Kimiko Yo was born in Yokohama, a city just south of Tokyo to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father on the 12th of May 1956. Her cousin was actress Bunjaku Han. She became active in front of the camera in 1987 and has been a feature of Japanese television and cinema ever since. She had begun acting on the theatre stage in 1976. Audiences may mostly know her for her supporting role in Shin Gojira, as a sympathetic colleague in the 2008 films Departures, which won an Oscar, and kind wife and waitress in Ramen Girl, but she has almost 200 credits to her name. These include an abnormal neighbour in The Drugstore girl and serene presence in Café Lumière where she was directed by a Taiwanese director in Japan. Dear Doctor (2009) propelled her name forward in Japan and was an award winner. She has several Japan Academy prizes to her name. Like most celebrities she pushes products and has done commercials for telephone companies, shampoos and cosmetics manufacturers. Yo is married to a man who at the time was a NHK employee in 2006 and is managed by the Alpha Agency.
The former female members of a high school basketball club have gathered for a party in memory of their basketball coach Ando Katsuhito. 39-year-old Enoki Kana, 53-year-old Tsuruga Yuko and 27-year-old Mishiro Akane are noticeably unhappy. Each of them has just suffered an unforeseen incident, prompting them to say with a touch of self-derision that their prime was during high school. Kana’s image as the “perfect stay-at-home wife” has shattered with the exposé on her husband’s affair. Yuko has ...
The two most famous Japanese mystery characters have come together to solve a crime. A year ago, a man was trying to commit suicide by jumping off a police station building. He was rescued by two man who happened to be the well known Akechi Kogoro and Kosuke Kindaichi. The famous duo were asked to be the witness and to provide information for police record. From the surface, it was a simple case of suicide. however, soon after the incident, The police lieutenant committed suicide in his office. ...
Matsumoto Shouen became a buddhist monk after being unable to save his friend that was drowning right in front of him as a child and also became a doctor. While also engaging in saving people at the hospital, he works as a monk and offers care to the terminally ill. Sometimes, his monk robes cause a commotion as patients misunderstand that they are already dead. In addition, his chanting is disliked not only be patients but by his fellow colleagues. Despite that, he works brightly and seriously ...
In Yokohama a modern port city, Hiroto Kanzaki works hard in a ship repair factory, supporting his sick mother and younger brother. Tsukioka Nao is the rich daughter of a jewelry shop owner, and studies at an upscale college. This drama is about their love, and all he obstacles they encounter because of their different social backgrounds....
This delicate love story transcends the spoken word as it depicts the lives of an aspiring young actress and a painter who lost his sense of hearing during childhood. As their relationship develops, the audience learns the true power of sign language and experiences the couple’s growth first-hand through the progression of their visual communication....
The 64th NHK Asadora Renzoku Drama is Churasan, a story of a young woman, Kohagura Eri, who was born in Kohamajima Island, Okinawa on May 15, 1972, the day when Okinawa was returned to Japan from the U.S. Eleven years later, Kamimura Shizuko and her two sons, Kazuya and Fumiya, from Tokyo come to stay as the guests of a small inn run by Eri’s family. Eri’s fun-loving, yet eccentric family welcomes them warmly. However, Eri is shocked to hear one of the sons, Kazuya is terminally ill and Shizuko ...
Toshiyuki Nishida plays the role of Don Kameda, A.K.A “Don-Game”. Don-Game is a cafe owner who loves jazz and long epic songs. But that’s actually him in disguise. He’s in fact the chief of a secret organization called The Tokyo Police Confidential Investigation Division and works directly under the Tokyo Police Commissioner. With their unique members and exceptional teamwork, TPCID solves mysteries that the police can’t even untangle...
Misaki decides to join the Brass Band Club having heard of its prestigious past from her father, a former member. However, Misaki finds that much has changed and the club is now full of dull and inactive students. Misaki determines to do her best to return the club to its glory days, but she must help many of the students overcome their personal problems....
Shūichirō Kiriyama works at the Limitation Task Force, the place where the cases which have reached the statute of limitations are destroyed. Getting bored of his job, he decides to find a hobby, because it seems important to him to have a hobby. So he decides to puzzle out the unsolved cases on his free time, helped by his coworker Mikazuki, who seems to have a crush on him....
Following on the heels of "Stalker," this title continues the same theme, focusing on a young woman, Suzu, infatuated with her older sister's husband, Takeshi. As a neuro-psychiatrist, Takeshi has the expertise to diagnose her mental instability, but trying to care for her may only draw him further into her clutches. Looking into the mysteries of her childhood may be his only hope of curing her obsessive behavior before Suzu's violent tendencies threaten those around her....
Based on a true story from Hokkaido’s Hokusei Yoichi High School, the first high school in Japan to accept high school dropouts nationwide and the subject of a successful documentary, this drama will follow a former gang member, dropout and graduate of the school who returns as a teacher. We will follow him as he helps graduating students out into the world. The teachers and students will, as you would expect, confront all the issues of youth and society today. At this school, there are no compr...
Toyomi Terajima (Ryoko Yonekura) chose to become a nurse because she had no interest in marriage and wanted an occupation she could do for the rest of her life. Although she doesn't have a lot of aspirations, she does have a vague idea of wanting to work as a nurse overseas, and so she studies English. Outside of that, her life is less than ordinary and she carries out her job as a nurse without any indifference. That is, until one fateful night when she calls on Dr. Toya Shinichi (Takaya Kamika...
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Three close friends realize, at the age of 40, that maybe it's time to think seriously about getting married. Employed by an advertising agency, each struggles with his own weakness-one consistently strikes out with women, while the second can't seem to break his attachments to his mother, and the third is an unabashed playboy. This adult comedy exposes the humorous views and sobering misconceptions of marriage by single men today....
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A drama set in a police department depicts how a woman grows and matures as a human being as she suffers from the gap between reality and ideals in an environment where women are looked down upon. Mizuho Hirano, a woman police officer whose work consists of drawing composite sketches of criminal suspects, has the unique ability to look deep into people's hearts....
