Beppin-san
Date: From 8.00 a.m., Mondays – Fridays, 3 October 2016
Station: NHK
Scriptwriter: Watanabe Chiho (Gonin no Junko, Tatakau! Shoten Girl, First Class)
Cast: Yoshine Kyoko, Namase Katsuhisa, Kanno Miho, Renbutsu Misako, Kora Kengo, Nagura Jun, Tanimura Mitsuki, Momota Kanako, Tsuchimura Kaho, Ichimura Masachika, Nakamura Tamao, Honda Hirotaro, Yamamura Momiji, Mikura Mana
Synopsis: Bando Sumire (Yoshine Kyoko) was born to the wealthy Bando family (Namase Katsuhisa, Kanno Miho, Renbutsu Misako, Nakamura Tamao) as the second of two sisters. She loves embroidery and sewing. Once she gets started, she will be so focused that she loses sight of her surroundings. Because she frequently looks like she is gazing vacantly to a casual onlooker as images fill her mind, the people around her worry about what she is thinking. But Sumire is unconcerned. When she decides on something, she will stand firm and follow through no matter what happens. She marries during the Pacific War and gets pregnant, but her husband soon goes to war. Sumire gives birth to their daughter while he is absent. To make matters worse, an air raid is launched on Kobe just before the end of the war and she loses both the house she grew up in and wealth. As Sumire waits for her husband to come back from the front, she begins to make children’s clothing with her dressmaking skills. Gathering her classmates from her girl’s school days, Sumire rents a shoe shop’s show window and the specialty clothing shop that she started turns into a big hit that is beyond anyone’s imagination.
Website: –
Aibou Season 15
Date: October 2016 (for two seasons)
Network: TV Asahi
Scriptwriter: –
Genre: Detective
Cast: Mizutani Yutaka, Sorimachi Takashi
Synopsis: –
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/aibou
Related: Aibou Season 14
Doctor X ~ Gekai Daimon Michiko Season 4*NEW*
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, October 2016
Station: TV Asahi
Scriptwriter: –
Genre: Medical
Cast: Yonekura Ryoko, Uchida Yuki, Katsumura Masanobu, Nishida Toshiyuki, Kishibe Ittoku
Synopsis: –
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/doctor-x
Related: Doctor X ~ Gekai Daimon Michiko Season 3
Ishikawa Goemon
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Fridays, October 2016
Station: TV Tokyo
Scriptwriters: Kibayashi Shin, Watanabe Yusuke (Mirai Nikki, ST Aka to Shiro Sousa File), Morishita Tadashi (Saikyou no Futari, Keiji 110 kg Season 2, Kakushou), Ohara Hisasumi (Ooka Echizen Season 3), Yamamoto Mutsumi (Kounodori, Yae no Sakura, Tsukamoto Bokuden)
Genre: Period
Cast: Ichikawa Ebizo, Higa Manami, Maruyama Tomomi, Takatsuki Sara, Yamada Jundai, Maeno Tomoya, Tanaka Misato, Enoki Takaaki, Masuoka Toru, Kunimura Jun, AnJu
Synopsis: Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Kunimura Jun) becomes the regent during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period and holds sway while his vassals amass wealth. On the other hand, the common people slide into dire poverty and their discontent grows day by day. They are given moral support by the Shiranami Yazaemon troupe. Yazaemon, the head of the troupe, is the alias for the great thief Ishikawa Goemon (Ichikawa Ebizo) to disguise himself from the public. Ishikawa goes against the powerful Hideyoshi, sneaking into the mansions of feudal lords and wealthy merchants who have done wrong, to steal anything of value and distribute the money and items to the needy. Hideyoshi is eager to capture Ishikawa. Furthermore, this is mingled with the ulterior motives of Hideyoshi’s concubine Chacha (Higa Manami), his vassals Maeda Geni (Enoki Takaaki), Ishida Mitsunari (Maruyama Tomomi) and other people around him … …
Website: www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/ishikawa_goemon
Kozure Shinbei 2
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Fridays, Fall 2016
Station: NHK BS Premium
Scriptwriter: Izumi Rei (Shiawase no Jikan)
Original Work: Ninjo Uranagaya by Yamamoto Shugoro
Genre: Period
Cast: Takahashi Katsunori, Hidari Tonpei, Kojima Riria, Miyata Toshiya, Kurotani Tomoka, Sasano Takashi, Nakamura Katsuo
Synopsis: Matsumura Shinbei (Takahashi Katsunori), an alcohol-loving and skilled wandering samurai, struggles to bring up his adopted baby Tsurunosuke as he runs about solving problems within the city.
Website: ww.nhk.or.jp/jidaigeki/kozure
Related: Kozure Shinbei
Unmei ni, Nita Koi
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, 23 September 2016
Station: NHK
Scriptwriter: Kitagawa Eriko (Irodori Himura, Sunao ni Narenakute, Orange Days)
Genre: Romance
Cast: Harada Tomoyo, Saito Takumi, Konishi Manami, Ohgo Suzuka, Koichi Mantaro, Shibuya Kento, Nishiyama Jun, Kubota Sayu, Kusabue Mitsuko, Okuda Eiji
Synopsis: During their childhood, a little girl and a boy made a pledge to meet again. Now at the age of 45, the girl, Kasumi, is now a divorced mother (Harada Tomoyo) of a son of high school age. She works as hard as she can at a laundry delivery shop for the wealthy, in order to make a living. Then one day, Kasumi encounters a young male designer, Yuri (Saito Takumi), who has attracted international attention. He is somehow far too familiar with her and pokes his nose into her affairs. Kasumi is initially wary, but she soon learns that he has a pure heart and starts to get drawn to him. These two people with different backgrounds fall in love. Why did Yuri appear before her? Could he be the boy from that time?
