Ittoku Kishibe

Acting

Ittoku Kishibe

Born

1947-01-09 (79)

Place of birth

Kyoto, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

101 titles

Ittoku Kishibe (岸部一徳) is a Japanese actor, bassist, and lyricist. He originally entered showbusiness as the bassist for the Japanese rock bands The Tigers, PYG, and Inoue Takayuki Band, but later switched to acting. The veteran of over 115 films, he won the Japanese Academy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in 1991 for "The Sting of Death," and was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award in 1994. He has an agency, UN et NEUF, and he is the president of Kenji Sawada's private office "Kokoro Co., Ltd."

Known for

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo poster
7.5

Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo

2002

Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon poster
7.5

Daimon Michiko is a 37-year-old freelance surgeon who is part of a questionable “doctor placement service” that has her wander from hospital to hospital. The harsh environment at the hospitals led many doctors to retire from their positions, forcing hospitals to make use of said program to fill the empty spots at least temporary. However, Michiko doesn’t look like a doctor at all with her flashy clothes and eccentric attitude. In the first episode she raises objections to a certain operation which is planned to be done by the head of a hospital who hasn’t performed an operation for a very long time. This causes Michiko to incur odium at the hospital, however, everyone becomes frozen when Michiko points out the outdated skills of the director. She also holds a scrupulous compliance when it comes to her working hours, never does any unnecessary chores that don’t require a medical license, and couldn’t care less about the power struggles within the hospitals. Nobody knows how she acquired such a top-level skill that allows her to claim exorbitant sums as reward, but her private life is an even greater mystery to everyone around her. Tanaka plays a rookie surgeon, Uchida an anesthetist, Kishibe the head of the placement service, and Ito the head of the surgical department of this institution.

Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon

2012

Dandan poster
NR

The twin girls Tajima Megumi and Ichijo Nozomi was separated at birth after their parents had divorced. Years later they meet each other. Both of them have a career within the entertainment industry. Megumi who lives in Matsue, Shimane sings in the band Shijimijiru, and Nozomi is a maiko, an apprentice geisha in Kyoto.

Dandan

2008

99.9 Criminal Lawyer poster
6.9

Hiroto Miyama is an unconventional young lawyer who dances to his own tune and gets a little obsessive. For one thing, he’s only interested in criminal cases, and he will never give up in his pursuit of the truth even if offers only a 0.1% chance of being discovered. Japan’s 99.9% criminal case conviction rate leads the world, attesting to a “highly reliable” judicial system. In other words, once a crime suspect is indicted, prosecutor arguments tend to be accepted hook, line and sinker. In the face of those 99.9% odds, there’s no money in being a defense lawyer specializing in criminal cases, but for Miyama, that’s where the interest and kernels of truth lie. From unexpected places, the mold-breaking Miyama stakes his reputation on a prayer of a chance as he clashes with hotshot lawyers who’ll go to any lengths to win in this gloriously fun, legal mystery.

99.9 Criminal Lawyer

2016

13 Assassins poster
7.3

A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.

13 Assassins

2010

Imo Tako Nankin poster
10.0

The series takes place in 1962 Osaka. Hanaoka Machiko, 37, is single and works at a hardware store in Osaka City while doing literary work. One day, she falls ill due to overwork and falls in love with Tokunaga Kenjiro, the doctor who examines her. Kenjiro and Machiko marry. But Kenjiro, who lost his first wife to illness, lives not just with his five children, but his brother, sister, and parents. In a comical and heart-warming way, the drama depicts Machiko's struggle with the new family while pursuing her career as a novelist.

Imo Tako Nankin

2006

Film credits

2020s · 3 titles

2010s · 9 titles

13 Assassins poster
7.3

A bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.

13 Assassins

2010

Outrage Coda poster
6.8

Five years after the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a noted fixer. When tensions rise between Chang and the Hanabishi, and Chang's life is endangered, Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.

Outrage Coda

2017

Backwater poster
6.1

Toma lives in a small riverside town with his brutish father and his father's girlfriend. Witnessing his father's predilections for abuse, Toma becomes anxious that he will have inherited those urges.

Backwater

2013

Disconcerto poster
6.4

Set within the fictional city of Mahoro, Keisuke Tada runs a "benriya" - a general problem solver for hire. His assistant is his former high school classmate Haruhiko Gyoten. A big crisis then occurs for them.