“Karyu no Utage” tells the story of a housewife (Kuroki) from a middle-class household who has tried to raise her son with the belief that putting in great effort will result in even greater results, but his laziness leads to conflict between them. On top of that, he meets a woman over the Internet who is a part-timer like he is, and he later declares that they're going to marry. As the mother faces a widening gap between her ideal and her reality, the story explores the same gap that exists in ...
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People who just died first visit the death office. There, the final destinations of the deceased, who died for various reasons including suicide, murder and disease, are decided. Shimura works at the death office....
The mystery of how Kazama Kimichika became so ruthless and unmatched will be revealed. Kyojo Zero depicts the time before he was assigned to the police academy, when he was working as an instructor in charge of training new detectives......
What happens with two children commit two different muders in order to protect each other? Does salvation exist for them? In order to walk beneath the sun once more, Ryouji and Yukiho find themselves in a twisted web from which neither can escape without abandoning the other. Having no one but each other, this drama follows the events the follow that fateful day… 14 years ago....
Set in an old prestigious ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant) in a small town in the center of Tokyo, a young itamae (cook for Japanese dishes) struggles his life, love and work while the long-lasted ryotei and the beloved old town face the change to survive the time. This heartwarming drama shows the intimate relationship of the community that has been lost nowadays, asks what the most important things in your life is, and tells how difficult it is to make a decision. The story is told in the fo...
Funny stories about freeter Kaname Yokoyama, who dreams of becoming a movie director, and his housemates....
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Based on the manga "Daisuki!! Yuzu no Kosodate Nikki (I Love You! Yuzu's Parenting Diary)" by Mizuho Aimoto, this Japanese TV drama focuses on a woman named Yuzu Fukuhara, who, despite her adult age, has a condition that affects her mental age. After her boyfriend dies saving a child from being hit by a vehicle, Yuzu finds out that she is pregnant with his child. Despite her condition, she shows determination to be a mother and eventually has a daughter named Himawari. The show focuses on Yuzu a...
A tough, desperate kid becomes a sumo wrestler, captivating fans with his cocky attitude — and upsetting an industry steeped in tradition....
Miyuki, a single mother and nursery teacher, meets Sri Lankan Kumara while visiting Tohoku as a disaster volunteer. A year later, the two of them who fulfilled a fateful reunion are gradually attracted to each other. Straightforward and charming, Kumara quickly becomes friends with Miyuki's daughter, Maya, and eventually, the three begin to live together like a family. Miyuki and Kumara exchange promises of marriage, but it is short-lived happiness....
Two old friends go into business together – one's a master communicator, and the other's a great engineer. Their goal? To make a trillion dollars....
10 men and women are called to Natural Island Hotel on the isolated island Heitaijima off Yachijojima by the owner Nanao Shin. They take the dinner that has been prepared while filled with a mix of expectation and anxiety about what is going to happen and why they have been invited to this island. Then they suddenly start to hear a mysterious voice reveal their past crimes. As the 10 of them go through past incidents in their mind, one of the invited guests is murdered before their eyes. That se...
Bambino! is a Japanese cooking manga written and illustrated by Tetsuji Sekiya. The manga has been serialized in Shogakukan's seinen magazine Big Comic Spirits. As of February 2009, Shogakukan has published 14 bound volumes of the manga. It received the 2008 Shogakukan Manga Award for seinen/general manga along with Takeshi Natsuhara's and Kuromaru's Kurosagi. NTV broadcast the live-action TV drama from April 18, 2007 to June 27, 2007. It was broadcast in the United States, Canada, and Puerto R...
In Nakameguro, Tokyo. An unknown young actor, Eiichi Nishio learns some important things while he communes with his elder actors and actresses in Japanese pub named Fuji where an atmosphere of Shôwa period is still alive....
Sato Tomoko leads an ordinary life with her husband and young child. One day, she defies the rules at the company where she works part-time to supplement the household income, and is fired. Tomoko is in her 40s, a high school dropout and has no qualifications. How is she to get a job? She happens to find out about the huge pay and high winning rate of members of the city, townand village councils through a TV programme. Equating huge pay with family happiness, the foolhardy Tomoko quickly decide...
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The series "Welcome to National Treasures" presents selected masterpieces from the 1,124 designated National Treasures across Japan. Originally recorded in stunning 8K resolution, it offers an overwhelming sense of realism and an unparalleled visual experience....
When Aihara Ame was a high school student in Nagasaki, she wasn’t confident in herself due to her past. Asano Taiyo was a student attending the same school as Aihara Ame. He was the only person who talked to her brightly. With him, she was able to see her life positively for the first time in her life. She had feelings for him. After her graduation, she went to Tokyo to fulfill her dream of becoming a patissier without telling Asano Taiyo about her feelings for him. After 8 years, she returns t...
A life story of Taro Okamoto, one of the most prominent Japanese avant-garde artists of the 20th Century. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2011, the drama depicts his struggle for the completion of his emblematic work "The Tower of Taro," known as the symbol of the Osaka Expo in 1970, and his eccentric relationships with his family....
Kishi Minetaro is a skilled and serious-minded plastic surgeon. He looks down on doctors earning money through cosmetic surgeries as well as on women asking for such medical procedures. However, having to repay his father's debt, Minetaro chooses lucrative work at a clinic specializing in aesthetic plastic surgery. The clinic is full of beautiful women, including the director Yukawa Mari, who is well known for her skills in breast reconstruction, a highly-trusted doctor Ichii Mutsumi, and a che...
Kindaichi Hajime is a high school student and a private detective with an IQ of 180. He solves murder cases that are riddled with difficult clues. Kindaichi Hajime works with his childhood friend Nanase Miyuki and Kenmochi Isamu. Kenmochi Isamu is now the chief inspector of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department....
To pursue her dreams, Sakurai Kazumi (Wakui Emi) quits her job and goes to New York to study jewelry design, against the objections of her naggy and stubborn but well-meaning father (Takeda Tetsuya). As part of remaking herself, she changes from spectacles to contact lenses, even though she has problems adapting to them. When she accidentally drops her contact lenses, a mysterious man helps prevent them from being stepped on, but he walks away before she can talk to him. Some years pass, and Ka...
