Asian Drama

Three people come from different backgrounds and face their own troubles. Their fate leads them to face each other as their destinies become intertwined.

At 0AM on December 24th, a fatal shooting case takes place at a Yamashita wharf in Yokohama. When Suguroji Seiji wakes up, he finds a dead person right in front of him. The dead person was shot in the head. Suguroji Seiji can’t remember anything about what happened, but he becomes the prime suspect. He is chased by the police. He follows his blurred memories and tries to find clues about the murder.

Tachiaoi Tokio is a chef of a famous restaurant in Yokohama. The restaurant has been there for 80 years and through 3 generations. Since his wife died, Tachiaoi Tokio has been alone. He has decided never to fall in love again. On Christmas Eve, he is busy preparing meals for his restaurant that is completely booked. At that time, a male stranger breaks into his restaurant.

Kurauchi Kikyo works as a newscaster for a local TV station in Yokohama. She has hosted her news program for 10 years. Suddenly, she is informed that her news program is canceled and she will be transferred to a cooking program. Nevertheless, Kurauchi Kikyo heads out to the shooting murder case site to cover her last news story.

(Source: AsianWiki)

Episodes: 10

Three people come from different backgrounds and face their own troubles. Their fate leads them to face each other as their destinies become intertwined.

At 0AM on December 24th, a fatal shooting case takes place at a Yamashita wharf in Yokohama. When Suguroji Seiji wakes up, he finds a dead person right in front of him. The dead person was shot in the head. Suguroji Seiji can’t remember anything about what happened, but he becomes the prime suspect. He is chased by the police. He follows his blurred memories and tries to find clues about the murder.

Tachiaoi Tokio is a chef of a famous restaurant in Yokohama. The restaurant has been there for 80 years and through 3 generations. Since his wife died, Tachiaoi Tokio has been alone. He has decided never to fall in love again. On Christmas Eve, he is busy preparing meals for his restaurant that is completely booked. At that time, a male stranger breaks into his restaurant.

Kurauchi Kikyo works as a newscaster for a local TV station in Yokohama. She has hosted her news program for 10 years. Suddenly, she is informed that her news program is canceled and she will be transferred to a cooking program. Nevertheless, Kurauchi Kikyo heads out to the shooting murder case site to cover her last news story.

(Source: AsianWiki)

Episodes: 10

In his early years, Oda Nobunaga picked up the nickname of "The Fool of Owari" due to his bizarre behavior. He later married Nohime, but their relationship was not very good. Their marriage came about as a political marriage between hostile neighboring regions. Oda Nobunaga accepted Nohime as his wife with an arrogant, authoritative attitude. Meanwhile, Nohime has an unabashed attitude and easily clashes with her husband. They are like oil and water.

One day, Oda Nobunaga’s enemy Imagawa Yoshimoto attacks Owari with his vast army.

Oda Nobunaga is devastated by the overwhelming gap in military strength, but Nohime encourages Oda Nobunaga to not despair and fight against his rival. Oda Nobunaga and Nohime draw up a tactical plan to take on the much larger army. They soon make plans to unify the entire country, which has never been successfully done.

Kurasawa Itsuki was once an elementary school teacher, but she now works as a detective. When Kurasawa Itsuki was a teacher, her daughter was brutally murdered by her 12-year-old student Ruoto. The horrific case shocked the entire nation at that time. Afterwards, Kurasawa Itsuki decided to become a detective to save people in desperate situations like she was in.

12 years after the murder case, Kurasawa Itsuki is busy solving cases as a detective. She knows that Ruoto is going to be discharged from a medical juvenile training school and she hears that Ruoto is now completely rehabilitated. As a family member of the victim, Kurasawa Itsuki can’t help having suspicions about his true nature. One day, Kurasawa Itsuki receives a message that says "I'll take your precious thing once more."

Adapted from the manga "Life 2 Giver Taker" (ライフ2 ギバーテイカー) by Suenobu Keiko (すえのぶけいこ).

Single mother Umihara Haru was active in the American business community until she was directly headhunted by the CEO of Itsuki Trading, a leading Japanese general trading company, and returned to Japan. She takes up the position of assistant manager of the elite Corporate Planning Department but her direct superior turns out to be the ex-husband whom she divorced 10 years ago. From ramen to rockets, Haru takes on all sorts of problems within Itsuki Trading’s enormous departments and affiliate companies. She proclaims that she wants to enjoy work and does things that defies common wisdom amid an atmosphere of paralysis due to a conservative deputy CEO.

Nara Rimi, an established and popular photographer, meets Hyakuta Natsume who has come to Tokyo with dreams of becoming an actress. Although Natsume suffers setbacks, she grows from these experiences in this story about the lifestyles of women whose lives intersect in this world dominated by social media.

