Asian Drama

The 63rd work of NHK Taiga Drama depicts the life of Murasaki Shikibu, a Japanese female poet who wrote "Tale of Hikaru Genji". This story is set in the mid-Heian period.

(Source: nhk.or.jp)

Episodes: 40

35-year-old gynaecologist Yukimiya Suzu works at a hospital in a peaceful seaside town. While she helps to bring new life into the world, she is emotionally worn out in this constrictive and suffocating society, and cannot be vulnerable to anyone. Suzu studied hard to become a doctor and as a result of working for money and status, she not only lost the friends who fought with her, but also the enthusiasm and dreams she once had. She learned that society is not always on the side of those who are right and she will only get fatigued if she fights.

Suzu decides to go camping alone to take a breather. As she drinks alcohol and looks up at the starry sky, Hiiragi Issei wordlessly moves towards her and takes a series of photos with his camera. Then he kisses her without warning. The next morning, when Suzu wakes up, the young man conveys something to her with hand gestures and leaves. This episode would become a irreplaceable fated encounter for each of them.

Issei lives in a world with no sound. He has many interests, friends all over the world and follows his heart’s desires. Although Issei is 10 years her junior, and strangely overbearing and immature at times, he has a glow that cannot be missed. As Suzu interacts with him, her heart is gradually set free.

24-year-old OL Chie Ikeshita's (Yuriko Yoshitaka) motto is to try various things to enjoy life. Chie spends her time accordingly to her motto. Chie Ikeshita then starts to date 5 different men and adjusts herself to the different situations. Up to this point, Chie never thought about marriage. She changes her thought after her friend Toshiko Hamaguchi (Anne Watanabe) gets married. Chie takes the advise of Toshiko and decides to marry one of the 5 men. She must now whittle down her choice to one man. Chie says goodbye first to Takumi Tanashi (Kenta Hamano) ..

The life of Ito Noe, a women's liberation activist during the Taisho era, and who boldly confronted social contradictions such as poverty and gender inequality.

Adapted from the novel of the same title by Murayama Yuka.

In 2006, Sanada Rio lived in a country village where a missing person case took place. Rio later studied in the pharmacy department at a university in Tokyo. Now, at the age of 30, Rio takes the CEO position at Sanada Wellness, which is a subsidiary of Sanada Holdings. Rio’s mother runs Sanada Holdings. Rio receives attention from the media and public because of her young age as a CEO.

Rio then becomes a material witness in a series of murder cases. The murder cases took place recently and is somehow related to the missing person case from 2006. Three lawyers on Rio's side try to protect her. Meanwhile, a detective, whose first love was Rio, chases after the truth behind the cases.

Kaori lost her eyesight and family in an accident. While trying to enjoy the small things in her life, Kaori struggles to live happily. Kaori mistakes Rui for someone else and begins to talk to him. Rui was once a promising kickboxer, but something happened in his past to cause him to disassociate himself from everyone. Kaori's smile brings out a change in Rui. The two people begin to have feelings for each other, but Rui learns about Kaori's past accident and his connection. Rui decides to take part in an underground fight to pay for Kaori's eye surgery.

Depicts Rinko, who is 33 years old, heading for marriage.

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.

Higashiyama Yui works as a director at Net Heroes, a web production company. Due to her workaholic father and bad experiences in the past, she loathes working overtime. Even 2 years ago, she broke off her engagement to Taneda Kotaro because he was a workaholic. At her job, Higashiyama Yui always leaves at the end of the regular working day and never works overtime. She tries to be efficient as possible and productive during her normal working hours. After she leaves her office, Higashiyama Yui normally drinks beer at her regular Chinese restaurant. Her peaceful days begin to change after a new department head arrives at work.

Higashiyama Yui works as a director at Net Heroes, a web production company. Due to her workaholic father and bad experiences in the past, she loathes working overtime. Even 2 years ago, she broke off her engagement to Taneda Kotaro because he was a workaholic. At her job, Higashiyama Yui always leaves at the end of the regular working day and never works overtime. She tries to be efficient as possible and productive during her normal working hours. After she leaves her office, Higashiyama Yui normally drinks beer at her regular Chinese restaurant. Her peaceful days begin to change after a new department head arrives at work.