In 1895, Nonaka Chiyoko prays for the safety of her husband Itaru who is attempting to climb Mt Fuji in midwinter. If he accomplishes what no one has done before, he would finally build an observatory on the mountain’s summit with the intention of staying there alone in the winter. He will be able to observe the weather in order to advance meteorological studies even though it may be at the cost of his own life. Burning with a conviction that the country cannot be changed if no commoner demonstr...
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Freelance programmer Sakagami is paralyzed in the lower half of his body and confined to a wheelchair. He sets up a company called dele.LIFE in partnership with a law firm established by his late father. At the request of clients, Sakagami works together with a freelance jack-of-all-trades Mashiba to delete all unfavorable digital records of their clients left in their computers and smartphones after they die. They are not supposed to see inside the files but when they feel something strange in ...
Umeda Mina is a pianist whose father is a famous conductor. She has set her sights on winning an international piano competition. However, she has faced countless setbacks and this is her last chance at the age of 35. Mina has been married to her husband Shinji for 10 years, but they do not have children for some reason. One day, a filthy boy with an impassive face breaks into their garden. It turns out that he has been abused and he is put in a home. But several days later, he appears in their ...
Suzume is a girl born to a family running a small restaurant in Gifu Prefecture. She loses her hearing in one ear from a disease. Encouraged by her loving parents and childhood friend, she lives through an eventful life with a tenacious spirit....
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Sasaki Shinichi looks at his childhood friend Tanaka Yukino in court. Yukino is sentenced to death. She went to her ex-boyfriend’s apartment and caused his wife and child to burn to death. Shinichi knows his childhood friend and perceives that she is innocent. He wants to save Yukino and meets people who knew her including her sister and former classmates. ~~Based on the novel "Innocent Days" by Kazumasa Hayami....
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The 47th NHK Taiga Drama is a life story of Princess Atsu, who was born in Kagoshima Prefecture, then called Satsuma, and became the wife of Tokugawa Iesada, the 13th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. She accedes to the highest rank in Ooku, the inner palace of the Edo castle where women related to the reigning shogun resided. Iesada dies soon after their marriage and Atsuhime assumes the name Tenshoin at the age of 23. She exerts herself for the Tokugawa clan and for the nation during the uphea...
Follows the rise of Tooru Muranishi, one of Japan's most notorious directors of adult video. Adapted from a biography of the man, this series depicts the character, his art, vision and his interactions with the approving and disapproving folk around him....
Sonoko Nanakura is a straight A student, daughter of a doctor. She meets Wataru Okochi, a tall orphan guy working in a factory, who attends school at night. Her parents warn her not to get involved, and a smart boy Yusuke Hasebe also seems interested in her....
Kazuha Ono is divorced at the age of 35 due to her husband's affair. Despite this, she is trying to live positively but is conscious of other people’s remarks regarding her age and the fact she’s a divorcee. While announcing her divorce to her coworkers she is overhead by Mitsui, a new employee, who happens to be there. Furthermore, Rensuke Hayami, a former business partner, now a popular actor, also appears, and begins to wield her Kazuha?!...
Manako Amano is a professor of engineering at a leading university and has been studying “failure studies”. Rather than pursuing responsibility for failure, it is a study that helps to prevent recurrence by investigating the direct causes and the background and social causes. The various accidents that occur every day are always failures, and accident investigation is Manako's best fieldwork. Their activities go beyond engineering and spread with curiosity, such as corporate fraud and medical a...
A gripping medical drama centered around a hospital in Kabukicho. Featuring a diverse cast of characters, including those from male host bars and street kids many with complicated backgrounds....
Kaoru Mitazono (Masahiro Matsuoka) is a talented housekeeper with an usual secret. Kaoru is actually a guy! Besides cooking, cleaning and babysitting Kaoru Mitazono has the unusual habit of discovering secrets held within the family of her employers....
The series centers around Ryūhei Kasugai (Tetsuya Watari), the grumpy owner of a traditional rice shop in Kamakura, who is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Determined to reconnect with his estranged family, he gathers them back together under one roof. As they navigate old conflicts and rediscover family bonds, Ryūhei also seeks to secure the future of the shop....
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This is the story about one small coffee shop located in the northern island of Hokkaido. Yukichi Wakui used to work as a successful businessman at a prestigious trading firm. He worked for several years in New York as well as other cities around the world. When his wife Megumi died at the age of 47 in a car accident three years ago, he decided to leave the company. He was only 57. When Megumi died in the accident, her 18-year-old son Takuro was at the wheel. Yukichi declined an offer to switc...
A 10-part omnibus drama by 10 different scriptwriters on the theme of fathers and their sons and daughters....
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Onodera Mariya’s married life was supposed to have been happy but turns out shortlived when her husband Tatsuya suddenly disappears without a trace. At her wit's end, she heads for a heart-shaped island in Okinawa that Tatsuya had once spoken of. On the other hand, at a time earlier than this, Tsuruta Kameko, who has been working as a midwife in Tokyo, gets disgusted with the mentality of frivolous girls who regard abortion as reasonable, and a compromise in natural childbirth because of the hos...
Love and ambition collide when two brilliant architects compete for the same woman and the glory of success in their highly competitive field. Kakeru, a young dreamer just entering the professional world, starts out with the goal of building a magnificent church. The story unfolds when a world-famous architect, whom Kakeru idolizes but has never seen, collapses in front of him on the beach. The skillful portrayal of the intertwined loves and professional trials of these characters makes for a su...
Dr. Ko Yowai is a happy-go-lucky but an absolutely brilliant psychiatrist. Yuri Amamiya is his slightly outspoken assistant nurse with a heart of gold. Together, they're waiting for the day when everyone feels comfortable visiting a psychiatrist. This is Shrink, the emotional drama series for those navigating the effects of mental health issues....
Makoto Kiryu is a young physical education teacher at a middle school. When she was a teenager, Makoto joined a motorcycle gang and dropped out of high school. A little bit later, she thought things over and changed her ways. Makoto then entered college and she eventually became a physical education teacher. She's excellant with sports, but has difficulties with teaching dance as it is a required subject for the students. Makoto tries not to be noticed by the students....
A remake of the American show "The Fugitive."...