Website: –
Suna no Tou ~ Shirisugita Rinjin*NEW*
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, October 2016
Station: TBS
Scriptwriter: Ikeda Natsuko (Algernon ni Hanataba o, Alice no Toge, Kuro no Onna Kyoushi)
Genre: Suspense
Cast: Kanno Miho
Synopsis: Takano Aki (Kanno Miho) is a happy, ordinary housewife whose family has moved to their dream apartment. Just as they are starting their new life, they encounter an ominous, terrifying neighbour. This neighbour manipulates the dark emotions of pride, vanity and jealousy of the housewives living in the apartment building, drives Aki into isolation within the building with unexpected methods and eventually causes the break up of her family.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/sunanotou
Natsume Soseki no Tsuma
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, late September 2016
Station: NHK
Scriptwriter: Ikehata Shunsaku (Kamogawa Shokudo, Ashio Kara Kita Onna, Saka no Ue no Kumo Series)
Original Work: Soseki no Omoide by Natsume Kyoko and Matsuoka Yuzuru
Genre: Autobiographical
Cast: Hasegawa Hiroki, Ono Machiko, Tachi Hiroshi, Kuroshima Yuina, Mitsushima Shinnosuke, Takenaka Naoto
Synopsis: Nakane Kyoko (Ono Machiko) grew up in a wealthy family and was raised by her strict father Shigekazu (Tachi Hiroshi) who did not see learning as a necessity. At 19, Kyoko was introduced to Natsume Soseki (Hasegawa Hiroki) as a prospective marriage partner. The two of them were drawn to each other and got married. Soseki took up a post in Kumamoto as a high school teacher and this was the beginning of their new married life. Although Soseki was an extraordinary intellectual, he did not know the warmth of family because he was given up for adoption as a child. In an attempt to understand her husband, Kyoko tried to read what he read, interacted with his friends and joined difficult conversations. But she was not exactly successful. Then she miscarried their first child and her attempted suicide because of loneliness caused a commotion. How would husband and wife overcome this crisis?
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/dodra/souseki
Futagashira Season 2
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Saturdays, 17 September 2016
Station: WOWOW
Scriptwriter: Nakashima Kazuki (Futagashira Season 1)
Original Work: Futagashira by Ono Natsume
Genre: Period
Cast: Matsuyama Kenichi, Saotome Taichi, Narimiya Hiroki, Nanao
Synopsis: The cheerful, big-hearted Benzo (Matsuyama Kenichi) and cool, sharp Soji (Saotome Taichi) are two thieves with the motto “steal all dirty money without threats or murder” and carry out their “work” with brilliance. In the day, Benzo does food catering while Soji gambles in the post town of Shinagawa. They have established a gang of thieves called Ichishi and set their sights on reaching the top of Edo. One day, Benzo hits it off with Kurazo who is on a winning streak at the gambling den and when they head down to Yoshiwara, they encounter Soji who has been pursuing young girls. The courtesan Okon (Nanao) appears before them and ask Benzo and Soji to steal 11 prostitutes … …
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/futagashira2
Related: Futagashira Season 1
Kimi wa Petto (2016)
Date: 2016
Station: Fuji TV
Scriptwriter: –
Original Work: Kimi wa Petto by Ogawa Yayoi
Genre: Romantic comedy
Cast: Iriyama Noriko, Shison Jun, Takezai Terunosuke, Yanagi Yurina, Noro Kayo, Shida Yumi
Synopsis: Beautiful, highly educated career woman Iwaya Sumire (Iriyama Noriko) finds Goda Takeshi (Shison Jun), a handsome young man lying in a cardboard box outside her apartment. She jokingly suggests that she takes him as her pet and gives him the same name as her former pet dog, Momo. This is how they start living together.
Website: –
Cold Case ~ Shinjitsu no Tobira
Date: October 2016
Station: WOWOW
Scriptwriters: Zeze Takahisa (64 (movie), Zainin no Uso), Yoshida Yasuhiro (Umoreru, Tabidachi no Shimauta), Hourai Ryuta (Pink to Gray, The Quiz Show), Hayashi Koji (Iryu Series, Rikon Bengoshi, Hagetaka)
Genre: Investigative
Cast: Yoshida Yo
Synopsis: Japanese version of Warner Bros ‘Cold Case’ set in Kanagawa Prefecture. Detective Ishikawa Yuri (Yoshida Yo) leads the team from the Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s First Investigative Division to crack unsolved cases.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/coldcase
Preview: Cold Case Teaser
The Hippocratic Oath
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Sundays, October 2016
Station: WOWOW
Scriptwriter: Shinozaki Eriko (Chi no Wadachi, Kami no Tsuki, Link)
Original Work: The Hippocratic Oath by Nakayama Shichiri
Genre: Forensic mystery
Cast: –
Synopsis: Houseman Togano Makoto trains under the eccentric, but outstanding forensic professor Kosaki Tojiro in a story that throws the ethical conflict surrounding autopsies and human relationships into sharp relief.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/dramaw/hipo
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