Asian Drama

Haijima Ryu (Kitamura Kazuki), the deputy editor of a travel magazine, works vigorously at a breakneck pace. He has conceived consecutive hit projects and the magazine’s circulation has even soared. The editor (Rokkaku Seiji) regards Ryu as a candidate to be the next editor and pins his hopes on him. But at home, Ryu’s wife Sae (Harada Tomoyo), who works part-time at the library while supporting the family as a housewife, is disgruntled that he cares only about his work. Their son Itsuki (Matsuda Tomoki), a second grade elementary school student, relies on her because he is hardly in. One day, Ryu breathes heavily, breaks out in cold sweat and is assailed by a deep sense of unease on the train. This is his first panic attack. A proud and vain man, Ryu cannot bring himself to confess his illness to his company and his family. He suddenly resigns from the company and loses everything. His presence at home leads to constant quarrels with Sae and Itsuki, and his panic attacks grow worse. Increasingly isolated and wondering what he should do to get his wife and son to acknowledge him again, Ryu goes to consult a counsellor (Nogiwa Yoko). He soon makes the decision to go on a trip with Itsuki

A special drama commemorating the 80th anniversary of NHK's broadcasting service. The story is about two sisters who meet each other again after living separated in Japan and Brazil for 70 years. In 1934, Haru and her family emigrated from Hokkaido to Brazil. Haru's younger sister Natsu, however, was left behind in Japan because of an eye disease. 70 years later, Haru visits Japan and locates the whereabouts of Natsu but the younger sister, who thinks she was abandoned by the family, rejects Haru. After a while, the two find out that both wrote numbers of letters to the other though the letters have been left undelivered to the addressees. Through the discovered letters, the sisters learn each other's life; Haru lived in Brazil as a member of an immigrant-laborer family surviving various difficulties while Natsu lived in Japan through the Second World War and postwar economic growth depending on herself and managing a business. The drama portrays the separated sisters' lives full of ups and downs as well as their family ties, asking the meaning of "homeland" and "family."

Two men with the same name work for the same company and are involved with the same girl. One is her husband and the other is her superior. Best Partner focuses on the life of Japan's corporate 30-somethings and the rivalry for success that encompasses their lives. Unbeknownst to each other, Suzuki Ichiro and Suzuki Ichiro both work for the same publishing firm in Tokyo. The only difference in their names is two strokes in the kanji character of their first names. Ichiro #1 marries his coworker, Hayama Asuka. Ichiro #2, who is Asuka's superior, attends the wedding reception and the two Ichiros meet for the very first time. But seeing how close his new wife and her superior seem to be, Ichiro #1 begins to feel anxious about the future

Sporting black glasses and loose, dishevelled hair, the brusque, unfashionable divorced housekeeper Konno Nobuko (Yonekura Ryoko) is sent to the Inamura residence in a quiet residential neighbourhood in Tokyo. The Inamuras are a family of six. The husband Tatsuya (Danta Yasunori), the head of a university hospital’s department of internal medicine, lives with his wife Haruko (Yo Kimiko), their three growing sons and Tatsuya’s mother Shigeko (Nogiwa Yoko). Haruko is just like a graceful doctor’s wife. However, Nobuko immediately perceives that she is only concerned about appearances and quickly feels disgusted by her employer’s sympathetic, pretentious, upper crust attitude. In contrast, Haruko is relieved that the housekeeper is an unattractive woman. She does not want a beautiful woman to get close to her husband and adolescent sons. Is this the thought of a wife and mother or is it a jealousy of young beautiful women that has sprouted within Haruko at some point? However, the real Nobuko is a beauty who catches the eyes of people. She is, for some reason, extremely uncomfortable with her looks and has deliberately disguised herself to hide it. Nobuko quickly comes to know the problems that plague not just Haruko but the entire household. Tatsuya is indifferent about domestic issues and reeks of infidelity. The children are wilful and rude. Shigeko is treated like dirt by the family. Learning that the Inamuras are putting on a pretense of being a happy family, Nobuko starts to feel vengeful towards Haruko who sneers at her drab appearance and occupation, and the children who openly scorn her. Although Haruko initially welcomed Nobuko, she is gradually spooked by her words and behaviour and suddenly announces that she is dismissing her for being a kleptomaniac. This enrages Nobuko. She exploits the weaknesses of the family that she has already grasped and decides to remain. Her objective for being in such uncomfortable surroundings is … …?