A young man who showed little promise while a high school student becomes a master detective, just like his grandfather....
In an otherwise mundane diner open from midnight to 7 a.m., there is no menu – but the chef cooks anything his customers want. Each episode is about different a different customer, as they find simple yet profound connections with one another based on their shared love of a particular dish....
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A young girl, Sayaka, develops a heartwarming friendship with an old man named Hasu. Based on an award-winning novel by Ijuin Shizu....
Shishikari is a remote island, which is behind the times. The island suffers from a decreasing population and declining industries. Keita Izumi (Tatsuya Fujiwara) begins to produce black fig on Shishikari Island. Because of his well received product, the island is close to receiving a 5 billion yen grant from the government, which is part of the goverment's policy to reinvigorate rural economy. The residents of the island are excited, but their peaceful days changes by the appearance of Mutsuo K...
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Based on a true story set in Matsumoto city, Nagano, during 1960s. A stray dog wanders into a high school's grounds. The dog, named Kuro, stays at the school and becomes a special friend to everyone....
Jiro becomes a happy instructor but a shocking suspicion was raised by Owada who took the place of his parents....
Shimizu Yuichi is a shy and lonely day laborer looking for love. He aimlessly spends time corresponding with girls via telephone dating services and going on random encounters with girls looking for spending cash. His world is shattered one day when he is involved in the murder of one of his former encounters, the sweet-faced Ishibashi Yoshino who, after being jilted by playboy Masuo Keijo, berates and mocks the troubled loner....
Detective Suwon was involved on the war on drugs in Yokohama because of his mischief....
The third and final V-Cinema sequel....
Junko Mihara is full of mysterious charm and is involved in ambitious work....
A school was built on one of the Gates of Hell, behind which hordes of demons await the moment they will be free to roam the Earth. Hiruko is a goblin sent to Earth on a reconnaissance mission. He beheads students in order to assemble their heads on the demons' spider-like bodies. Hieda, an archaeology professor, and Masao, a haunted student, investigate the gory deaths....
Hidenori is a Japanese-Korean man with no sense of belonging, destination or education. He drifts around and meanders through life until a death reminds him of his heritage and so begins a journey to South Korea....
Daigo, a cellist, is laid off from his orchestra and moves with his wife back to his small hometown where the living is cheaper. Thinking he’s applying for a job at a travel agency he finds he’s being interviewed for work with departures of a more permanent nature – as an undertaker’s assistant....
Five women snatch one billion yen in jewellery from the yakuza, while construction manager Toyama burns for revenge against the mobsters who raped and caused the death of his wife. Before long, the yakuza and Toyama arrive at the women's hideout....
A V-Cinema effort from the mid-90s starring Show Aikawa and Misa Aika. Misa Aika plays Miyuki, a high school girl who is a computer nerd. She is contacted by someone on the net who calls themselves an "angel". Meanwhile, an AV cameraman, Yoichi, has fallen in love with Miyuki at first sight, and devoted himself to filming her secretly. However, as he films her, Yoichi begins to notice other strangers who have an interest in Miyuki....
An American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a râmen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master....
Togashi, an enthusiastic marathon runner and his wife are occupied with their daughter Mayumi's grade school entrance examinations, but he becomes jobless when his company folds. To regain his confidence Togashi decides to join the marathon that is taking place on the very day of his daughter's examination and the all important interview....
Min, a Korean boy, moves to Japan with his father who is a potter. One day at a local shrine, he meets Nanae, a beautiful Japanese girl with stunning eyes who is aspiring to be a painter. Min falls in love at first sight and finds out that Nanae attends the school to which he has just transferred. Their friendship develops fast despite their cultural and language difference. When Min's grandmother falls ill, Min returns to Korea and Nanae is nowhere to be found. Had his true feelings for Nanae n...
Former childhood friends Kadoya Kaneo and Tochino Masatatsu cross paths again. Kaneo is now a yakuza member, while Masatatsu is a nightclub owner with a distaste for crime gangs. When a yakuza boss dies, a struggle for his position takes place between Kaneo's boss Awano and the young Nakahira. Nakahira's men try to extort money from Masatatsu, bringing him in between a yakuza battle....
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A boy who suffers from impaired hearing and a young girl pianist try to solve the mysterious connection between a series of murders and the boy's entangled memories....
After the collapse of their relationship, Kiwako abducts the 6-month old child of a man she was having an affair with. Raising the child as her own, it is four years before the authorities catch up with her and the young child....
After a bad breakup, a young woman returns to her hometown and opens a menuless restaurant. A young woman in her mid 20's becomes so heart broken she loses her voice. To recover, the woman decides to go back to her hometown and stay with her free-spirited mother whom she has not been very close to in the past. The young woman then decides to open a restaurant which accepts only one customer a day, allowing for thoughtful preparation for that customer....
Hiyori (Kei Tanaka) is an ornithologist (expert on birds). His wife is Rinko (Miki Nakatani). She is the leader the minority opposition party. One morning, Hiyori is about to travel to an isolated island to watch birds on a 10 day trip. Before he leaves, Rinko asks him if she becomes the prime minister would he be inconvenienced. Hiyori then goes on his bird watching trip. During this time, he is completely isolated from the outside world. When he returns home, his wife Rinko is now the prime mi...
Troubled high school student Makoto arrives in Tokyo to exact revenge from a past incident. He then falls in love at first sight with Ai, a daughter raised in a wholesome family. Around Makoto and Ai are Iwashimizu, who has feelings for Ai and Gamuko, a gang member who eyes Makoto....
An abandoned car is discovered near a camping ground and inside it is the body of an identified middle-aged man and a dog who seems to have died months later. This is the story of the life of the loving and faithful dog and his owner told from the dog's point of view. City hall employee Kyousuke Okutsu is assigned to uncover the man's identity for a proper funeral. As he investigates the situation, he remembers his late family and his own dog's unfailing loyalty....
Domestic drama focusing on a soon to be retired train driver and his wife....
The posthumous wish of Eiji's wife is for her ashes to be scattered in the ocean near her hometown. Eiji also learns that his wife letter for him at the post office before she died....