Disconcerto

2014

Doctor X: Gekai Daimon Michiko Special poster
6.0

Kojiro Himuro is a champion figure skater taking part in an upcoming world competition. Yet, he is suffering from a complicated CTEPH (chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension). Kantaro Kurosu is the director of the Cross Medical Center. He asks Michiko Daimon to perform surgery on Kojiro, but, right before his surgery, she is deprived of “the most important weapon as a surgeon.”

Doctor X: Gekai Daimon Michiko Special

2016

Tada's Do-It-All House poster
6.5

In Mahoro, the fictional suburb of Tokyo, Tada works as a general problem solver for hire. One day, former classmate Gyoten appears unannounced. Both men are over 30 years old and divorced. With no explanation, Gyoten suddenly asks to spend the night at Tada's home. Eventually, Tada accepts Gyoten as his assistant and together they become involved in various cases concerning an assortment of people from different walks of life.

Tada's Do-It-All House

2011

Recall poster
7.0

A woman was killed by a truck wheel, which flew off while the vehicle was in motion. As the freight company which owns the truck becomes the target of the public and the media’s wrath, Tokuro Akamatsu, the president of the freight company, realizes that a structural defect within the truck itself may have been to blame. A conspiracy of the wheel manufacturer's attempts to cover up a defective product is uncovered.

Recall

2018

TAP THE LAST SHOW poster
7.0

Shinjiro Watari, a former tap dancer, plays the lead as a dancer who is forced into retirement following an accident while on stage. He tries his hand at Directing, but struggles to make the transition. Shinjiro turns to alcohol to cope with his plight. But when the manager of a theater being closed down turns to Shinjiro to direct its final performance, he works with a group young dancers and in the process learns a few things about himself. The movie is very well done and worth the price of admission. A view into the Japanese dancing world, as well as Japanese society.

TAP THE LAST SHOW

2017

Sword of Desperation poster
6.9

A talented but troubled Edo Period swordsman, Kanemi Sanzaemon. Three years earlier, Kanemi killed a woman, Renko, the corrupt mistress of the powerful daimyo Tabu Ukyou. Unexpectedly, Kanemi received a lenient sentence for his crime and is allowed to return to his clan after only one year of imprisonment. Following his return, Kanemi is faced with the death of his wife, Mutsue. Thereafter, Kanemi lives with and cares for his wife's niece, Satoo, who has secret affections for Kanemi and expresses them by helping change his bleak outlook on life. Meanwhile, Kanemi's develops his unique "bird-catching" sword technique which he will soon put to test in battle for the first time against the fearsome swordsman, Hayatonosho Obiya.

Sword of Desperation

2010

2000s · 19 titles

Zatoichi poster
7.2

Blind traveler Zatoichi is a master swordsman and a masseur with a fondness for gambling on dice games. When he arrives in a village torn apart by warring gangs, he sets out to protect the townspeople.

Zatoichi

2003

Vital poster
6.7

A young man awakens in the hospital after an accident wipes his memory. Fascinated by a textbook full of drawings of dissections, Hiroshi is drawn to medical school. There he catches the eye of a fellow student, but it's another who becomes his obsession: the dead woman on the cadaver table.

Vital

2004

Hero poster
6.5

After six years away, D.A. Kuryu Kohei (Kimura Takuya) returns to his former Josai branch of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, just in time for a brewing storm. Kohei's first case starts out simple enough. The suspect, a blonde-haired security guard, had already confessed to manslaughter, but he suddenly retracts his confession and takes things to court with big-shot defense attorney Gamo (Matsumoto Koshiro). It turns out that the security guard is a key alibi witness in a high-profile political corruption case, and the results of his case will directly affect the next. With the media, politicians, and a special investigative team breathing down his back, Kohei must handle the case with care (and flair) to find out the truth.

Hero

2007

69 poster
6.5

Hoping to catch a girl's attention, high school students Ken and Adama cook up an ambitious plan. They plan a festival that combines film, theater, and rock music, and develop their project into a school road block. This plan however catches the attention of television stations and newspapers, and soon even the cops became involved in this teenage adventure.

69

2004

Hula Girls poster
6.8

Young women in a small Japanese town look to revive their home's declining fortunes by building a Hawaiian village tourist attraction.