(Source: jdramas.wordpress)

Episodes: 9

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.

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...

Tachibana Miyabi is 39-years-old and hasn't had a boyfriend in 5 years. This doesn't bother her though as she is pretty and confident and enjoys her life as a single woman. She is a doctor and runs her own successful dermatology clinic. But at her school reunion, she finds herself being pitied by others for still being single. Afterwards, she attends a gourmet meeting at a restaurant. There, she talks about her school reunion. Seiji, the owner of the restaurant, makes a biting remark that she isn't the type popular with men. She becomes upset by the remark, but finds herself taking his advice to heart. Eventually, she asks Seiji to mentor her on how to catch men to which Seiji agrees. What follows is a series of mishaps and triumphs and adventures as Miyabi does her best to be the 'type' of woman men want.

"Keizoku," unfolds in the present, beginning in the dimly lit basement office of the Metropolitan Police Office's Criminal Investigations Section One, which is charged with pursuing "pending" (keizoku) investigations -- i.e., cases that everyone else has given up on.

The section chief, Nonomura (Raita Ryu), is a horny old goat who is willing to give all of his lump-sum retirement allowance to his termagant of a wife so he can marry his loose-socked under-age sweetie.

Nonomura's dreams of erotic bliss are shattered, however, when his superiors decide to replace him, 10 days before his retirement, with a woman half his age named Jun Shibata (Miki Nakatani), who may have a Todai degree and a genius IQ, but is a ditz and a klutz with no street smarts or fashion sense. As if this weren't insult enough, his superiors lower his retirement allowance -- and his wife won't accept a discount.

Nonomura and his problems suddenly drop off the screen, however, with the appearance of an ethereal young woman called Nanami Kirishima (Koyuki). Nanami is anxious to solve the mystery surrounding the deaths of her mother and her father, a wealthy developer, who perished in a shipwreck 15 years ago.

At the time the police suspected that one or more of the seven survivors might have had a hand in it, but lacked proof -- and so put the cases in their "pending" file. Now Nanami has invited the survivors to a reunion on the tiny island she calls home and, conveniently, they have all accepted. Won't the police help her narrow the list of suspects and nail the perpetrator(s)? Shibata and Mayama (Atsuro Watabe), a tough, short-fused cop who has less than the highest respect for his new boss, agree to go along on this unconventional ride.

The suspects, among whom are a snarling yakuza, a fat, drunken architect and a crass middle-aged female tarento, are cardboard cut-outs that would fit comfortably into a Clue game, while Nanami's island, with its pseudo-Gothic castle and its various colorful legends, are lifted from the more lurid horror manga.

Seamstress Ichie inherits her grandmother’s dressmaking shop. She uses the shop’s old sewing machine to make western-style clothing which is extremely popular with locals, but continues on the path laid out by her grandmother by avoiding mass production or branding. Ichie gets plenty of business from the shop’s regulars, making custom dresses and mending vintage items as she interacts with customers and reflects back on her life.

Tono Risa is a gifted writer in her 30s. She has already made a name for herself, but actually feels that she is at the end of the road. At that moment, Kawahara Yuki, a young woman in her 20s who has come to Tokyo with the dream of becoming a novelist, appears in front of her. Tired of her title as a genius and unable to confide in anyone that she has exhausted her own ability, Risa entrusts Yuki with being her ghost writer. Risa gets distressed about pretending to be someone she is not in the shadows of her glittering career, but continues to act the way the people think of her. The talented Yuki finds the admiration she should have for Risa gradually transform into bitter animosity. Oda Hayato, a rookie editor, is the first person to discover Yuki’s talent, and become the one who understands her the most. He struggles in his attempt to make Yuki stop being Risa’s ghost writer and debut as an novelist.

Graduating at the top of her class, elite detective candidate Jun Shibata is transferred to the section that handles cases deemed "unsolvable" by the department. Her partner, though a well-respected and experienced detective, has grown complacent after unsuccesfully pursuing these cases that many consider an exercise in futility. With her upper class breeding, her colleagues don't expect much from her either, but she suprises them all with her motivation and astounding powers of deduction. Well-constructed mysteries and colorful characters abound in this stylish and edgy police drama. --TBS

The drama has Okada playing the part of Shiba Kengo, a pure-hearted young surgeon who is dedicated to his work. He gets transferred from a prestigious university hospital to a financially troubled hospital, but there he meets a capable and cool-headed chief nurse named Kasugai Yuka (Nakatani), who teaches him the reality of the medical world. The pure Kengo must face various obstacles and challenges as he tears off the “masks” of respected professionals – doctors, nurses, and educators – and uncovers their true natures. Actor Hasegawa Hiroki plays the manager of a major group that operates schools, while Kato Ai plays his wife and the sister of Yuka. --Tokyograph

July 1590, Odawara. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army had surrounded the Odawara Castle for over three months, hoping to conquer this last obstacle to his dream of the country's unification.