Taiko drummer, Hisakatsu Yokoyama, and fellow evacuees of Futaba, Fukushima fight to keep their beloved “Futaba Bon-Uta” alive after their hometown, is wiped out by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit the Töhoku region in Japan....
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A couple decide to relocate from Tokyo to the northern island of Hokkaido where they settle and establish a bakery and café called Mani. One cooks. The other bakes. Everyone walks out happy....
A youth romance that fantastically depicts the unstable emotions of high school girls who refuse to transform into adults...
A seeing-eye dog (Shiro) is granted one wish by his former owner. He chooses to become a human for a short time so he can find the girl who trained him as a puppy. While attempting to get to know her (as he runs along behind her and sniffs for her around town) he eventually falls in love with her....
Jun Wataguchi lives a lazy, half-hearted life, not going to school, hanging out with half-witted delinquents, and begging money from his friends. His parents, who run a shipping business transporting earth and sand for reclamation by boat, manage to get by, despite the dwindling number of jobs and lack of successors over time. Jun showed no interest in his parents' business, and the father and son hardly ever spoke to each other. One day, one of Jun's friends is attacked by someone and an unexpe...
Jinpachi Nezu who lost both his wife and daughter during a feud against the yakuza 10 years ago while he was an accountant for their organization. One day he comes across a young idol and rescues her from being kidnapped by the yakuza....
Mikio is a married man and works hard for the company where he is employed. Then one day Mikio is diagnosed with depression. Mikio's wife is Haruko. They have been married for 5 years. Haruko draws comics for work, but they do not sell well. She mainly relied on Mikio for support. Meanwhile, Haruko did not notice any changes in her husband. She begins to blame herself for not noticing any signs. Mikio's depression derived from his work. His company has been pressing him to quit the company. Afte...
It isn't easy to find a dream to chase when you're young, but Mugiko has one: she can't wait to become an anime voice actress. Saving up for classes while she works part time in a manga store, she lives with her older, gambler brother after her father's death. When the mother she never knew turns up out of nowhere and moves in, it only causes irritation for the aspiring otaku. But when her mother just as quickly disappears, it leaves Mugiko (or "Sweet Pea") searching for answers, bringing her ba...
In this love story set in the Edo period, 27-year-old Oharu is a genius in the kitchen. Oharu attracts the attention of the master chef of the Kaga Domain, who arranges for her to marry his son and heir, 24-year-old Yasunobu. But, Yasunobu is cold to his new wife, and he's more interested in swordplay than cookery....
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Osamu Ino is a great doctor who is beloved in his rural village. His knowledge and dedication make an equally strong impression on his reluctant medical intern, Keisuke Soma. But, Soma and the villagers reconsider their opinion when they learn about a shameful incident from Dr. Ino's past. Now the once-respected doctor must account for his past actions....
A policewoman (Megumi Yokoyama) investigates the apparent suicide of a college coed. The prime suspects include the girl's professor, who may have been having an affair with her, and the professor's wife, who frequents lesbian bars. Gruesome axe murders and mutilations ensue, leading Yokoyama to a shocking discovery....
Koyomi Hidaka and Shiori Sato meet at his father’s research center and begin to fall in love, but so do their parents, who eventually marry. To avoid becoming stepsiblings, they decide to run away to a parallel universe. Traveling between dimensions is common in their world, but not without repercussions. Does a universe exist for the young couple, and what will it cost them to find it?...
While struggling to make friends after his parents’ divorce, Koyomi Takasaki meets Kazune Takigawa, but apparently, they already have. Kazune reveals that she’s from World Line 85, an alternate universe in which she and Koyomi are lovers. But in a reality where moving between dimensions is natural, could Koyomi be the one from another world?...
When a promising young boxer is crippled in a car accident, he falls into a life of dissipation and depression. No boxing ring or martial arts club will take him on -- that is, until an aiki jujitsu master helps the young man develop techniques uniquely tailored to a wheelchair. What starts off as a sad film revs up into an exciting and fun series of epiphanies in which the young man realizes his situation isn't as hopeless as it seems....
In a distinctly contemporary Tokyo that looks backwards to the city’s disappearing past, Yoko is a writer investigating the life of a modernist composer of the 1930s. She is pregnant by a man she does not want to marry and has found a kindred spirit in a used bookstore owner who aids her research...
Toshiyuki and his wife, Chiyoko, run a store named “Fukunoya” in Fukuoka. They become friends with a takoyaki (octopus dumpling) stall owner named Tsuru and try to help her out, as does the rest of the kind-hearted community....
A hard-working section chief, fast approaching retirement and beset by stress from all directions, joins a jazz band and reignites his youthful passion for the music, giving him a chance to set things right in his life....
"Daijobu 3 Kumi" depicts the interactions between new teacher Shinnosuke Akao, who was born without arms and legs, and the 28 students in his 5th grade class, told from the vantage point of school board member Yusaku Shiraishi...
Tamura Yujiro and Hiyori have been married for four years. They look like a happily married couple, but, Hiyori secretly badmouths her husband on social media page "Husband Death Note."...
An odd journey starts as Mitsuru, a private detective, and a boy, whom a dying mobster entrusts to him, decide to go to northern Japan in search of the boy’s mother, and the detective’s buddy Hisashi joins them later....
A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo....
Takashi and four of his classmates, fourth-grade students, cannot succeed in doing a back pullover around a horizontal bar. Their gym teacher warns them: they have one week to succeed; if they resign now, then, tomorrow, facing life difficulties, they will always run away and become bums. Furthermore, all five must succeed, if one of them cannot do it, then all of them fail. Takashi is really worried and wonders if he won't be always the loser who couldn't succeed in the back pullover bar exerci...
Adaptation of the Arimasa Ohsawa novel Shinjuku Shark....
Humanity is under attack by human-mimicking flesh-eating alien parasites. One parasite bonds with his young high school student host, and he convinces the parasite to help him stop the others....
Humanity is suffering from a series of mysterious murders across the globe, known as the 'Mincemeat murders'. High school student Izumi Shinichi has a parasite living off him, having replaced his right hand, and he might be the discoverer of truth....