Young Public Prosecutor Okino Keiichiro is assigned to the department of Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office which deals with violent cases. He is thrilled to work with Mogami Takeshi whom he admires. One day, an elderly money lender is killed and Matsukura Shigeo is identified as a suspect. He borrowed money from the victim. In his past, Shigeo testified in a female middle school murder case. Takeshi is aware of the heavy grief carried by the deceased girl's family and he tries his best to prove Shigeo's guilt.

For the past 2 years, Prosecutor Takemura Ririko has worked in the Yokohama District Public Prosecutor’s Office. Ririko, who is a hard worker and has a strong sense of justice, is not good at her job. Ririko grows as a prosecutor and a woman after being in charge of multiple cases.

Ryosuke’s father has been diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Ryosuke finds a diary in his father’s study. There is a note written by a murderer.

30-year-old Kamata Rinko is single and a struggling scriptwriter. She has no boyfriend and keeps having night outs at drinking spots with her girlfriends Kaori and Koyuki. “If I become beautiful, a better guy will appear!” “If we grow to like each other, we can get married!” They will not stop talking about these hypothetical questions. Then a younger, handsome, golden-haired guy suddenly utters, “These “what if” women!” and the trio have to face the harsh reality that they are no longer girls. Rinko enters her 30s while still immature, seeking happiness and struggling with romance and work.

Takakura So witnessed his father's murder at a young age. Pledging to catch the killer, he grows up to become an elite cop in New York City, where the criminal lives. His character is cool-headed and disciplined, yet adapts well. Because of major drug dealings, he gets sent to Tokyo to conduct a joint investigation with the Japanese police. There, he gets teamed up with, Kudo Maruo, a detective from a special investigative division. Kudo is a hot-blooded fighting expert due to his earlier days as a delinquent, but he makes a strong impression with his stylish appearance and is always interested in going on group dates. His personality, interests, and investigation methods are completely mismatched with Takakura's, but the two somehow work together to crack the case they've been given.

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".

Manabu Yukawa is invited for a presentation on Submarine Mineral Resources Development in Harigaura. He stays at an inn. Manabu meets Kyohei who came to the inn, which is run by his aunt's family, for summer vacation. The next morning, Tsukahara, who is another guest at the inn, is found dead on the bank of a port. Manabu becomes involved in the case.

Detective Kaoru Utsumi (Kou Shibasaki) visits professor of physics Manabu Yukawa (Masaharu Fukuyama) and introduces new detective Misa Kishitani (Yuriko Yoshitaka) to him. This is done on orders from Detective Shunpei Kusanagi (Kazuki Kitamura) of The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who graduated from same university as Manabu Yukawa. Detective Kaoru keeps talking about a case in which a person fell to their death at the building of a religious group in Kamata. The victim fell from the the 5th floor of a building where the religious group "Kuai" resides. Apparently, the leader of the religious group (Takao Osawa) sent energy to the victim and he fell. Detective Kaoru shows pictures taken by magazine photographer of the incident. The pictures show that the group's leader did not touch the victim, but the victim's eyes became hazy. Manabu Yukawa becomes interested in the case and believes the incident can be proven scientifically.

Set in the 1980's, Yonosuke Yokomichi is a college student, with a warm heart, from the port city of Nagasaki. His girlfriend Shoko Yosano (Yuriko Yoshitaka) is the daughter of a company president.

Ito Kaiji erased all of his debts by successfully navigating through death-defying games one after the other. A year later though, he's back in the same debt-ridden situation. Kaiji then gets a chance to clear himself of his 200 million yen debt, but he has only 2 weeks. Kaji then decides to take on the mother of all pachinko machines named "The Swamp". The top winning payout is over 1 billion yen. "The Swamp" is controlled by an illegal casino operation named Teiai. Meanwhile, Ichijo Seiya, controls the machine from a remote location to ensure the machine never pays out the jackpot. Kaiji recruits the help of Ishida Hiromi, whose father was killed by Teiai, Kotaro Sakazaki a fired employee of Teiai, and Yukio Tonegawa who lost his position at the hands of Teiai. They all join Kaiji to take down "The Swamp," but their lives are at stake.

