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

In Shanghai in the early 1930s, various forces were surging and the society was in turmoil. Ding Yiqing, the daughter of a wealthy Ningbo businessman, went to Shanghai alone to find her missing brother, but unexpectedly used her business skills to embark on the road of revolution. On this road, she has seen hope, that promising young man named Lin Mosheng, who is willing to fight with her hand in hand. On this road, she has also witnessed despair, where her revolutionary leaders Dong Hongyu and Du Ying fell one after another. On this road, she finally took over the baton from Miss D, vowing to bring prosperity to the younger generation...

Dako is a con woman. She stays at a suite in a luxury hotel and schemes to take money from vicious wealthy people like yakuza bosses and evil businessmen. She works with Boku-chan and Richard. Boku-chan is a sincere and timid young con man. Richard is a veteran con man.

Dako is able to master knowledge from various professions in a short period of time and disguises herself as someone working in that field. Along with Boku-chan and Richard, they carry their plans using fantastic teamwork.

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.

Set 2 years after Sangenya Machi and Yashiro Dai left Teiko Real Estate's Shinjuku office.

The real estate office has seen a steep decline in business due to competition. Niwano Seiji visits Sangenya Machi for help, but he is surprised to see her holding a baby.

The next day, Sangenya appears at Teiko Real Estate and deals with customers who are having problems.

In December 1941, Japan expands the occupation of its neighboring countries to Southeast Asia. The railway from Tianjin to Nanjing in East China became a key military transportation route, heavily guarded by Japanese soldiers. Railroad worker Ma Yuan leads a team of freedom fighters. Using his deep knowledge of the train network, he and his men sabotage it, ambushing Japanese soldiers and stealing supplies to feed the starving Chinese. Although the freedom fighters have no weapons of their own, they employ whatever tools are at hand, including shovels, loose railway track planks and diverted trains. The local Chinese call the unlikely heroes the “Railroad Tigers”.

Surgeon Daimon Michiko is sent to Totei University Hospital this time. Although it reigns as the top university hospital in the country, the hospital’s reputation has suffered greatly from various cover-ups, medical malpractice and fighting factions. Furthermore, the person who has snatched the seat of the new hospital director with the plan of reestablishing the hospital’s brand and gaining great power, is none other than the strategist Hiruma Shigekatsu, who has a longstanding grudge against Michiko. At Totei University Hospital, the medical departments have weakened as the administrative department increases control. Only doctors who have powerful brands are kept to run the hospital, which has transformed into a mere business organisation. What will Michiko stand up against in a power game rife in the healthcare setting?

Year 1941, a roll of film is delivered to Shanghai and a Chinese spy named Gong An Ming (Liu Yun Long) must decide what he should do with the film, which turns out containing a great secret that could shock the whole world.

He discovers the plan code named 'East Wind Rain' and passes the information to the American that their territory will soon be invaded by the Japanese. The code is aired during the weather report from Radio Tokyo on Dec 4, 1941.

While in Shanghai An Ming meets with a singer cum pianist, Huan Yan (Fan Bing Bing) and falls in love with her, not realizing that she is also one of the spies. Soon An Ming realizes that his effort found no success and have been ignored due to some reason.

And now by risking his own life he must also decide whether to make Huan Yan his lover or his enemy? Will the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in the end? Which country is Huan Yan working as a spy for? Will An Ming get caught by his enemy?