18 months after the successful joint operation between Donoue General Hospital and Saito Teaching Hospital. Sagara Kosuke works as an instructor at Saito Teaching Hospital, at the request of Hospital Dean Matsuda Yoshio, as well as his regular job at Donoue General Hospital. His relationship with Yoshio is good, but some of the doctors at Saito Teaching Hospital are not happy that he is an instructor there.

Meanwhile, Moriyama Suguru becomes well known as a doctor for celebrities. He makes appearances on TV. Due to his rising popularity, Moriyama Suguru spends less time on treating patients. Sagara Kosuke then implements a trick to have Moriyama Suguru work as a temporary instructor at Saito Teaching Hospital.

Although her father was a great magician, Yamada Naoko is merely a competent magician who utterly lacks showmanship. She has a hard time making a living, and is constantly behind on her rent. That's where Ueda Jiro comes in. Ueda is a professor of physics who is also an author of books debunking the psychic and supernatural. People with problems of a supernatural nature seek out his assistance. But who ends up doing most of the work? Yamada may not be the best magician, but she has a genius for seeing through other people's "tricks," and Ueda uses this to his advantage. Their strange and often very funny partnership is the real reason people get hooked on this series.

The continuation of Glass Mask. Maya attempts to re-enter the entertainment industry after losing all backing. She decides that nothing will stand in her way of becoming The Crimson Goddess, and resolves to regain her status in the industry so she can fight on equal ground with Ayumi. After everyone is blown away by Maya's monodrama, Tsukikage agrees to recognize her as a candidate for the Crimson Goddess only if she receives a Best Actress Award at the Japanese Academy of Acting Award ceremonies, or an award of equal prestige. But Maya has to compete with Ayumi for it! The Purple Rose Man is still watching her from the shadows... will Maya ever find out his true identity? Just who will become the true successor for the role of the Crimson Goddess? -- synopsis by awrittensin

Double Kitchen is a heartwarming situation comedy about a newlywed couple sharing a house with the husband's parents in a suburb of Tokyo. Ordinary situations become hilarious cross-generational battlegrounds, as the wife and her mother-in-law pursue vastly different images of the ideal family. --TBS

Kentaro Shiba works as a veterinarian and he runs Shiba Veterinary Clinic in Tokyo. He is bright, warmhearted and easily moved to tears. Kentaro also has an adopted daughter named Hinako. Kentaro struggles over the problems of the animal owners that visits his clinic and he always meddles in other people's affairs. He frequently falls in love with the female pet owners.

Naoko Yamada a a self-proclaimed “super magician” repeatedly finds herself enlisted to help a self-proclaimed “genius physicist” and skeptic named Jiro Ueda as he attempts to expose fraudulent spiritualists and others who seem to have mysterious powers.

Todo Maki, a rookie lawyer, joins a law office run by seven female attorneys who work to help women who have become victims of crime. Todo eagerly goes to work, but when her boss Sugimura Misako assigns her to a case, she discovers there is still much to learn about practicing law. Under the guidance of her six more experienced colleagues, she discovers what it means to be a lawyer.

As a former gang member, Hazama Ichiban witnessed the worst side of the emergency medical system and vowed to become a doctor to change it. With the aggressive passion he learned on the streets, Ichiban has worked his way to becoming a no-nonsense emergency medicine resident. But it is this same passion that he must learn to control when confronted with a situation beyond his help.

The affair that Mahiro has been having with the married Yutaka has been the only escape from her troubled family life caused by her father's own extra-marital affair. Mahiro despises her father for his past infidelity but cannot bring herself to stop Yutaka from being unfaithful to his wife. However, an unplanned pregnancy triggers a series of events that promises to shatter the small bubble of happiness Mahiro has made for herself and bring the brewing dissonance in her family to a head.

The 35th NHK Taiga Drama is Hideyoshi, the story of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle. He is noted for a number of cultural legacies, including the restriction that only members of the samurai class could bear arms. Hideyoshi is regarded as Japan's second "great unifier".

The drama won 11th Television Drama Academy Awards (1996-Dec-20) for best drama.

When the Inoue family just moves into their new residence, they are shocked to see everyone there so anxious about getting their children into good schools. In order not to be the one left out, they also join in the crowd and train their child hard to score well in the primary school entrance exam. Interestingly, their next door neighbor has a kid same age as theirs and always likes to compete with them. This makes the whole exam process more exciting and stressful, of course.

(Source: wiki.d-addicts)

Episodes: 12