Hula Girls

2006

Adrift in Tokyo poster
7.1

A thug offers to pay a law student's gambling debt if the student will accompany him on a trip across Tokyo.

Adrift in Tokyo

2007

Séance poster
7.1

A psychic housewife and her husband accidentally find a kidnapped girl. Instead of informing the police, they hatch a scheme to get famous by working with the police as a psychic consultant to 'find' the girl. Just when it all seems to go right, everything goes horribly wrong.

Séance

2004

Face poster
6.6

Awkward and withdrawn, Masako kills her sister in an explosion of pent-up humiliation and rage that sends her tumbling into fugitive life.

Face

2000

A Hardest Night!! poster
6.1

A celebration of the ancient art of Japanese rakugo, roughly translated as “comic storytelling”. The film is interspersed with numerous funerals and wakes, songs, dances, and often disgustingly crude jokes.

A Hardest Night!!

2005

Another Battle poster
6.0

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.

Another Battle

2000

The Whispered City poster
9.0

Director Jun Ichikawa spins this affectionate portrait of the people who populate Shimokitazawa, a bohemian corner of Tokyo filled with small theater companies and smoky coffeehouses.

The Whispered City

2000

Survive Style 5+ poster
7.3

Five bizarre stories with no apparent connection to one another eventually become intertwined, resulting in surreal circumstances.

Survive Style 5+

2004

The Motive poster
6.9

Four people are discovered brutally murdered in an up-scale high-rise apartment. All the victims appear to be family, but as the investigation deepens it is discovered that one of the victims isn't related to the family.

The Motive

2004

Noriben - The Recipe for Fortune poster
4.7

Komaki is a thirty-something woman that has had it with her perpetually unemployed aspiring writer husband. Following the divorce, she moves back to her Tokyo-area hometown of Kyojima along with her young daughter, Non-chan. However, she has a difficult time making ends meet in big city Tokyo. Her solution? Take a chance and try opening her very own bento (lunch box) shop.

Noriben - The Recipe for Fortune

2009

Murder of the Inugami Clan poster
6.9

Inugami Sahei, who built up the wealth of the Inugami Clan, passes away, leaving a will with Furudate, his legal adviser, for his daughters Matsuko, Takeko and Umeko, all of whom have different mothers, and for their sons, as well as for Nonomiya Tamayo, the granddaughter of a person to whom Sahei feels heavily indebted. The will states that all his assets are inherited by Tamayo alone, on the condition that she marries one of the sons of the daughters. Furudate's assistant learns the content of the will, and seeks advice from Kindaichi Kosuke, a private detective, as he senses the air of unease. Shortly afterwards, murders start to occur one after another in the clan.

Murder of the Inugami Clan

2006

Gojoe: Spirit War Chronicle poster
6.8

Benkei, a master fighter and killer, vows never to take another life after his conversion to Buddhism. His faith in pacifism, however, is shaken and ultimately broken by the attacks from a trio of fighters known only as the demons. Taking up his sword once more, he sets out to end their murderous terror.

Gojoe: Spirit War Chronicle

2001

Happy Flight poster
6.4

A variety of aviation professionals such as pilots, flight attendants, the ground crew, mechanics, dispatchers, controllers, and the bird patrol crew all support a single flight. They have only one mission: to secure the safety of the passengers.

Happy Flight

2008

The Milkwoman poster
6.9

Minako (TANAKA Yuko), begins her day running up and down the hills of her hometown delivering milk door to door. When that's done, she heads to her day job as a supermarket cashier. Minako is 50 and single. In one of the houses to which she delivers milk is a man with whom she has secretly been in love since high school. The man, Keita (KISHIBE Ittoku), lives with his wife Yoko, who is terminally ill. Caring for her at home, he works in the children's affairs section of the local municipal office. Though he insists that he wants nothing more than an "ordinary" existence, his life is in turmoil below the surface. The director uses a variety of narrative devises to portray the loneliness, isolation, and hope of these people who have seemingly allowed their goals and dreams to slip away, whilst keeping them agonizingly close to hand.

