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

Mishima Kanji is a reporter for the Weekly Times, which mainly deals with gossip. He feels a sense of emptiness and discomfort as he spends his days chasing celebrity scandals, without a shred of the journalistic spirit he aspired to. One day, Mishima goes to Amagasaki to pick up a certain person under the direction of chief editor Nagasawa Asuka. Nagasawa sends him off as a chance to fulfill Mishima's former wish to "see a world you wouldn't see if you lived a normal life", but what awaits him is Keijiro Kihara, a man who is now a renowned figure in all areas of the underworld, politics, and entertainment, as well as an urban legend among informers, known as "Informer".

Adapted from the novel "Informa" (インフォーマ) by Okita Garyo (沖田臥竜).

Hiroshi Kataoka works at a bank. He receives a promotion to manager of the Kamata branch. He is also informed that the Kamata branch will be shut down and he does not have to work hard. After the branch's shutdown, he will work again at the bank's headquarters. Hiroshi Kataoka is embarrassed by the situation. He sees the branch employees work hard and they do not know the branch will close. Hiroshi Kataoka is conflicted between his job and his employees.

Himekawa Reiko became an assistant inspector with the Tenth Homicide Section at the young age of 27 even though she was not on the career track. As the only female section chief in the First Investigative Division, she leads Team Himekawa, armed with her intuition, dramatic ideas and energy, and has solved many challenging cases. Her older subordinate Kikuta Kazuo , a sergeant, is initially skeptical of her when he is transferred to the team. However, he gradually comes to realise her competence and charm, and special feelings begin to grow. Reiko’s nemesis is Katsumata Kensaku , an assistant inspector with the Fifth Homicide Section. Although he boasts an overwhelming lead in the number of arrests, his illegal investigation methods have also drawn suspicion.

Hajime Saionji (Takaya Kamikawa) is the perfect butler and he works for a madame who is elegant. The madame is full of curiosity and has a pure personality. Hajime Saionji began to work for the madame before her husband died and they share a deep level of trust.

One day, they a face murder case. The madame holds doubts about the murder case. Hajime Saionji uses his great reasoning powers in an attempt to solve the mystery.

Teenage girls Azami and Rie are leading a lifestyle full of delinquent behavior. One night, when they find a good hiding spot after being chased by mobs, Rie points out Tsukumodo, a place where they serve free food. There, they meet other people from various backgrounds with all kinds of personal problems, and the owner, a 52-year-old woman named Tsukumo Sakura. They discover that Tsukumodo, a secondhand bookstore which stands alone in Tokyo's Ota district, is a shop where people of all generations can enjoy manga, but also find comfort. At the back of the bookstore is a room called Tamariba, where people with nowhere to go gather and eat the delicious oyakodon Sakura cooks for them. She serves them for free without prying into their backgrounds or circumstances. Her meals fill stomachs and also seems to warm hearts. With their hunger satisfied, the people “with nowhere to go” slowly start to talk to Sakura about themselves and she listens to them. Sometimes she encourages them with a smile. At other times, she cries with them. She loves to say, “It’s all right to cry when you want to. The teardrops that fall will simply burst into flowers of happiness.” Meanwhile, Sakura herself has to face a tragic past. An incident 16 years ago spurred her to make oyakodon for free. When Azami and Rie visit Tsukumodo and Sakura decides to cook them a meal, time starts to rewind.

In June 2015, Kyogoku suddenly woke up after being in a coma for 30 years due to an accident during an investigation. It has been a year since he and the young detective, Mochizuki Ryota of Yokohama Chuo Police Precinct, drove the violent criminal called Kagura as well as the organisation Kyogoku was pursuing 30 years ago to destruction and closed this chapter from the past. Kyogoku and Ryota are still living together in the same place. Although Ryota and Yui have been dating for close to a year, Kyogoku stubbornly refuses to approve their relationship. In this one year, Kyogoku and Ryota have led the police in solving numerous heinous crimes. Ryota has also undergone an unbelievable transformation from a year ago. The investigation methods of the two of them occasionally create trouble. But because their arrest rate and contributions are the highest in the Kanagawa area right now, their maverick, overbearing behaviour is tolerated. They are the “stadium jumper and skinny macho” pair of the Yokohama Chuo district.

Remake of German TV series "The Last Cop" (Der letzte Bulle) [2010].

Master Shinkome asks Shinden to find a former disciple, Shintoto, from his rakugoka (comic storytelling) family. Shinden visits ex-disciples in his search for Shintoto.

Hanzawa Naoki works for Tokyo Chuo Bank as the head of the Loans Division at their Osaka Nishi branch. The overbearing branch manager, Asano, forces him to award an unsecured loan of 500 million yen to Nishi Osaka Steel. On the surface, Nishi Osaka Steel seems like a very reputable company, but in actual fact it is a company in deep trouble. Debt-ridden, the company accountants resort to window-dressing the financial statements in order to hide the truth from the public. Three months after the loan, Nishi Osaka Steel goes bankrupt and the ambitious and power-hungry Asano makes Hanzawa the scapegoat for the 500 million loss. Hanzawa is called to Tokyo to answer to the internal investigations team, where he vehemently denies responsibility for the loss, and swears to recover the 500 million yen. That is the only course of action for Hanzawa, if he wants to survive in the banking industry.

A college senior, Boku, takes a bicycle trip for his last summer vacation. On his trip, he comes across drive-in "HOUSE475" and its manager Seiji. The college senior then helps out at the store and becomes influenced by his experience at "HOUSE475".

Motoko (Meisa Kuroki) is a detective in tip-top physical condition, excels in physical combat and willing to kill a suspect if necessary. Misaki (Mikako Tabe) is a cerebral detective with a warm. Both of these women are members of the Metropolitan Police Department's S.I.T. (special investigation team) and work to track down criminal Jiu, the ringleader responsible for a series of brutal crimes. Motoko and Misaki both become involved in personal relationships that leaves them hurt...