Asian Drama

This dark medical drama examines the meaning of human life, centring on a team of unidentified black-market doctors who undertake any kind of surgery with superhuman surgical skills and exorbitant medical expenses. Hazama Eisuke, also known as "Ace", is a genius surgeon who works as a patissier during the day. He has an operating room equipped with the latest equipment in the basement of his patisserie, where he performs surgeries on patients who have been abandoned by others. Shimoyamada Jo, also known as "Joker", is a brilliant international lawyer and a negotiator with patients.

Akira works as a lawyer. One day, he meets with Rie who was his client. She asks Akira to perform a background check on her late husband Daisuke. After Rie got a divorce, she raised her child alone and returned to her hometown. There, she met Daisuke and married him. She enjoyed a happy family life with Daisuke and their 2 children. Suddenly, Daisuke died in an accident. While she was grieving, Daisuke’s older brother Kyoichi visited his funeral. The two brothers had been estranged for many years. When Kyoichi saw Daisuke's picture, he stated that the person in the picture was not his brother.

Adapted from the novel "A Man" (ある男) by Hirano Keiichiro (平野啓一郎).

Hakuro's father died when he was a child allowing his mother to re-marry into the wealthy Yagami family. Although Hakuro was also welcomed, he struggles to feel a part of this family. His younger half-brother, who possesses the same blood as him, has fared much better. After the death of his mother, Hakuro dropped the Yagami surname and parted ways with the family.

Hakuro, now a veterinarian, has a strong sense of justice, is sincere and has a weakness for beautiful women. One day, he is approached by such a woman, claiming she is the wife of his half-brother. She worriedly informs him that his half-brother has gone missing, leading the pair to team up and find his whereabouts.

In the process, Hakuro finds himself reluctantly embroiled in the Yagami family's battle over one sizeable inheritance. Could his half-brother's mysterious disappearance be connected?

Based on novel by Keigo Higashino.

Masashi is a photographer. He has his parents and an older brother Yukihiro. For Masashi’s photography school graduation project, he replicates a funny family moment from his childhood as adults. The photo is a huge success, and sparks a series of humorous, staged family photos, starting with his father’s dream of being a firefighter. This success continues into cumulating into a photobook that eventually wins a huge award. Afterwards, Masashi begins to travel throughout Japan taking family portraits, leading him to the prefecture of Iwate. It's after taking several more family portraits that the Great Tohoku Earthquake strikes, and Masashi is compelled to return to Iwate in search of the first family he photographed outside of his own. During his search he encounters Ono Yosuke, who is recovering photographs found in hopes of returning these memories to their families, and Masashi joins him.

Inspired by photographer Masashi Asada’s photography books “Asadake” and “Album no Chikara”.

Badass Makino has been on the run from Japan to Taiwan, looking for the cold-blooded killer Shima who is in self-imposed exile because of the death of a triad boss’ daughter. Makino knows the truth that the girl’s death wasn’t an accident, he decides to help Shima escape and hatches his own revenge.

The story is about a reporter Kayama Satoshi searching for the truth of the death of his 2-year-old son in a tragic accident which also involves his wife, Kayama Mitsue.

Based on the novel "Ranhansha" by Tokuro Nukui.

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.

Three tales about enigmatic strangers entering into the lives of trusting citizens play out in three different Japanese cities, hinting at a connection to a grisly home invasion homicide in the Tokyo metro area.

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.

A series of grotesque and brutal murders happens on rainy nights, all of them supposedly done by a man wearing a frog mask. Detective Hisashi Sawamura is the first to notice the connections and sets on a pursuit. Soon, he will come to a terrifying revelation that his own family might be the next target.

Haru (Toyoshima Hana) is a rather cool fifth-grade elementary school student who shares the same tastes as her mother’s younger sister Yuko (Kaho) and can tell Yuko what she really feels.

