Chimudondon
Date: From 8.00 a.m., Mondays – Fridays, Spring 2022
Station: NHK
Scriptwriter: Habara Daisuke (Spiral, Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu, Godan)
Directors: Kimura Takafumi, Matsuzono Takehiro, Nakano Ryohei
Cast: Kuroshima Yuina, Nakama Yukie, Omori Nao, Ryusei Ryo, Kawaguchi Haruna, Kamishiraishi Moka
Synopsis: Higa Nobuko (Kuroshima Yuina) lives with her family in Hinabita Village on Okinawa’s main island in the 1960s. They ran a sugar cane farm. At that time, the island was still under the American troops. The second daughter of four children (Ryusei Ryo, Kawaguchi Haruna, Kamishiraishi Moka), Nobuko is the one in the family who loves eating delicious food. One day, her heart is stolen by her first taste of Western cuisine on the only occasion when the whole family eats at a restaurant in town. However, her kind father Kenzo (Omori Nao) suddenly passes away, leaving her mother Yuko (Nakama Yukie) to work and raise four children on her own. They are financially strapped and the children are each put in charge of a household chore to help their mother. Nobuko is responsible for their meals. After graduating from high school, she dreams of going to Tokyo and becoming a Western cuisine chef. With the support of her family and siblings, Nobuko heads to Tokyo in a dream come true. While she spends time undergoing strict training in the kitchen of a famous restaurant, her brother and sisters also set out on their own paths. Although they may have grown apart, the hometown food that they have always eaten together and the memories of family are bonds that connect the siblings. They offer mutual support in adulthood. As Nobuko comes in contact with different people, falls in love and grows as a chef, she and starts wanting to open a restaurant serving Okinawan cuisine in Tokyo … …
Website: –
Twitter: twitter.com/nhk_dramas
Hiru
Date: From March 2022
Network: WOWOW
Genre: Suspense
Episodes: 12 (6 episodes per season)
Original Work: Hiru by Imai Daisuke
Scriptwriters: Aoshima Takeshi (dele, Hitori Shizuka), Kakesu Natsumi
Director: Suzuki Kosuke
Cast: Akaso Eiji, Yoshikawa Ai, Iitoyo Marie, Yanagi Shuntaro, Itagaki Mizuki, Sakuma Yui, Tanaka Kotaro, Matsuzawa Takumi, Miura Masaki, Riju Go, Itao Itsuji, Konishi Manami, Sakaguchi Kentaro
Synopsis: 21-year-old Shinomiya Yuki (Akaso Eiji) has no friends and spends his days alone working part-time jobs. One day, when he returns home as usual after a night shift, a male stranger (Yanagi Shuntaro) who has been stabbed in the abdomen with a knife is sitting in his room. The man wakes up at the hospital that he has been taken to and identifies himself as Shinomiya Yuki to detectives. Then he points to Yuki and states that he stabbed him. Yuki flees the hospital right away and becomes a fugitive in an instant. At that moment, a mysterious woman called Zoka (Yoshikawa Ai) appears right before Yuki and asks him to help her take revenge on her father’s killer. He decides to collaborate with her. Zoka is a “leech” who goes from one house to another while its occupants are away. The two of them eventually encounter Kara (Sakaguchi Kentaro), a legendary leech who lives like an empty shell solely for the purpose of revenge.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/drama/original/hiru
Twitter: twitter.com/drama_wowow
Tokyo Vice
Date: Spring 2022
Network: WOWOW & HBO Max
Genre: Crime
Episodes: 10
Original Work: Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan by Jake Adelstein
Scriptwriter: J. T. Rogers
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Watanabe Ken, Rachel Keller, Ella Rumpf, Kikuchi Rinko, Ito Hideaki, Kasamatsu Sho, Yamashita Tomohisa, Sugata Shun, Tanida Ayumi, Hagiwara Masato, Toyohara Kosuke, Ito Ayumi, Watanabe Makiko, Itaya Yuka, Matsuda Miyuki
Synopsis: After graduating from a Japanese university, Jake Adelstein (Ansel Elgort) became the first foreigner to work for a national newspaper when he got a job at a major newspaper in Tokyo and is put on the police beat. He meets Detective Katagiri (Watanabe Ken) on numerous occasions in the course of gathering information and begins to bond with him. A detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Organised Crime Department, Katagiri has a complex relationship with the underworld. Even though Jake thrives in Japanese society through his association with Katagiri who becomes a father figure to him, he gets entangled in the dark underground world through his tenacious pursuit of scoops while providing assistance in law enforcement investigations. This is a terrifying side of Tokyo where wheeling and dealing, double crossing, and raw emotions of love and hate.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/drama/original/tokyovice
Aono-kun ni Sawaritai kara Shinitai
Date: Spring 2022
Network: WOWOW
Genre: Romance
Original Work: Aono-kun ni Sawaritai kara Shinitai by Shiina Umi
Scriptwriter: Tamada Shinya (40-man km Kanata no Koi, Densetsu no Okaasan, Joker x Face)
Director: Smith
Cast: Sato Shori, Takahashi Hikaru
Synopsis: Aono Ryuhei (Sato Shori) gets a love confession from Kariya Yuri (Takahashi Hikaru) who has fallen for him just because he was the first guy to talk to her and they start dating. But two weeks later, Aono tragically dies in a traffic accident. Yuri attempts to follow him and take her own life. However, Aono appears to her as a ghost and does his best to soothe her. He persuades her not to die, promising that he will always be by her side. This is the start of a peculiar and heart fluttering life. One day, Yuri suggests that Aono try to possess her. From then on, Aono becomes a darker person. Disturbing incidents that happen because of Aono begin to cast a dark shadow around him. What will happen to the passionate yet impossible romance between Aono and Yuri?