The Milkwoman

2005

Samurai Gangsters poster
NR

Jirocho (Kiichi Nakai), a fledgling bakuto who left his wife, goes on a year-long training with his minions: right-hand man and military master Ohmasa (Kishibe Ittoku); stinky priest Daigoro (Takashi Sasano); well-known stranger Ishimatsu Mori (Yoichi Nukumizu); beautiful Masagoro Oiwake (Kazuki Kitamura); and others. As Jirocho's fame spreads, he gains more enemies. Among them are Katsuzo Kurokoma (Koichi Sato), who is one of the most powerful in Koshu, and the villain who is also Ishimatsu's nemesis, Masaru Mima (Riki Takeuchi). A traitor also emerges from the family, Yoshikazu Ebisu (Yoshikazu Ebisu). Meanwhile, Jirocho's wife falls ill and other terrible situations occur. Jirocho falls into a pinch of absolute despair. What on earth will he do? What is the fate of his minions? The Jirocho family will face a fierce battle...

Samurai Gangsters

2008

1990s · 16 titles

Chizuko's Younger Sister poster
7.5

The Kitao family is coping with the loss of the eldest daughter, Chizuko, who was killed in a freak accident the year prior. When the other daughter Mika is suddenly in a dangerous situation, Chizuko returns as a ghost to save her; reunited with her sister, Mika begins spending time with Chizuko again.

Chizuko's Younger Sister

1991

Keiho poster
6.3

The psychiatric evaluation of a young actor arrested for a brutal double murder concludes he may be unfit for trial. Further investigation, however, reveals the crime was a well-planned statement against the section of Japan's criminal code granting diminished responsibility to the mentally impaired.

Keiho

1999

Sleeping Man poster
7.8

Ever since an accident in the mountains outside town, Takuji's slept in a coma; his neighbors care for him as new events occur every day.

Sleeping Man

1996

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl poster
6.9

In dreamlike mountain scenery, Toshiko makes a daring escape from her sexually warped Uncle Sonezaki. Fortunately, she met Samehada as she runs for her life, which is also escaping from some slayers. What follows is a wild chase that leads the audience into a comically violent world.

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl

1999

The Sting of Death poster
5.7

Miho and Toshio, putting their children and household at stake, duel for control in their degrading, middle-aged marriage.

The Sting of Death

1990

Samurai Kids poster
7.5

With the help of a six-inch-tall ancient samurai warrior, a lonely young environmentalist finds self-confidence and new companionship in protecting Japan's beautiful naturality from human mismanagement.

Samurai Kids

1993

The Oil-Hell Murder poster
6.0

The indolent son of an oil vendor becomes a regular customer of a prostitute, racks up a mountain of debt, and is disowned by his parents.

The Oil-Hell Murder

1992

Murder on D Street poster
7.0

Detective Kogoro Akechi is faced with a peculiar murder case involving forgeries of classic pornographic artworks.

Murder on D Street

1998

Turning Point poster
7.0

A middle-aged journalist looking to make her big break. After working the same beat on the "women's page", Yumiko gets promoted to editorials.

Turning Point

1994

The Rocking Horsemen poster
7.4

It is 1965. High-school student Takeyoshi Fujiwara hears "Pipeline" by the Ventures, and is mesmerized by their unique sound. With three friends, he forms a band called "The Rocking Horsemen." A warm and comic glimpse into high-school and small-town life in Japan in the 60's.

The Rocking Horsemen

1992

Goodbye for Tomorrow poster
10.0

People from all walks of life all receive mysterious messages from loved ones who were killed 3 months earlier in a shipwreck. They are instructed to go to a small island in the Inland Sea that evening.

Goodbye for Tomorrow

1995

Rainbow Kids poster
6.7

A wealthy matriarch is kidnapped by a gang of three. She is insulted by the amount of money they propose to demand as ransom, and a strange interchange of roles takes place.

Rainbow Kids

1991

Chronicle of the Town Magistrate poster
NR

In a maelstrom of evil, can a new magistrate, samurai Mochizuki Koheita, with a reputation like an alley cat, bring order to the town of Horisoto, or is he, too a corrupt villain looking to gain wealth from the oppressed people? From the pen of famed samurai author Yamamoto Shugoro, this exciting tale turns the tables on the standard samurai story with a unique lead character previously portrayed in Ichikawa Kon’s “Dora Heita.”

