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

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

A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) submarine sank in a maritime accident near Japan. Japan was shocked by the news that the survival of all 76 crew members, including the captain, Second Lieutenant Shiro Kaieda, was hopeless. However, the crew actually survived. They were selected as crew members for a nuclear submarine built in top secret by Japan and the United States.

(Source: Japanese = silent-service.jp)

Adapted from the manga series "The Silent Service" (沈黙の艦隊) by Kawaguchi Kaiji (川口開治).

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Akira Yamazaki and Akira Kaido are new employees at Industrial Central Bank. They are both outstanding at their jobs and fierce rivals, but they come from totally different backgrounds. When Akira Yamazaki was a child, his father's factory went bankrupt, and his family ran away in the middle of the night. Because of that experience, Akira Yamazaki wants to work as a banker to save people. On the other hand, Akira Kaido was born into a family that runs a large company. He works with a calm demeanor.

Due to a case, Akira Yamazaki receives a demotion. Akira Kaido continues to be successful at work, but his family's company is on the verge of bankruptcy due to their family-oriented management style. The employees there and their families are all in a crisis situation. With this desperate situation unfolding, the reversal of fate of these two men begins.

Adapted from the novel "Akira and Akira" (アキラとあきら) by Ikeido Jun (池井戸潤).

Kohiruimaki Yuichi is a police officer who established the "Science Crime Countermeasures Office", a department that specializes in issues related to cutting-edge science and technology. He welcomes the genius scientist Mogami Yukiko as an advisor and she is in charge of investigating cases related to cutting-edge science. The crimes entrusted to the Science Crime Countermeasures Office are crimes that the legal system and police organization cannot keep up with. The two will unravel the science itself hidden behind the cases and not just the so-called forensic investigation. Hasebe Tsutomu is a detective who is not familiar with science but has a long experience in the field in the former Investigation Division.

Kohiruimaki Yuichi is a police officer who established the "Science Crime Countermeasures Office", a department that specializes in issues related to cutting-edge science and technology. He welcomes the genius scientist Mogami Yukiko as an advisor and she is in charge of investigating cases related to cutting-edge science. The crimes entrusted to the Science Crime Countermeasures Office are crimes that the legal system and police organization cannot keep up with. The two will unravel the science itself hidden behind the cases and not just the so-called forensic investigation. Hasebe Tsutomu is a detective who is not familiar with science but has a long experience in the field in the former Investigation Division.

Matsuda Anna is a dedicated journalist who doggedly pursues the truth about a government corruption scandal even as powerful enemies seek to neutralize her reporting.

Noriko lost her mother, Yoshie when she was only 10-years-old. Yoshie knew she would not be able to live long enough to see her children grow up and wrote birthday cards to her children in the future. Agonizing over relationships with friends, love and marriage, Noriko grows up with hints and thoughts hidden on birthday cards which are sent from her mother every year

Nami Suzuki was born and raised in a small rural town. She doesn't have a specific dream to pursue and she is an easy going person. As an ordinary woman, she desires to be happy with an ordinary life. She follows Kenya, who is her childhood friend and her unrequited love, and applies for a job in the supply management department of a large publishing company in Tokyo. Nami gets hired by the company, but she is assigned to work in the editorial department of a fashion magazine. There, Nami Suzuki works with chief editor Reiko Horai. She is a devil like boss, who makes spiteful remarks and has a cold personality. Reiko Horai treats Nami, who doesn’t take her job seriously, in a callous manner. But, as Nami Suzuki watches her boss deal with her job, Nami begins to change her attitude toward her work.

After the Onin War, the world is plunged into chaos. Amid this situation, heroes of the warring states begin to emerge in an attempt to unify the country and rule in these turbulent times. In the mid-1540s, there is a young wandering samurai in Mino which is strategically located between the East and West. His name is Akechi Mitsuhide. At this time, there is plenty of internal strife within the Toki clan which rules Mino. Surrounded by the Oda of Owari, the Imagawa of Suruga and the Asakura of Echizen, Mino has constantly faced the risk of invasion. Mitsuhide is pulled into battle and destroys the enemy. His bravery as well as stratagem catches the attention of Saito Toshimasa, the chief retainer of the Toki clan, and he is singled out. This man who is also known as Saito Dosan will go on to takeover the Toki and make Mino his own.