Hotel Hibiscus is the story of one very young energetic girl named Mieko and her internatioanl family who live in Okinawa. They live in a run down old hotel called Hotel Hibiscus with only one room for rent....
Kitahara Shuji, an ordinary business man turns into a spy for his town's war against a neighboring town in a Dystopian society....
Toru Kojima and his friend Koji are young student boys with one thing in common - they both love to date older women. Koji is a playboy with several women, young and older, whereas Toru is a romantic with his heart set on on certain lady....
Kohei Miyazaki (Naoto Takenaka), a former railroad worker, has become obsessed with locating the ancient country of Yamatai. His obsession sprouted from a day when he discovered ancient ceramics while repairing railroad tracks. Now completely blind, Kohei relies on his wife (Sayuri Yoshinaga) to guide him through the country and read the maps in their pursuit of Yamatai....
"Tokyo Rhapsody" consists of 11 short films all centered around the music genre known as "Kayokyoku". Kayokyoku is a catch-all term to describe the music that defined two generations of post-war Japan. Although the term survives, it has a strong connotation with a simpler, pre-"Economic Bubble" era when Japanese people shared a common identity in the reconstruction of their nation....
Time travel film...
A woman is being attacked by the yakuza of the Mitsuyoshi group ... A man with a pistol appears dashingly and shoots the yakuza without question now the yakuza want him dead...
After her mother remarried, Kiko Mishima was abused mentally and physically by her family that included her mother, stepfather, and younger stepbrother....
Erika Sawajiri plays Kimiko, the main character of the story who has died. Although the title implies that it is a story of a “wicked woman,” the original novel was divided into 27 chapters, one for each “testimony” by someone who knew Kimiko at some point in her life, providing a range of perspectives on what kind of person Kimiko was. ~~ Adapted from 1978 novel series "Akujou ni Tsuite" by Ariyoshi Sawako....
Tenei village is located in Fukushima prefecture's beautiful surrounds. It is 70 kilometers away from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. When the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant failed in March 2011, radioactive particles fell and contaminated the rice fields. But the farmers couldn't just abandon their land as they live on the land and wanted to protect it for future generations. The farmers decided to pursue scientific methods to secure food safety. They were on their own without Governm...
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Jiro is a Tokyo man who offers a stand-in service where he'll do "anything". A woman claiming to be from Fukuoka wants to be shown around Tokyo and see the sights. What Jiro doesn't know is that this woman isn't who she says she is. She's on the run from her Yakuza boyfriend, and Jiro is going to be unwittingly entwined in the situation....
An undercover narcotics officer is killed, and after his funeral some yakuza break into his apartment and rape his wife, Nami, while looking for the drugs they claim he stole from them. Afterwards Nami attempts to commit suicide, but after being rescued by a mysterious yakuza she decides to infiltrate the gang and get revenge....
In 2011, top-secret data on nuclear power is stolen from a university facility. At the same time, leaked information comes in about enriched uranium from the Korean peninsula. Sumimoto of the external affairs fourth division suspects that a conspiracy has been hatched to rock Japan-Korean relations....
The year is 1987 and Japan is just reaching the peak of its economic success. Eighteen-year old Yonosuke Yokomichi arrives in Tokyo from Nagasaki. Ordinary in every way possible, he lives in a suburb far from the excitement of the big city and commutes to a university in the center of Tokyo....
After finally passing his teacher's exam, Miwa (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) devoted himself to teaching in a rustic primary school. He struggles to get through to his students, until he creates a class project to raise fireflies to fly over it once again. All students, even the reserved girl Hikari (Risako Sugaya), become passionately involved in the project. However, it brings them into conflict with parents and the school, one problem after another stands in his way....
A salaryman faces a major life change as his firm undergoes financial difficulties. To add to his troubles, a man claiming to be his long-estranged father shows up at his house requesting shelter. One of the best of Somai's seriocomic studies of the messiness of family life....
Horror film released in 1991....
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When a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and tears through the city, the government scrambles to save its citizens. A rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side - the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes....
A carnivorous monster lives on the island of Sipang. A group of office ladies band together to fight it....
In the Pearl Harbor era, a second-generation Japanese-American grapples with his identity amid the turmoil of World War II. Born in Los Angeles and educated in Japan, he returns to the USA and works at a Japanese newspaper. However, the outbreak of war and a racist executive order forcefully deport his entire family to a detention center in California. Torn between his American upbringing and Japanese heritage, he decides to serve as a translator and goes to war....
When 54 high school girls throw themselves in front of a subway train it appears to be only the beginning of a string of suicides around the country. Does the new all-girl group Desert have anything to do with it? Detective Kuroda tries to find the answer, which isn't as simple as he had hoped....
Kozo Nakase attends meetings for single widowers looking to remarry. He meets Sayoko Takeuchi and eventually marries her. Not longer after their marriage, Kozo Nakase suddenly collapses and dies. Kozo Nakase leaves everything to Sayako. The rest of his family are left out of his will including his daughter Tomomi. Tomomi hires a private investigator, Honda, to find out more about Sayoko....
The Master’s late-night diner welcomes a woman troubled by funeral fans, an elderly scam victim, and a noodle delivery man struggling with love....
After the 1995 Kobe earthquake, a writer remembers travelling with his family to bury his brother after World War II....
Romeo, A.K.A. Kosuke Matsuyama, is a second-year high school student. A nice, normal, nonviolent type, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a rampaging crowd of Korean boys, outraged by insults perpetrated by several of his idiotic class-mates on two Korean girls. He makes a narrow escape, but soon after, he and his best bud Yoshio are sent by their home-room teacher to invite the Korean students to a friendly soccer game as a way of restoring the peace....
Six directors picked a favorite song by Japanese punk rock band "The Blue Hearts" and made a short film inspired by the song....
A life-size, inflatable sex doll suddenly comes to life one day. Without her owner knowing, she goes for a walk around town and falls in love with Junichi. She starts to date Junichi and gets a job at the same store where he works. Everything seems to be going perfectly for her until something unexpected happens....