On the first day of the summer vacation, Haru is kidnapped. The culprit is her free-spirited father Takashi (Tsumabuki Satoshi) who disappeared from home two months ago. He is scruffy, pathetic, poor and unemployed. Her dependable mother Kyoko (Kinami Haruka) has given up on him and they have been living apart. While Haru neither likes nor dislikes her good-for-nothing father, she gets excited about the kidnapping which will take her where she likes. But Takashi seems to have made some bargain with her mother by holding Haru hostage. Haru is in the dark about the details. Her father brings her to the sea, mountains and various places.

During this time, Haru learns how the romance between her parents started, is piggybacked for kilometres and even meets his ex-girlfriend Nori-chan (Mitsushima Hikari). Through this strange yet thrilling summer journey, she gets to know a side of her father that was previously unknown to her. Takashi eventually runs out of money and the “trip” between father and daughter comes to an end.

"Tokyo Rhapsody" consists of 11 short films all centered around the music genre known as "Kayokyoku". Kayokyoku is a catch-all term to describe the music that defined two generations of post-war Japan. Although the term survives, it has a strong...

Takarada, a member of a group of swindlers which has reunited to pull off a big caper involving down comforters, shoddy encyclopedias, and a panda suit. However, the actual scam they’re about to run takes a back seat to the...

Residents in a town have a hard time due to the land tax and forced labor. 9 people worry about the future of their town and they set up a plan to save it. The plan is to lend large amounts of money to han (historical term for the estate of a warrior) and distribute the interest annually to the residents.

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.

Directed by Hou Hsiao Hsien, the movie is an adaptation of a short story from the Tang dynasty that tells of how a young girl who was kidnapped and transformed into a lethal assassin. While on a mission she is highly taken by Liu Chang Yi, and decides to provide him with her loyalty.

ER doctor Tsuyoshi Matsuoka receives a patient with a virus unlike anything he's seen before. His symptoms include high fever, convulsions, vomiting of blood and multiple organ failure. Could this be a new form of influenza or is it some other variety of virus? As the situation worsens and more cases begin arriving, a medical officer from the World Health Organization named Eiko Kobayashi is dispatched to the area. At the rate the virus is spreading, the entire city's transportation system and infrastructure would be brought to a halt within 3 months. Within 6 months it could spread to tens of millions of people--reaching a death toll far worse than any war.

The Vancouver Asahi baseball team consists of 2nd generation Japanese immigrants living in Canada. They play within a local amateur baseball league. The team got popular due to their fair play spirit, while struggling to fight against discrimination and poverty in their everyday lives.

Reggie (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is a 2nd generation Japanese immigrant who works at a sawmill in Vancouver. He is the leader of the team and plays shortstop. Roy (Kazuya Kamenashi) is the team's ace pitcher and works at a fishery field. Kaye (Ryo Katsuji) is the team's 2nd baseman and co-worker of Reggie. Tom (Yusuke Kamiji) is the catcher and works at a tofu shop. Frank (Sosuke Ikematsu) works at a hotel and plays baseball with the team.

A man who constantly applies the brake in his life, a woman who could do with a brake in her life. It’s in summer of 2005 that the journey of their passionate love begins. Here’s a bright and breezy love story that makes us feel how wonderful it is to fall in love! Since we only have one life to live, why not do what we want and live with someone you love? A morning in early summer. The 25-year old Riichi, an instructor at a driving school, is riding coolly on his motorcycle. Isaki is a 31-year old woman who is learning how to drive there. As luck would have it, they end up meeting each other. Although the two of them had very clear plans for life up to a few years ago, reality isn’t so nice. Riichi has settled for work as a driving instructor to make his living while Isaki has been given charge of a store. Pursued by the bustle of everyday life, they’re living lives where they tend to forget to take a fresh look at things.