Tamura Shin is a young man who has been pursuing the mystery of the murder that his father, a police officer, caused and changed the fate of their family. Ever since his father’s arrest, Shin and his mother have been criticised by the public and had to live in hiding. One day, Shin is told by his beloved wife to try and give his father the benefit of the doubt, and he decides to meet his father who is in prison. However, when he heads to the old crime scene, he is shrouded by a sudden mist and ends up going back in time to the past. Shin finds himself in the year 1989 – right before the murder took place. The crime scene has become a snowy village. At this village, Shin sees the warm smiling faces of his own face. If he stops his father’s case, he will not lose his family. This spurs him to challenge the taboo of changing the past.

Totei University Hospital has built a massive deficit. Investor Nicholas Tange, whose nickname is Vulture, comes up with a turnaround plan for the hospital. His plan implements restructuring and cost cutting. By Nicholas Tange’s request, Michiko Daimon begins to work at the Totei University Hospital again.

Takahata Isao’s animated artistry in Only Yesterday (1991) comes to life in Hakota Yuko’s delicate story of a woman’s mnemonic journey. Trapped in her anemic career and love relationship, a 30-year-old TV commercial director returns to her countryside home in the company of a free-spirited friend. In a bittersweet reunion with an alienated family, her childhood memories of freedom and yearnings creep in the dreamlike blue hour, transcending into a lyricism of self-realization – at once whimsical, agonizing and yet hopeful.

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.

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

Mochizuki Tonko is the owner of a secondhand bookstore "Mochi no Ie" and also an essayist. Although she tries to live at her own pace, she surrounded by many women who are troubled by their love life and work. Through having delicious meals with Tonko, these women find the answer to their question and move ahead in their lives.

Onuki Hajime was a thief, but he now works as a welder and lives happily with his girlfriend. Hajime Onuki is threatened by a former partner in crime. He forces Onuki Hajime to break into the mansion of a picture book writer to steal. He is caught by others while in the act, but they keep mistaking him for someone else. Hajime desperately keeps up the ruse to not get caught.

~~ Based on the play “Dorobou Yakusha” which was written and directed by Masafumi Nishida. The play was performed in 2006.

Set in the near future around Shinjuku, Tokyo. Shinji got out from a youth detention center. Barikan suffers from stuttering and extreme shyness. These two men meet in a boxing gym. Shinji and Barikan become friends and pursue boxing under a hopeless situation.

Based on the novel "Aa, Koya" by Shuji Terayama.

The year is 2021 and years of mismanagement have left Japan a broken society riddled with poverty and underemployment. Kenji is visibly disabled and has an inferiority complex. Shinji is released from prison and has time in his hands. They both coincidentally sign up at a club for boxing and soon become friends.

Based on the novel "Aa, Koya" by Shuji Terayama.

It is Tokyo in 1935. 10-year-old Yanagi Etsuko is a young girl who loves songs. Her father Kantaro, a struggling lyricist, still cannot forget her late mother and wastes his life away. Seeing her father like this, Etsuko begins a search for Kantaro’s second bride and the new partner who will be her mother. Her first target is her teacher Muraoka Masako whom she eggs on to land a date with her father. However, it does not go very well. The next person who catches her attention is a salesgirl Ikebe Kyoko whom she met at a department store. Etsuko is drawn to Kyoko’s simplicity and gradually begins to love her as if she were her own mother. However, at that moment, Kantaro’s elder sister Tsuruyo pursues the subject of an arranged introduction with Kusakabe Kaoru, the incredibly beautiful daughter of a bank owner who is a shareholder in her husband’s company.

Based on the novel "Ecchan" by Shishi Bunroku.

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

The Japanese version of Warner Bros ‘Cold Case'.

A quiet residential area in Tokyo. Retired judge Kajima Isao and his family have a peaceful life until Takeuchi Shingo, an acquitted suspect in a murder trial that the judge once presided over, moves next door. Takeuchi smiles amiably, gives thoughtful presents, and even helps care for the elderly. He wins the Kajima family’s hearts with his exuberant good will. However, mysterious things keep happening around the Kajima house...

Kenta Sakaguchi was a yakuza member and he spent 13 years in prison for killing a rival yakuza boss. Hidehiko Hirohashi was a secretary for a politician. He took the blame for the politician’s act. Isao Okawara was a self-defense official, but he took in arms against the government. The three men gather under retired ex-detective Gonzaemon Mukai and they get even with the people who betrayed and deceived them.

A suspenseful, action-packed, fast paced, intelligent detective thriller.