Chronicle of the Town Magistrate

1992

Happy-Go-Lucky poster
7.4

Takashi and four of his classmates, fourth-grade students, cannot succeed in doing a forward pullover around a horizontal bar. Their P.E. 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.

Happy-Go-Lucky

1997

Megumi no Sekai poster
NR

A unique combination of social problem and entertainment TV movie about a female journalist who is hurt to the core when the truth of an article is questioned.

Megumi no Sekai

1990

The Nagaharu Yodogawa Story: A Cineaste's Life in Kobe poster
9.0

Depicts the life of Nagaharu Yodogawa.

The Nagaharu Yodogawa Story: A Cineaste's Life in Kobe

1999

1980s · 13 titles

Violent Cop poster
7.2

A detective breaks all rules of ethical conduct while investigating a colleague’s involvement in drug pushing and yakuza activities.

Violent Cop

1989

The Makioka Sisters poster
7.4

This sensuously beautiful film chronicles the activities of four sisters who gather in Kyoto every year to view the cherry blossoms. It paints a vivid portrait of the pre-war lifestyle of the wealthy Makioka family from Osaka, and draws a parallel between their activities and the seasonal variations in Japan.

The Makioka Sisters

1983

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time poster
6.8

Kazuko Yoshiyama is a third-year junior-high-school student. One day, while cleaning the lab, she smells lavender and faints. From then on, she has the power to travel through time.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

1983

Tokyo Bordello poster
5.6

A ruined businessman was forced to sell his daughter, Hisano, to a brothel in Yoshiwara, the largest red-light district in Tokyo. The owner of the brothel has hopes to make her a great new addition which will attract the richest of customers. But after several months of training, she tries to flee Yoshiwara when the time has come for her to take her first customer...

Tokyo Bordello

1987

The Funeral poster
7.2

When Wabisuke's father-in-law unexpectedly dies, the family goes through a series of random events and occurrences as the funeral unfolds over three days in their home.

The Funeral

1984

Lonely Heart poster
7.2

Lonely and love-stricken high-school student Hiroki pursues a girl, but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his psyche, or is she real?

Lonely Heart

1985

Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies poster
6.6

Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.

Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies

1986

His Motorbike, Her Island poster
7.7

Ko, a motorbike enthusiast from the city wandering the Japanese countryside, falls for the carefree local Miyo and teaches her how to ride. When Miyo proves herself a biker prodigy, Ko begins to fear she's destined to crash.

His Motorbike, Her Island

1986

Flakes of Snow poster
7.2

A troubled architect weaves his way through numerous romantic situations in a search for true love and contentment.

Flakes of Snow

1985

Double Bed poster
5.1

Kato is a small time TV producer. He has a wife Masako, and a young son Taro. Kato also has a friend Yamazaki who he knew since college. Yamazaki has a girl friend Riko who lives with her younger sister Yuko who's an actress. Yamazaki is a lyric writer/womanizer and he starts to have an affair with Masako, but he's still going out with Riko.

Double Bed

1983

Tokyo Blackout poster
6.2

Tokyo is suddenly covered by a dome-shaped electromagnetic cloud for an unknown reason and is totally blocked and isolated from other parts of the world. The temperature inside the cloud is slowly increasing. The Soviet Pacific fleet is getting closer. The U.S. is forcing Japan to form a new government. Scientists and research workers outside Tokyo have to race against time to find out how to get through the cloud in order to rescue the 12,000,000+ lives in Tokyo and the fate of the country.

Tokyo Blackout

1987

People of Twilight poster
NR

A woman runs a “mistress service” and interviews young women for “dates” with men. Various couples get together but someone is following and watching them.

People of Twilight

1984

Gray Sunset poster
6.2

Grandfather Fuyukichi Takano, a former university professor, gets fired from his museum job when he is affected by Alzheimer's disease, but his affliction serves to deepen family ties. Japan's submission to the 58th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Gray Sunset

1985

Series credits

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo poster
7.5

Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo

2002

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo poster
7.5

Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.

AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo

2002

Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon poster
7.5

Daimon Michiko is a 37-year-old freelance surgeon who is part of a questionable “doctor placement service” that has her wander from hospital to hospital. The harsh environment at the hospitals led many doctors to retire from their positions, forcing hospitals to make use of said program to fill the empty spots at least temporary. However, Michiko doesn’t look like a doctor at all with her flashy clothes and eccentric attitude. In the first episode she raises objections to a certain operation which is planned to be done by the head of a hospital who hasn’t performed an operation for a very long time. This causes Michiko to incur odium at the hospital, however, everyone becomes frozen when Michiko points out the outdated skills of the director. She also holds a scrupulous compliance when it comes to her working hours, never does any unnecessary chores that don’t require a medical license, and couldn’t care less about the power struggles within the hospitals. Nobody knows how she acquired such a top-level skill that allows her to claim exorbitant sums as reward, but her private life is an even greater mystery to everyone around her. Tanaka plays a rookie surgeon, Uchida an anesthetist, Kishibe the head of the placement service, and Ito the head of the surgical department of this institution.

Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon

2012

Dandan poster
NR

The twin girls Tajima Megumi and Ichijo Nozomi was separated at birth after their parents had divorced. Years later they meet each other. Both of them have a career within the entertainment industry. Megumi who lives in Matsue, Shimane sings in the band Shijimijiru, and Nozomi is a maiko, an apprentice geisha in Kyoto.

Dandan

2008

99.9 Criminal Lawyer poster
6.9

Hiroto Miyama is an unconventional young lawyer who dances to his own tune and gets a little obsessive. For one thing, he’s only interested in criminal cases, and he will never give up in his pursuit of the truth even if offers only a 0.1% chance of being discovered. Japan’s 99.9% criminal case conviction rate leads the world, attesting to a “highly reliable” judicial system. In other words, once a crime suspect is indicted, prosecutor arguments tend to be accepted hook, line and sinker. In the face of those 99.9% odds, there’s no money in being a defense lawyer specializing in criminal cases, but for Miyama, that’s where the interest and kernels of truth lie. From unexpected places, the mold-breaking Miyama stakes his reputation on a prayer of a chance as he clashes with hotshot lawyers who’ll go to any lengths to win in this gloriously fun, legal mystery.

99.9 Criminal Lawyer

2016

Imo Tako Nankin poster
10.0

The series takes place in 1962 Osaka. Hanaoka Machiko, 37, is single and works at a hardware store in Osaka City while doing literary work. One day, she falls ill due to overwork and falls in love with Tokunaga Kenjiro, the doctor who examines her. Kenjiro and Machiko marry. But Kenjiro, who lost his first wife to illness, lives not just with his five children, but his brother, sister, and parents. In a comical and heart-warming way, the drama depicts Machiko's struggle with the new family while pursuing her career as a novelist.

Imo Tako Nankin

2006

Kokoru wa Itsumo Ramune Iro poster
NR

The 33rd NHK Asadora. Starring Eisaku Shindou as a man who loves manzai (a traditional style of stand-up comedy in Japanese culture). Average rating of 40.2% Based on the life of a famous two-man comedy act writer, Akita Minoru, who loved comedy more than anything. His life itself was full of wit and humor, love and friendship.

Kokoru wa Itsumo Ramune Iro

1984

Iryu: Team Medical Dragon poster
7.0

Ryutaro Asada was the chief surgeon of Team Medical Dragon, a globally active emergency medical care team that worked in refugee camps. After his return to Japan, this amazingly talented surgeon starts work at a university hospital, where he uncovers one case of corruption after another and takes on a lot of powerful contenders in this heroic drama. The struggles between the hospital and the patients, the infighting among the hospital staff, and the patients who get involved in those struggles are all depicted in a realistic manner in a drama that has an overwhelming feeling of speed. Here’s a human drama depicting a thrilling battle between life and death, a totally new, outstanding form of entertainment.

Iryu: Team Medical Dragon

2006

The Private Detective Mike poster
8.5

Mike Hama, Private Detective, is a chain-smoking, wisecracking tough guy with a weakness for the ladies and a soft spot in his heart, especially for his kid sister Akane. Mike's so down on his luck he'll take any case, from finding a lost pet to spying on cheating spouses. But every now and then, along comes a client with dubious and dangerous case… and that's when Mike shows his stuff.