"Tenchijin" centers on the life of Naoe Kanetsugu, a samurai who lived in the 16th century in Echigo Province in north central Japan. Kanetsugu was trained by Uesugi Kenshin, who taught him that living one's life with honor and integrity was more important than winning battles. After Kenshin's death, Kanetsugu continues to loyally serve the Uesugi family, supporting Kenshin's son Kagekatsu and the people of Echigo.

Natsumi loves lunch. By chance she starts working for "Kitchen Macaroni", posing as the fiance of the owner's eldest son, Kenichiro. Kenichiro's father Kenzo and his three younger brothers - Yujiro, Junzaburo, and Koshiro - run the restaurant, famous for its omelet. Also working at the restaurant are Mamoru, a chef, and Minoru, a live-in apprentice cook. Not everyone has a liking to Natsumi at first, but over time they will surely fall in love with her...

A family that is scattered get together because of their mother's sudden illness. They begin to about their family.

Since Reiko (Mieko Harada) turned 60-years-old, she seems to get more and more forgetful, but her husband Katsuaki (Kyozo Nagatsuka), first son Kousuke (Satoshi Tsumabuki) and second son Shunpei (Sosuke Ikematsu) do not care or notice. One day, Reiko goes to see a doctor and is diagnose with brain tumor. She only has a week to live.

After Reiko tells the her family that "a family that gets scattered makes me scared," she seems to become a totally different person. As if she has Alzheimer's, Reiko says whatever is on her mind.

Living in an area known for its juvenile crime, 21-year-old Makoto is a friend of King, the leader of a youth gang called the G-Boys, though he himself does not want to join as a member. Known for his cool head and ability to get things done, Makoto becomes an key trouble-shooter for the gang by diffusing tense situations and keeping his friends out of harm's way. However, the death of his girlfriend and an escalating turf war with a rival gang threaten to be more than Makoto can handle.

Living in an area known for its juvenile crime, 21-year-old Makoto is a friend of King, the leader of a youth gang called the G-Boys, though he himself does not want to join as a member. Known for his cool head and ability to get things done, Makoto becomes an key trouble-shooter for the gang by diffusing tense situations and keeping his friends out of harm's way. However, the death of his girlfriend and an escalating turf war with a rival gang threaten to be more than Makoto can handle.

Asahi, Hikari, Haru and Tadashi are siblings that all live together in the house they grew up in located in Shitamachi. There is another brother, Satoru, but due to something that had happened in the past, he had moved out. Their parents had died when they were young, and Asahi, being the eldest, is the one who had taken care of them all. Asahi is a conservative, stubborn man, and his favorite phrase to his siblings is, "I am the one who had brought you all up", which irritates them no end. Asahi works at a construction site and goes to a shop daily to buy lunch, where he meets the shop's cute employee, Sawabe Asuza. Hikari works as a nurse in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the hospital, together with the family friend who used to live nearby, Dr. Shinjo Masaomi. Haru doesn't like to study, and prefers to tread the boards instead. As the head of his performing troupe, he is a temperamental man who fusses over the troupe members. Tadashi is currently under suspension from school, so in order to not fall back on his studies, he is currently attending a prep school daily. At the prep school, he is drawn to another fellow student, Nagihara Kasumi. As for Satoru, one day, in her workclothes and smoking a cigarette, Yashiro Takako suddenly calls out to him, "you killed your mother, didn't you?"... Five siblings, each with their own problems, soon find themselves in various situations, living life as a youth of today.

Kiichiro Ota has recently begun work at an advertising agency. He is then forced to participate in the world's biggest TV Advertising Festival as a judge. There's parties held there every night and Kiichiro is paired with Hikari Ota, who shares the same family name, to act like husband and wife there.

At the festival, Kiichiro learns that if he doesn't allow the CM from his agency to win the grand prize then he will be fired. Directors from all over the world are gathered at the festival and the judges work within a hotel that is completely closed off. The directors scheme and bargain to make their agency win the grand prize.

Rival Japanese judges appear in front of Kiichiro.