The cool, beautiful Sasaki Rena is the lone investigator who works for for a medium-sized research agency called Suma Research Agency. Because of her past related to her sister's death, she became a detective that investigates and pursues unscrupulous detectives. Her beloved younger sister was murdered by a stalker and she has been searching for the investigator who caused her sister’s death in order to take revenge.

An editor arrives at a Sumo village to find the missing award-nominated writer Deko just in time to bring him to an award ceremony. There, the editor learns that Deko's weird friends have been desperately trying to kill him because of the book Deko wrote about their embarrassing memories. Despite their countless attempts at murder, Deko's dumbness keeps him from even noticing his friends' intentions.

Haruko (Maki Yoko), an events producer, is the second of the Inuyama family’s three daughters. She turns down a proposal from the man she has been cohabiting with, causing their relationship to turn awkward. Her older sister, Asako (Kimura Tae), is hides her husband’s domestic violence while her younger sister, Ikuko (Kaho), cannot instinctively understand love. Haruko is at a critical point in her career and love life, but she scrambles about for the sake of her sisters. The three of them are helped by the family ties and eventually break out of their shell.

Ozu gets hired on to be a temporary teacher at a private high school in Tokyo. There is a major problem though...he hates kids. Actually the problem is worse than that, he hates people. He has come to not be able to trust people anymore, so he doesn't even see them as people. Which pretty much makes teaching anything to anyone out of the question. To make things worse, the kids at the school have lost all of their ambition. This teacher can't teach children, and he can't be taught. This story is depicted with a comedic touch, as Ozu and the students go through some violent, yet funny times on the way to his learning some valuable lessons from them. ~ Fuji TV

Ozu gets hired on to be a temporary teacher at a private high school in Tokyo. There is a major problem though...he hates kids. Actually the problem is worse than that, he hates people. He has come to not be able to trust people anymore, so he doesn't even see them as people. Which pretty much makes teaching anything to anyone out of the question. To make things worse, the kids at the school have lost all of their ambition. This teacher can't teach children, and he can't be taught. This story is depicted with a comedic touch, as Ozu and the students go through some violent, yet funny times on the way to his learning some valuable lessons from them. ~ Fuji TV

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.

Masayoshi Hayakawa (Joe Odagiri) was once a popular member of rock band "Out of Justice," but after the breakup of the band 13 years ago Masayoshi Hayakawa's life has become a mess. He drinks alcohol a lot now and does a live 30 minute radio show in the early mornings, while occasionally attending fan meetings.

One day, Masayoshi Hayakawa meets two young girls, and a young boy, all in middle school, and learns that he is the father of the girls. He begins to take care of the girls and boy, but has to hide their existence from his management office, who are just looking for an excuse to drop him from his contract. Through the children, Masayoshi Hayakawa is able to grow as a person and mature.

Koyama Kazumi is a poor but optimistic college student who firmly believing that there are more important things than money. Despite his own poverty he ends up taking on other people's debts and faces various challenges to pay off those debts

"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.

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.

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.

Kusunoki Taketo is a single 30-year old dentist. A playboy, he will hit on all his female patients. Chigusa is a 24-year old typical OL, her only objective in life is to snare a wealthy and good-looking man for a husband. However, Chigusa's reputation precedes her, and is looked down upon by other OL, for being so obvious and tenacious in her search for a man. On one of her date with a eligible man from the company next door, she wins a holiday for two to Bali. It is here in Bali that she has a one night stand with Taketo.

After their one night together, while sightseeing in Bali, Taketo is reunited with his first love, Aya. She is a famous model, and is in Bali, holidaying with her latest boyfriend. Taketo had loved Aya deeply, but she was more interested in pursuing her dream of becoming a model. She had left him for another man, who had promised to launch her modelling career.

Upon their return to Tokyo, everyone goes their separate way. However, Chigusa is one day reunited with Taketo, when she goes to his clinic to fix her terrible toothache.

Although she has no memory of her past, Minako is happily preparing for her upcoming marriage. But a 15-year-old letter leads her into meeting a strange man who knows everything about her. Soon she finds that beneath the pleasant surface of her life is a terrible darkness, and, as the lies come to the surface, Minako's world will be shattered.

Odoru Daisousasen is a Japanese drama, with some comedic moments. It originally ran for 11 episodes, and has spawned several TV specials and four full-length theatrical movies.plays a character named Aoshima Shunsaku, an ex-computer salesman, who decides one day that he wants to be a detective. He soon becomes a detective at the Wangan Police Station where he encounters various cases and deals with the police bureaucracy.