The Private Detective Mike

2002

Wasted Land poster
7.6

Iki Tadashi is a military leader named who was captured by the Soviets during World War II. Treated as a war criminal, he was sentenced to many years of labor in a harsh Siberian detention camp. After 11 years of imprisonment, he is released. He returns to Japan and begins readjusting to life as a civilian, rejecting an offer from his former colleague to work on a defense project. Tadashi has decided to never involve himself in war again, much to the joy of his family. Instead, he attempts to set off on a new path working at a major trading company. --Tokyograph

Wasted Land

2009

Wise and Foolish poster
6.6

All of a sudden, Prime Minister Taizan and his carefree son Sho find their bodies switched around. They have no idea why nor how to turn back. Now Sho has to attend the Diet as Prime Minister. He cannot even read the words as he speaks as Prime Minister...but the diet members and the people are gradually moved by his straightforward opinions and things begin to change... Meanwhile, Taizan, the Prime Minister, is now a college student undergoing numerous job interviews. But he cannot pass the interview. And things become more confusing as he meets Sho’s ex-girlfriends.

Wise and Foolish

2015

The Copycat Criminal poster
8.2

Based on the novel "Mohouhan" by Miyuki Miyabe. Journalist Maebata Shigeko, young Tsukada Shinichi and elderly Arima Yoshio all suffer from and become involved in a serial kidnap and murder case. Shinichi first discovers a cut arm and handbag from the murder case. Elderly Yoshio's granddaughter is a murder victim.

The Copycat Criminal

2016

On-yado Kawasemi poster
NR

At the end of Edo period, Shoji Rui hands over her birthright to her relatives with the death of her father and begins running an inn "Kawasemi" in Ōkawabata. And she settles the matters in their daily lives with her lover Kamibayashi Tōgo, doshin (a sort of constable) Une Genzaburō, physician Amanō Sotarō, and O-Kichi.

On-yado Kawasemi

1980

Doctor-Y ~Gekai Kaji Hideki~ poster
6.5

A "Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon" spinoff starring Masanobu Katsumura as surgeon Hideki Kaji, the "wizard of laparoscopy."

Doctor-Y ~Gekai Kaji Hideki~

2016

Tada's Do-It-All House poster
7.6

In the fictional town of Mahoro on the outskirts of Tokyo is Tada Benriken, a small business which does odd jobs. Its owner is the solemn and level-headed Tada Keisuke, and his unexpected guest, the easygoing but vague Gyoten Haruhiko, a former junior high school classmate who showed up one day and started to sponge on him. The two of them get on like oil and water, and yet are somehow inseparable. They receive queer, dubious incoming odd job requests which they accept, and what comes into view are the friendship between them as well as the backgrounds of their clients.

Tada's Do-It-All House

2013

War of Traps poster
7.5

Parliamentary secretary Toru Washizu (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) has devoted 20 years of his life to Kosuke Inukai, a member of parliament and cabinet minister. Toru works behind the scenes as Inukai's "shadow," deftly handling the petitions of Inukai's supporters and crushing any hint of scandal. Cool and collected, Toru rarely betrays emotion and would humble himself to anyone to get what Inukai needs. But then a shocking event changes everything. Toru's only son, Taiki, is gravely injured in an accident that leaves him close to death. Toru is stricken with worry and fear for his son, but Inukai orders him to conduct a cover-up. Feeling betrayed, Toru, who once would have done anything for Inukai, begins to question everything.

War of Traps

2023

Heaven? ~My Restaurant, My Life~ poster
7.5

Kanako is about to open a French restaurant, for the sole purpose of making herself happy with good food and wine. She recruits Iga, a waiter who is undervalued at his current restaurant. After Kanako declares, “I’m convinced that you will become a great waiter,” he decides to work for her. However, he quickly finds out that not only is the restaurant poorly located – it’s in the middle of the cemetery, far away from downtown and residential areas – but none of the other staff, such as former hairdresser Kawai, have ever worked at a French restaurant.

Heaven? ~My Restaurant, My Life~

2019

Hitori Shizuka poster
7.6

In a residential area, a man is murdered by another man, who broke into his apartment. Sergeant Kizaki, who is working near the area, hears a gunshot and runs towards the apartment. Detective Oomura already is at the scene of the crime.

Hitori Shizuka

2012

The Great White Tower poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Great White Tower

2019

Gift poster
6.0

An unconscious young man is found inside the closet of a missing billionaire. Amnesiac, he is given the name Yukio and kept close to Naomi—the woman who was supposed to disappear alongside the billionaire, Shibata—in case he ever recovers his memories of the night he was rescued and the whereabouts of Shibata and his fortune.

