded by her father to never be inferior to her rich schoolmates. As the classes were carried out in English, Hanako faced a culture shock when she started school. Unable to understand the teachers nor able to grasp the conversation of her peers, Hanako resolved to work really hard at her studies.This drama follows Hanako from her childhood, through her years at the missionary school, to her life as a school teacher and finally as the translator of L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables".

Based on the same-titled novel, the drama is set in the year 1964, the year the Olympics were held in Tokyo. A nation trying to rebuild its economy post world war II, Japan was eager to show the world what it had to offer. Amidst all the excitement and enthusiasm, two fires had broken out consecutively; at the private residence of the Chief of Police, Suga Shuichiro, and then at the Nakano Police Academy. However, both incidents were hushed up, and even Detective Ochiai Masao, from Division One MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) had to find out about it from his fellow colleague. Ochiai was puzzled as to why no investigations were being carried out and it soon came to light that prior to the first fire at the Chief's home, a threatening letter had been sent to the MPD. In view of the upcoming Olympics, everyone at the MPD were feeling jittery over the letter and the arson, and thus a team was set up to ensure the safety of the public during the event. Ochiai and his team mates were to carry out the investigation secretly. Information came to Ochiai, that some 25 tubes of dynamite were stolen from a gunpowder factory. While questioning the owner, Ochiai was introduced to Shimazaki Kunio, a poor student from Akita prefecture, attending Tokyo University and working part-time there. Suspecting him of the crime, Ochiai started digging around into Shimazaki's life and was surprised to find out that his own sister, Yumi, was actually dating Shimazaki!

Sugimura (Koizumi) works as an editor at the public relations department in the Imada Konzern. One day, the chairman, and his father-in-law, Yoshichika (Mikijiro Hira), asks him to support the daughters of his personal driver who died in an accident. The driver was killed in a hit-and-run accident by a bicycle, but the criminal hasn't been caught yet. The younger daughter Riko (Nao Minamisawa) is eager to find the suspect by writing a book about her father's life. But the older daughter Satomi (Kyoko Fukada) opposes the idea, and explains why by telling Sugimura about her father's dark past...

TBS

In Edo of the early 1800's, Mio (Kitagawa Keiko) is foretold that while she will live a life of trials and tribulations, there will always be a blue sky waiting for her beyond the clouds. As she tries to find a path for herself amongst the highly competitive world of chefs, she comes to learn first-hand just how many trials and tribulations she will have to endure. Still, with the help of those around her, Mio won't give up searching for her own flavor...

The story features a team of four sleuthing sisters.

Shida Mirai, the young actress of Jyoou no Kyoushitsu fame, plays an average junior high school student who becomes pregnant with her lover's child. The drama will show her gradually maturing as the circumstances around her change.