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...

Kota (Satoshi Tsumabuki) hears about an impending 1.5 billion yen gold bar heist from his friend Kitagawa (Tadanobu Asano), a former college classmate, and decides to take part. The gold bar sits in the basement of the HQ of Sumita Bank. Helping Kota and Kitagawa are bank security employee Noda (Kenta Kiritani), a North Korean spy pretending to be a college student (Shim Chang-Min), Kitagawa's younger brother Haruki (Junpei Mizobata) and a former elevator engineer (Toshiyuki Nishida). These 6 men are about to carry the boldest of schemes to bypass the bank's high-tech defense system.

11 mysteries, 11 actors. Japan's favorite mystery author, the world of Higashino Keigo comes to life on screen through an assortment of short stories.

For every episode, there will be a different lead actor and story, it's themes varying from mystery to comedy to horror to human drama. Nakai Kiichi is the navigator as he takes you on a journey through each episode, seasoned with Higashino's authentic spices, failing your assumptions with vivid story composition and an even bigger betrayal before the finale. It's a weekly drama that will keep you hungry from episode to episode, like a special holiday event each and every time.

Japan has rarely been as politically active as it was in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when students took to the streets and formed militias like the Red Army to push for a Communist revolution. Now, director Yamashita Nobuhiro and his frequent screenwriter Mukai Kosuke (Linda Linda Linda, The Matsugane Potshot Affair) explore that period via Kawamoto Saburo's pseudo-autobiographical novel My Back Page. Tsumabuki Satoshi (Villains) stars as an idealistic journalist who gets caught up in the radical student movement when he meets a dangerous activist, played by Matsuyama Kenichi. Based on a real 1971 murder of a Self Defense Force officer, My Back Page is a gripping thriller about one of the most important eras in contemporary Japanese history.

Tokyo, 1968. Tokyo University graduate Sawada (Tsumabuki Satoshi) is eager to become a reporter and begins working at a left-wing newspaper. Intrigued by the political movements happening in universities across Japan, he begins covering the demonstrations as an interested observer. In the process, he meets well-known radical activist Umeyama (Matsuyama Kenichi), whom Sawada believes can give him the story he needs to get ahead. However, the harder police cracks down on the movement, the more recklessly dangerous Umeyama becomes in order to hang on to it. Soon, Sawada discovers that the student revolution isn't as noble as it appears to be.

Yuichi Shimizu (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is a young man who takes care of his grandparents in a decaying fishing village in Nagasaki. His grandparents raised Yuichi instead of his mother. Yuichi now works as a civil employee. He is a lonely man.

One day, Yuichi meets Yoshino Ishibashi (Hikari Mitsushima) an insurance sales woman from Fukuoka. They first met through an online dating site. Their meeting ends in tragedy with Yuichi murdering Yoshino. Unexpectedly, a rich young university student from Fukuoka, named Keigo Masuo (Masaki Okada) endss up as the prime suspect. Hiding in fear & agony, Yuichi goes on with his daily life.

Then one day, Yuichi receives an email. The email is from Mitsuyo Magome (Eri Fukatsu), a woman from Saga. Yuichi and Mitsuyo exchanged emails in the past after meeting through an online dating site. Mitsuyo currently lives a mundane life, working at a men's clothing store and living with her younger sister. Looking for companionship, Mitsuyo decided to reach out to Yuichi after a lengthy time without correspondence.

The two lonely souls then meet for the first time and throw themselves into a moment of love. By this time, Yuichi is now a wanted criminal and his face appears on the news. Nevertheless, Mitsuyo persuades Yuichi to run away with her and not turn himself in. Running away places heavy burdens on their families as well as the victim's family.