Standing at the gate of the castle, a lone man facing the menacing guards shouted out: "Do not throw your lives away. Treasure living!". Not long after, the castle gates opened and the reigning lord surrendered. The name of that man is Kuroda Kanbee. An excellent military strategist, he worked hand-in-hand with Hideyoshi to unify the country.

Kanbee's family had fled to Harima, and were relatively poor. As the protege of Kodera Masamoto, Kanbee was very much trusted and relied upon by his lord liege. However, Kodera was suspicious of Kanbee's father, Mototaka, thinking that he was trying to usurp his power. One day, Kodera decided to match-make Kanbee with the daughter of Kushihashi, another one of his vassals. Kushihashi's son, who was of the same age as Kanbee, intensely disliked Kanbee and objected to the match. Since this was the order of Kodera, they had no choice but to marry the youngest daughter, Teru, to Kanbee. On Kuroda clan side, in order to assuage their lord liege's suspicions, Mototaka decided to step down, and made Kanbee the head of the clan. Kanbee was but 22 years old. Kanbee and Teru were married, and they were blessed with a son soon after, but when many years had passed and yet Teru couldn't seem to conceive a second child, Kanbee decided to adopt the young children of his vassals as his proteges who became known as "Kuroda's warriors".

When Kanbee turned 30, a revolutionary young lord was slowly laying siege to all the various shogunates, aiming for a unified Japan. Harima became the place where the clash between Oda and Mori Terumoto was set. Kanbee was very attracted to Oda's unification plans, and had gone to Gifu Castle to meet up with him. There, he became acquainted with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and soon became Hideyoshi's right-hand man, marking the birth of Gunshi Kanbee.

Sen no Rikyu is the son of a fish shop owner. Sen no Rikyu then studies tea and eventually becomes one of the primary influences upon the Japanese tea ceremony. With his elegant esthetics, Sen no Rikyu is favored by the most powerful man in Japan Toyotomi Hideyoshi and becomes one of his closest advisors. Due to conflicts, Toyotomi Hideyoshi then orders Sen no Rikyu to commit seppuku (suicide).

Adapted from the novel "Rikyu ni Tazuneyo" by Kenichi Yamamoto.

The chain of flowers between Rinka, Miyuki and Satsuki become connected as secrets become revealed.

Rinka (Nao Matsushita) lost her parents 13 years ago in an accident. Since then, she has lived with her grandmother. Her grandmother is then diagnosed with stomach cancer and becomes hospitalized. Making things worse for Rinka, the English institute where she works goes bankrupt. Paying for her grandmother's surgery seems nearly impossible.

Rinka then thinks of K. K sends a bouquet of flowers every year. Rinka thinks if she can find K, that person might help her. But who is K? Rinka asks her grandmother about K, but her grandmother doesn't say anything. Rinka then sends a letter to K and, later, a man who identifies himself as K's secretary appears in front of her. Rinka tries to find out K's identity and why he keeps sending flowers.

Miyuki (Miki Nakatani) married Kazuya 3 years ago. Kazuya worked for her uncle's company. The only thing Miyuki worries about is that they don't have children yet.

Kazuya's dream was to become an architect, but he now works in the sales department for an architect firm run by his wife's cousin Yosuke. Kazuya then participates in a competition to design an art gallery. Kazuya wins the competition, but Yosuke placed his name on Kazuya's design.

After Miyuki complains to Yosuke about his actions, Kazuya tells her something that has been on his mind. This causes tragedy.

University student Satsuki (Erika Toda) joins a climbing club with her friend Kimiko. Satsuki falls in love with Koichi who is in the same club. When Satsuki views Kocihi as part of her fate, Kurata, from the climbing club, collapses from leukemia.

Satsuki and Koichi take a test of their white blood cells. Satsuki finds out that she has the same white blood cell forms as Kocihi. A shocking hidden truth is reveled.

Set within an animal shelter, where if the owner of an animal doesn't claim their pet in 7 days, the animal is put to sleep. Himawari is a female dog and a mother. She tries to desperately save her puppies.

The drama has Okada playing the part of Shiba Kengo, a pure-hearted young surgeon who is dedicated to his work. He gets transferred from a prestigious university hospital to a financially troubled hospital, but there he meets a capable and cool-headed chief nurse named Kasugai Yuka (Nakatani), who teaches him the reality of the medical world. The pure Kengo must face various obstacles and challenges as he tears off the “masks” of respected professionals – doctors, nurses, and educators – and uncovers their true natures.