Kuma is an author, a sex obsessive and a wheelchair user. Beautiful and volatile Ryoko is unlike anybody he’s ever met before. She barrages into one of his lectures, demanding to know why he only talks of sex, not love, before declaring her own affection. It’s the first of many inappropriate acts by Ryoko and the start of a relationship that is by turns sweet, strange and toxic. Ryoko hopes that she and Kuma’s love can change the world. What she fails to realise is that sometimes it’s the small ...
Kawamoto works and lives in a dilapidated pool hall which also serves as a rehearsal space for him and his friend Chikako. They seem contented to while away their hours doing nothing much at all. Meanwhile, an old pool shark meets some people from his past that he is none too happy to see again. How will this affect their private haven?...
Yuichi Koga is an upper-class business executive, running his own adult video company, and living a successful life with his wife and daughter. Outwardly, his family seems really happy, but in reality Yuichi enjoys sex with everyone but his wife Chikako. One day, he gets a phone call from a woman named Sanae, an old elementary school classmate of his....
During the Vietnam War era, the influx of American soldiers to Okinawa boosted the local economy and introduced many bars and nightclubs. With exhausting displays of energy, Sai presents a whirlwind romance between a local rocker and the daughter of a mixed American-Okinawan marriage....
Cultures meet and values are learnt through the renovation of an inn....
A hardened gangster encounters by chance a woman he hasn't seen since childhood. They are both engulfed in the underground world of intergang warfare....
Oei, later known as Katsushika Oi, was born the third daughter of Edo’s talented painter Katsushika Hokusai and his second wife Koto. Although Oei became the wife of a town painter for a time, her love of the paintbrush more than her husband spelt disaster and she comes back home to Hokusai from the family she had married into. This is how Oei starts to help her father out in his painting of the “insurmountable high wall”. Meanwhile, Oei can only talk to the painter Ikeda Zenjiro, who is her fat...
A young student believes that the spirit of an alien from another planet has gone back in time, taking over his body to infiltrate and study humanity in order to find the reasons why our civilization is doomed to future destruction. He replicates the spirit of another alien in a girl that he meets, and together they use their video cameras to document modern urban Japanese society....
A young girl wanders into a wing of her elementary school that has been abandoned for years and is rumored to be haunted. When she doesn't come back, a group of her classmates go looking for her, only to find that they, too, are trapped inside. They must somehow find their way to safety, and quickly, because the rumors of ghosts are turning out to be true....
The story of Henri Mitowa, a 93-year old Japanese monk, who wants to make a movie based on his own life....
Nobuko is a plain, unattractive woman with disheveled hair, and is hired as a housekeeper in the Inamura residence in Tokyo. The Inamuras are a family of six. The father, Tatsuya, is the head of a university hospital's department of internal medicine. He lives with his wife Haruko, their three sons, and Tatsuya's mother, Shigeko. Although the Inamuras appear to be a happy family, Nobuko soon uncovers the truth....
Mayu Daimon is a woman who does not remember her mother's face, and her father is the only person she has blood relationship in this world, but he is going to die soon. Mayu has just started a new life as a detective at the Criminal Investigation Division which deals mainly with murder cases soon, and has to handle with two corpses of old men continuously. One corpse found frozen buried in the snow and the freezing sea. Soon with a detailed investigation she finds out a connection between the tw...
A man tries to mend his past by helping his best friend’s sister....
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Enokida Trading Post is a second-hand shop run by Yojiro Enokida , whose personal mantra is, "Anything but garbage. We take it all." The shop serves as a gathering place for employees and regular customers, who come with troubles in hand. One summer day, part of the shop's sign falls down. Yojiro thinks this is a sign that something spectacular is about to happen, and indeed their problems take on lives of their own from that day onward....
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2004 film...
Dr Toma, a skilled surgeon, starts work at a regional hospital in Japan. After performing an operation to remove a patient’s liver cancer, something that normally would not be done at this hospital, he quickly gains a very good reputation amongst the town’s people. Some of his colleagues become so jealous they are resentful and waiting patiently for the perfect opportunity to crucify him. Soon they get their chance as Dr Toma considers performing a controversial operation…...
March 1952, the only doctor in the village Shiba had found a dead body of Sanako. The cause of death is overdose of sleeping pills. Sanako had been suspected for killing her own husband so Dr. Shiba’s sister Kana is guessing that she has committed suicide due to being tormented by killing her husband. Everyone who was in Mr. Kuroido’s house is the suspect, including all the members of Kuroido family, butler, secretary, maids, etc. The Detective Suguro (Hercule Poirot) will investigate the case. ...
A fifteen year old boy travels through the Amagi Pass, he encounters some strange people, one of them is the geisha Ozuka Hana. After a murder takes place, the police searchs for the culprit....
In 2030, AI is everywhere including the medical field, finance and security. Artificial intelligence has become essential in people's lives. They have come to completely trust AI, but artificial intelligence becomes out of control and it causes disaster....
Chacha, the woman of the blood of Nobunaga, who loved with Hideyoshi, and feared Tokugawa....
Following the life of Japanese artist and poet Yumeji Takehisa through the imagining of an encounter with a beautiful widow with a dark past....
In 1945, Japan surrendered to the United States and the Second World War was over. Right? Wrong. For eighty percent of the Japanese community in Brazil, Japan had won the war and defeat was nothing more than American propaganda. The few immigrants that accepted the truth were persecuted. Some were hunted down and assassinated - by their own countrymen - causing the start of a new, private war. Dirty Hearts is a thriller and love story told by the wife of one of the fanatics dedicated to preach J...
Hana is a nineteen-year old expectant mother. She travels with her grandmother's ashes to her grandmother's house. Hana's mother, who gave birth to Hana when she herself was a teenager, now resides in the home. They are on the outs with each other, but are forced to stay with each other when Hana's boyfriend fails to show....
Immoral Affairs (Fukigen na kajitsu) is a Japanese film made in 1997 and directed by Katsuo Naruse.It centers on two characters: Mayako, played by Kaho Minami, a young women who is not content with her husband and begins to have many affairs with other men, and Kiriko Okabe, played by Isako Washio, a woman whom she befriends. Mayako's husband is played by Jinpachi Nezu....
Higuchi Ichiyo is the first female professional novelist in Japanese literature. This tanpatsu drama is a biography of her personal life....