Emi is a lighting technician in a lighting company. Because she is always working with men, she comes to behave like a boy. She is not interested in fashion or other things that girls usually care about. She doesn't fall in love with someone because she thinks love is tiresome. But she actually still loves her ex-boyfriend who is her colleague in the same company.

Mako is an earnest office worker. She is rather clumsy and afraid of falling in love with someone. She didn't have sex with any boy before she fell in love with one colleague.

Saki is a beautiful and prideful girl. She hopes to be a journalist but she doesn't realize her dream. So she has to be a hostess in a bar to help support her family. She tells her family members that she was working in a large publisher house and earned a lot of money every month. She has met a kind and helpful man who is married and fallen in love with him.

One day, Taichi, an ordinary university student meets Mioka, a girl who is like a storm. Taichi finds himself drawn to Mioka, who lives freely as she wishes without holding back, and they eventually fall in love. However, Mioka tells Taichi of her shocking truth. She has an incurable brain disease, with no medicine or treatment that can help her.

The progressing disease.

The loss of control over her own body.

The precious memories slowly fading away.

The fear of losing herself.

The limited time she has left.

Even with such a cruel fate, Mioka lives her life to the fullest extent till the end. Taichi, wholeheartedly loving her, decides to become the witness of her very existence in this world.

Ito Kaiji moves to Tokyo after graduating from high school. Unable to find a job and frustrated with society at large, Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalizing cars, and drinking booze. Two years later and his life no better, a debt collector named Endo arrives to collect money. The debt collector then offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 years paying off your loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay your debt and possibly make a whole lot more. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous Endo is actually conning Kaiji, believing he won't come back from voyage. Kaiji is then up for the night of his life.

Former yakuza Haruo is finally released from prison after completing his sentence. With nine years worth of prison gratuities in hand, he stops at a restaurant to enjoy a good meal, but all of his money ends up being stolen. With nothing left, he spends the night at a net cafe, and he manages to look up his old friend from his yakuza days. When Haruo visits the next day, he learns that his old girlfriend Mariko was living with another man, but later died of illness. Haruo, who had committed murder 9 years earlier to earn the money for Mariko's medical treatment, is shocked and angered. He decides to track down that other man, who runs a bakery with his wife and daughter Sachi. Haruo later runs into Sachi at the park, but he has yet to find out the truth about her.

Usami Kei is a salaryman who has risen in status due to his engagement with Mei, the wealthy daughter of his company's president. Shortly after she breaks off the engagement, a power failure leaves him stuck in the elevator of his apartment building. Trapped with him are three others living on the same floor - Airu, a trilingual interpreter, Ojiro, a model photographer, and Masato, a psychiatrist. While waiting, their conversation hits upon their love lives and the question of whether there is truly only one fated partner for everyone. As a result, they decide to try "shuffling" their relationships with each other.

While researching a story on a school for problem children, Nakahara meets Emi, a college volunteer with a compelling tale of her own. After overcoming her initial reluctance to open up to the writer, Emi talks about her busted leg and her childhood friendship with the chronically ill Yuka. Hiroki steps away from the mature material he's best known for (Vibrator), but focuses the same empathetic gaze on a group of people who don't conform in a perfection-obsessed society and the bonds formed in it.

A private high school by the sea... All of the senior students devote themselves only to their studies for college entrance exams from the end of the summer. One day, an unconventional teacher gets posted at this high academia-oriented school. His name is Sakurai Sakutaro. His background is a mystery. Nobody gets what he's talking about. He's pushy and bold. The students are reluctant to open up to him who sticks his nose into their private affairs. But Sakutaro keep trying to help them overcome their problems He also encourages and guides them, and they eventually develop a bond of trust. "Live in the moment which exists only now"... His message gradually gets through to his students.

Takemura begins the film as an 8th-year college student who has somehow managed to accumulate ¥840,000 in debt. Abandoned by his parents in childhood, he has no one to turn to for the cash. One night a stranger with a grubby trench coat and grizzly beard, Fukuhara, bursts into his apartment, puts him in a chokehold and demands the dough, or else. Then, the day before the debt comes due, Fukuhara comes to Takemura with an unusual offer: walk with him from Kichijoji to Kasumigaseki, for ¥1 million, paid on successful completion. Takemura has no choice but to go along