Actor Hasegawa Hiroki plays the manager of a major group that operates schools, while Kato Ai plays his wife and the sister of Yuka.

Underneath the veneer of orderly lives, frozen smiles and awkward averted glances, SWEET LITTLE LIES is a cold-as-steel clinical study of a couple. Married for three years, the couple keeps up the apparently tender rituals of newlyweds, but all is not as bright and beautiful as it would seem. Miki Nakatani, “the best Japanese actress of her generation” (Mark Schilling, Japan Times) plays the emotionally and sexually starved wife in Hitoshi Yazaki’s anti-melodramatic chronicle of the disintegration of a marriage. Even the most seasoned viewers will be struck by the menacing calm of Yazaki’s compositions, and his unveiling of lives made from lies.

A hopeless woman and a hopeless man.

A woman that loves the man whatever happens, and a man that can't exactly express his feelings and just turns over the table - out of irritation, short temper, and sometimes love. Would being together become a nightmare, or a love that will sustain them to live with happiness and hope for a better tomorrow?

The story concerns a boy called Shuji, growing up in a rural area of Japan where the community is divided into "Shore" and "Offshore" - the latter so-named because it is built on reclaimed land. He meets a few main...

In a strange world there is a secret hotel behind a shabby diner called the Venus Café, harbouring some unusual people where compelling secrets lie in each resident's heart—torturing secrets that have broken their emotional boundaries in the past. In this bittersweet, heart-wrenching story, there is a man by the name of Chonan (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) who lives in the attic and works as a waiter or handyman at the hotel. Room 1 is shared by two residents: an alcoholic doctor named Doctor (Teruyuki Kagawa), and Wife (Miki Nakatani), who used to be a nurse but now works as a hostess living in the hope of Doctor's recuperation. In Room 3 lives a bubbly girl by the name of Soda (Jo Eun Ji), who came from a deserted town where no one's flowers flourished and who has a dream to open her own flower shop. Finally, Room 4 is occupied by a challenging young boy by the name of Boy (Lee Joon-gi), who carries around a gun longing to become a strong man and who wishes to become a hitman some day. Then there is the owner of the café, Venus, a mysterious transvestite with one bad leg. Late one day, a drifter by the name of Gai (Park Jung Woo), a quiet man who avoids verbal communication, walks into the Venus Café with a little girl named Sai (Heui Ko To) who never smiles. He tells Chonan the secret password to entering the hidden hotel, and they become the residents of Room 2. Gai later gets a job at a construction site, while Chonan perseveres in comforting Sai, encouraging her to open up her heart; in the process he finds his own heart slowly opening as well. Boy, who wants to become a strong man, doesn't like Gai staying at the hotel and in the midst of things he gets into a fight with Gai, challenging him to show his worth as a strong man. But in the process he ends up shooting Sai in the leg, handicapping her. In addition, Soda who is usually bubbly later becomes sad due to the illegal errands she has run for her boss at the flower shop. But Chonan eventually discovers Soda's illegal errands and confronts her, reminding her of the differences between right and wrong. Meanwhile, Doctor and Wife are constantly fighting over their petty differences and Doctor's alcoholism, which later causes Wife to leave in depression.

A week or so has passed since Sadako's body was discovered and the police have been making efforts to find the victim's family and locate Reiko and her son, Yoichi, who have disappeared. They have been questioning Takano Mai over the shocking death of her boyfriend, Ryuji and Reiko's father. They believe that Reiko has something to do with these events and soon Yoichi turns up, now a mute child after witnessing the tape.

Mai decides to take up an investigation of her own, which leads her to Reiko's old newspaper office where she meets a reporter who is also interested in the story concerning the tape. They visit the mental hospital where Masami is still being kept and learn that she has developed some interesting abilities and is being studied by Dr. Heihachiro Ikuma who has a theory about psychic powers that he wishes to carry out in due course.

Two teenagers, Masami and Tomoko, talk about a videotape recorded by a boy in Izu which is fabled to bear a curse that kills the viewer seven days after watching. Tomoko reveals that a week ago, she and three of her friends watched a weird tape and received a call after watching. Tomoko goes downstairs and witnesses her TV turn on by itself. She later hears startling noises and turns around, only to be killed by an unseen force.

Days later, Asakawa Reiko, a reporter investigating the popularity of the video curse, discovers that her niece Tomoko, and her three other friends, mysteriously died at the same time, on the same night, with their faces twisted in fear. She also discovers that Masami became insane from witnessing Tomoko's death and is institutionalized in a mental hospital. After stumbling upon Tomoko's photos from the past week, Reiko finds that the four teenagers stayed in a rental cabin in Izu.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Suzuki Koji (鈴木光司).