A lowly but academically diligent warrior named Bessho Hikoshiro finds himself unable to move up in the world due to the stifling caste system of the Bakumatsu era. After being expelled from the household into which he was adopted through marriage and separated from his wife and son, he moves in with his disapproving elder brother and his wife. He meets his old class rival Enomoto Takeaki, now a commander of a naval ship, and is later told by a kindly noodle shop owner that Enomoto's rise in social status came about after he prayed at a shrine in Mukojima.

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.

Kai Yuuki (Satoshi Tsumabuki) is in his senior year at university studying social welfare psychology. At present, he is in the middle of job-hunting season. He is finding it difficult with no job offers so far. One day, he meets a girl who is playing violin in the campus. She is Sae Hagio (Kou Shibasaki). In marked contrast to her beautiful tone and attractive looks, her personality is somewhat impertinent. And to top it off, she communicates through very vulgar sign language. Four years ago, she lost the most important thing for a violinist - her hearing. As a result Sae closed off her inner self from the outside world. Kai finds himself on a date with Sae, in place of his best friend. Unexpectedly, he comes into contact with Sae's private side. Love, job-hunting, friendship... Setting a campus in spring as a dorama's backdrop, it's the start of a glittering youth drama.

Based on the manga of the same name by Mochizuki Minetaro. On the way home from a school trip, a tragic accident traps Aoki Teru's express train in a collapsed tunnel. The only other survivors of the catastrophe are his classmates, Seto Ako and Takahashi Nobuo. Teru resolves to escape to the surface, braving death, danger, and madness. But what awaits them outside is a desolate landscape of utter ruin as far as the eye can see. What could have caused such destruction? A natural disaster? A nuclear catastrophe? A time slip? With mixed emotions of hope and despair, the survivors journey towards Tokyo, encountering other survivors and inevitable chaos throughout their shattered world.

Sabu and Eiji were best friends since they were small. They served as poor trainees in a traditional umbrella store. When they grew up, it was time for them to turn on a new leaf and live on their own. Unforturnately, Eiji was falsely accused as a thief. He was then isolated in a deserted island and forced to work as a coolie. Eiji was very angry and upset. He kept on thinking of ways to take revenge on the person who falsely incriminate him. During this period, Sabu kept on supporting Eiji and visiting him in jail. At the beginning, Eiji was jealous of Sabu and became hostile to him. As time went by Eiji met many pals in the jail and they worked hard to fight against many difficults. Finally, Eiji learnt to compromise to his fate. After many years of isolation, when Eiji was about to recover his freedom, a cruel fact was revealed to him by Sabu and it drove Eiji crazy.....

This is a love comedy that takes you behind the scenes of the latest bridal businesses, as well as the human drama of engaged couples, seen through the wedding planners' eyes, as they help to put on weddings.

Toru Oomori works in the accounting department of a medium-sized firm. Unable to escape restructuring by his company, he gets sent to work at an affiliated company, "Sweet Bridal," as its president. Toru realizes his days as a salaried worker are numbered. That's why he's determined to increase sales, and regain lost ground. But there's just one major problem though... An incident that happened one year ago makes work here, very miserable.

Yuka Misaki, whose parents run a flower shop, casually begins dating college student Akio Asami, and later falls for him. But due to some type of accident, the two lose contact with one another.

One year after the accident, the two suddenly meet again. Yuka is still working at her father Shigeo's flower shop, and Akio is a teacher at a nearby high school.

It's January 7, just right after the New Year begins. Makeup classes are being held for students that aren't keeping up with their daily studies. Taking the classes are the popular Tadashi Otomo, and the leader of the delinquent students, Sho Takamatsu. And giving the lecturers is Noriko Sekiya, a teacher that has taken out all kinds of loans to pay for the popular brand items that she buys.

Yuka comes to the school to collect money from Noriko. While at the school, with thoughts of the past in the back of her mind, Yuka and Akio meet and get into a fight. Then all of a sudden, there is a small tremor, and after it subsides.

Adapted from the manga "The drifting classroom" by Kazuo Umezu.

The drama tells the story of a hostess turning 30 years old.