Ninagawa is a powerful man in Japanese politics and with top economic connections.His granddaughter is then murdered. The suspect is Kunihide Kiyomaru. Kunihide Kiyomaru has a prior conviction for assaulting and killing a girl 8 years ago. The police could never apprehend the suspect in the prior killing....
Asako in Ruby Shoes succeeds in providing yet another challenge to views of a homogeneous South Korea by presenting to us the Asian side of modern globalization. The film jumps back and forth from Korea and Japan, with each main character feeling out of place in their respective homes....
Hama-chan accompanies Su-san on a business trip to Okinawa in the middle of the recession, but Su-san remains in low spirits over business matters....
Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."...
A married woman with a lovely daughter lives a carefree life, until she meets her ex-lover at a friend’s wedding. They haven’t seen each other in ten years, but they begin an affair....
Set at the Hotel Royal, situated in the marshland of Hokkaido, Japan, and follows the guests, the family that runs the hotel, and the hotel's staff. Masayo Tanaka is the only child of the family that runs Hotel Royal. She failed to enter an arts school and she now works at the hotel. She does not show her emotions to anyone....
Sahara Takako is a lawyer who specialises in civil cases. She hates to lose and will use whatever means necessary to pursue the truth. Despite her competence, she is mocked as a rotten lawyer for defending companies that exploit their employees and winning many of these lawsuits. One day, Takako gets an unexpected request from a veteran lawyer, Harayama Masao. He would like her to take over the defence of a woman because he is in poor health and needs to be hospitalised. This woman is Shirakawa ...
Based primarily on the first game in the series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the film focuses on rookie defense attorney Phoenix Wright, as he strives to protect his clients in various murder trials, including the death of his mentor, Mia Fey, and the accusation of rival prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth. Phoenix's greatest ally is Mia's younger sister Maya, a spirit medium whose body is possessed by Mia to communicate with him....
Six Stories based on Six Songs....
A man has a baby, runs away, then comes back, but he can't just show up, apologize, and hope that makes himself a grown man....
The story is set against the beautiful scenery of Yamakoshi, Niigata, which is also known for bullfighting. Yanagiba plays a man named Satoshi who raises fighting bulls, while Kanjiya plays his deaf and mute daughter Mio. Osamu plays her fiance Maru, a charming young man from the lower part of town....
A crippled kabuki player is taken into a strolling company of itinerant actors. An influential publisher notices his honest, bold drawings, and nurtures him despite persecution and betrayal. The film explores the eternal relationship between artist and producer, and describes the emanicipation of a man who refuses to let himself become the plaything of power and money....
Sakai plays Rui, a 35-year-old single woman forced to live alone after the aunt who raised her suddenly decides to get married and move out. Through an unexpected set of circumstances, she winds up becoming roommates with an aging ladies’ man named Tony and a timid younger man named Kosuke....
Single father Kenichi has raised his daughter Miki alone for the past ten years, from when she attended nursery school until her graduation from elementary school. Kenichi is currently 30 years old. His wife Tomoko died at a young age and he has raised Miki alone since that time. While raising his daughter alone, he has encountered various problems....
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A group of junior high school must find out the truth of their classmate's death is he was killed by someone or committed suicide....
A group of junior high school must find out the truth of their classmate's death is he was killed by someone or committed suicide....
Fujieda Baian is admired during the day as a skilled acupuncturist. However, his nighttime persona is that of a highly skilled assassin. For money, he eliminates those whose existence is considered harmful, quietly disposing of them. One night, Baian is mistaken for another doctor by the young swordsman Kosugi Jūgorō and is attacked. He manages to avoid harm, but the doctor Kosugi originally intended to target is connected to the assassination target assigned by Baian’s boss, Hanzaemon Otowa. Ba...
A mother and her daughter move from the urban sprawl of Tokyo to the remote island of Ishigaki in the Ryukyu archipelago, and try to adapt to life there....
In the face of the misery in his homeland, the artist Masuji Ono was unwilling to devote his art solely to the celebration of physical beauty. Instead, he put his work in the service of the imperialist movement that led Japan into WWII....
Fuyuki is an established artist who runs several bars in Yokohama. One day, injured Shinji runs into his bar. He always idolizes Fuyuki as his elder brother. Shinji is a member of the charity group which looks after troubled young girls in Yokohama. Fuyuki decides to help Shinji who is in a trouble with Yakuza for helping an underage girl out of their prostitution business. In the midst of getting involved in this conflict, Fuyuki learns that his dearest love, Kyoko has a very short time to live...
A widow who has single-handedly raised her autistic son loses her job and begins attending a technical college to gain new qualifications. She meets others looking for a new start in life, including a former salaryman with whom she begins a furtive romance......
Ichie is the owner of a dressmaking shop. Her grandmother started the shop and now Ichie runs the business. Her clothes are made with an old sewing machine and are very popular. Following her grandmother’s will, Ichie only makes clothes for individuals and turns down offers to turn her clothing into a brand....
The mysterious life of Princess Nouhime....
Junji, the protagonist of FM89.3MHz, must become the principal of a nursery school in Kabukicho after the death of Okawa Clan's boss....
This is an episode of Galileo in name only, since this story focuses exclusively on Utsumi Koaru, played by Shibasaki Kou. The eccentric scientist makes a cameo appearance in one scene and the final scene is on the same day as episode one of the second series, but apart from that this drama has little to do with the rest of the Galileo canon....
A car carrying a wealthy man and his second wife, Kumako (Yo Kimiko), falls into the sea, and only Kumako survives. At first, it is thought to be just an accident, but the absence of brake marks makes Kumako a strong suspect... Meanwhile, newspaper reporter Akitani Shigekazu (Sato Koichi) gets caught up in an unexpected situation after breaking the news about Toyosaki Katsuo (Emori Toru), a man who knows Kumako's past......
A school was built on one of the Gates of Hell, behind which hordes of demons await the moment they will be free to roam the Earth. Hiruko is a goblin sent to Earth on a reconnaissance mission. He beheads students in order to assemble their heads on the demons' spider-like bodies. Hieda, an archaeology professor, and Masao, a haunted student, investigate the gory deaths....