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/drama/original/aonokun
Twitter: twitter.com/drama_wowow
Imadoki no Wakaimon wa
Date: Spring 2022
Network: WOWOW
Genre: Corporate
Original Work: Imadoki no Wakaimon wa by Yoshitani Kohei
Scriptwriter: Abera Hidenobu (Mushoboke)
Director: Yamada Yoshitatsu
Cast: Sorimachi Takashi, Fukuhara Haruka
Synopsis: Ishizawa Hajime (Sorimachi Takashi), the fierce looking head of Mitsuhashi Trading’s sales department, shoots a sharp look at the young employees who lament about having to work overtime again and not benefitting from reforms of work practices. He makes a sound of exasperation at their complaints, but these young employees flee without waiting to hear his words. Mugita Ayumi (Fukuhara Haruka), a new employee who has been assigned to Ishizawa, arrives at work feeling nervous and anxious. She has not been able to keep up at work. The senior who has been giving her guidance keeps using words written in horizontal script that she does not understand. Everyone works quickly and she cannot get used to the atmosphere in the department. The only time she can relax is when she eats lunch at her desk. Ishizawa appears in front of her all of a sudden and Mugita feels intimidated. He starts to say, “Youngsters of today …” Mugita and the other young employees wonder whether Ishizawa is a good boss despite having some doubts about his personal life which is somewhat of a mystery.
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/drama/original/imadoki
Twitter: twitter.com/drama_wowow
Kamisama no Ekohiiki*NEW*
Date: From 12.00 a.m., Saturdays, 19 March 2022
Network: Hulu
Genre: Romance
Episodes: 8
Original Work: Kamisama no Ekohiiki by Komura Ayumi
Scriptwriter: Kitagawa Ayako (Tokyo Love Story (2020), Sono Goen Otodoke Shimasu, Watashi ni XX Shinasai!)
Directors: Matsumoto Yusaku, Sugioka Tomoya
Cast: Fujiwara Taiyu, Sakurada Hiyori, Kubozuka Airu, Arai Myra, Furukawa Yuki
Synopsis: High school student Amano Yashiro (Fujiwara Taiyu) visits a desolate shrine a 100 times to ascertain his feelings for his good friend Nanahara Kenta (Kubozuka Airu). Right after confessing his feelings and getting flatly rejected by Kenta, Yashiro dies in a traffic accident. However, due to the “grace” of the shrine god (Furukawa Yuki), who has too much free time on his hands, Yashiro is given a chance at new life as the type of girl that Kenta likes. Only his appearance that has changed into a girl, Tendo Kagura (Sakurada Hiyori), and he remains himself on the inside. Yashiro is unable to bring out the feminine charms he had envisioned and does not get closer to Kenta. And yet, he gets a confession from Kenta’s ex-girlfriend Torii Rin (Arai Myra). Then it is discovered that Yashiro’s body is still alive but Kagura is inside him?! What has happened to him?
Website: www.hulu.jp/static/kamieko
Twitter: twitter.com/kamiekoHulu
Shoutai
Date: From March 2022
Network: WOWOW
Genre: Suspense
Original Work: Shoutai by Somei Tamehito
Scriptwriter: Maekawa Yoichi (Karei Naru Ichizoku, Tetsu no Hone (2020), Lady Joker)
Directors: Nakata Hideo, Taniguchi Masaaki
Cast: Kamenashi Kazuya, Kuroki Hitomi, Ichihara Hayato, Kanjiya Shihori, Kamikawa Takaya
Synopsis: Kaburagi Keiichi (Kamenashi Kazuya) has been arrested for the murder of a couple and sentenced to death. While he is being transferred to a prison, he manages to get away and becomes a fugitive. Changing his name to Endo Yuichi, he encounters all sorts of people at his hide outs and helps them out of tight spots. When these people realise that he is a criminal on death row and on the wanted list, they begin to question whether he is truly a murderer. Why is Keiichi saving people? Is this his revenge for being framed? And what is his true self?
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/drama/original/shoutai
Twitter: twitter.com/drama_wowow
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