Gift

1997

Olympic Ransom poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Olympic Ransom

2013

Muyoan Retirement Training poster
7.0

The main character, Hanbei Hinata, who plays Mizutani, is a direct hatamoto guardian who guards Edo Castle. While working honestly on that mission, he became disgusted by a colleague who only thought about his career advancement, and soon he abandoned all his desires and began to think about a retired life

Muyoan Retirement Training

2017

Kaiki Daisakusen - Second File poster
8.0

Modern remake of the Kaiki Daisakusen / Operation Mystery tv show. A special unit called SRI (Science Research Institute) is investigating mysterious cases.

Kaiki Daisakusen - Second File

2007

California Dreamin' poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

California Dreamin'

2002

Zoku zoku jiken poster
NR

Daisaburo Kikuchi (Tomisaburo Wakayama), a skilled lawyer full of humanity, thrillingly depicts the process of stepping into the background of the case step by step.

Zoku zoku jiken

1980

Kawa no Hotori de poster
6.5

Toshi-chan and BB live in a hut with a blue sheet on the banks of the Tama River. Having lived there for several years, they are familiar with the area. The two of them gather cans across town from 4 am in the morning and sleep at 7 pm in order to save money on electricity at night. While they do not have substantial income, they are not particularly concerned about money. They are carefree each day and take pride in being homeless men who can support themselves. Nao, a young female actress from a small theatre company, visits Toshi-chan and BB one day. She is playing a heroine who has a grand romance with the leader of homeless men in her next performance and asks to interview them. This is the beginning of a long night for the trio…

Kawa no Hotori de

2021

Ordinary Miracles poster
7.7

One day, a middle-aged man, Fujimoto Makoto, is standing on a train platform, about to jump in front of a train. Nakashiro Kana and Tasaki Shota both happen to be on the same platform, and sensing what is about to happen, they quickly pull him back to safety. There's a reason why Kana and Shota realized Makoto's intentions, they both have the kind of emotional scars that can't be put into words. Even after so much pain, through a series of e-mails, they've become attracted to one another and slowly learn to open up their hearts once again.

Ordinary Miracles

2009

Seven Secretaries poster
6.8

7 ladies working as secretary for the dignitaries, who are the top of bank, Metropolitan Government and National Police Agency, are trying to help the weak in the society by moving the dignitaries stealthily. They have a lot of confidential information and network, so they work in the shadow to help people who are suffering from unfair treatment. Concept of this drama: Leaderless time, Swelling unemployment, there is no promising future, so we have to move our leaders as much as we can do.

Seven Secretaries

2020

Ruri's Island poster
9.0

Ruri, having been abandoned by her mother to a foster care facility, lives a life of reckless abandonment. When Nakama Yuzo, a kind man but for a trigger-happy temper, runs into Ruri he realizes that perhaps she's the child he's been looking for. Yuzo lives in Hatomijima, a small insland in Okinawa where the population is 49 and the average age group is 61. There are no children. The island has only one school - a primary school. If a child is not enrolled in the school, it will be closed. As a result, society will abandon the island and in a few years, it will cease to have any inhabitants. To save their island, the locals decide to bring in a foster child. Ruri is their candidate, and with her she brings the hope of the island's survival.

Ruri's Island

2005

Saintly Woman poster
8.0

When I was 17-years-old, Maria was a college student and worked as a private tutor. Her student was me. She left a last message to me, "when you graduate from college and become an adult, can you become my lover?," and then she disappeared. 10 years later, I meet her again. She is now a suspect in a serial murder case and I am a lawyer.

Saintly Woman

2014

Made in Japan poster
7.0

With the strong yen, global financial crisis and competition from developing nations, the Japanese manufacturing industry is in a precarious situation. A large electronics maker is on the brink of bankruptcy and can support itself for only 3 more months. Three men at the company, who work in sales, finance and production respectively, secretly form a reconstruction team and they work feverishly to revive the company.

Made in Japan

2013

Who Do You Think You Are? poster
NR

While working in the leisurely atmosphere at a food company's factory, Futaro is asked to return to their corporate headquarters by his good friend. Unfortunately, he finds himself assistant to Izumi, a highly demanding expert on Italian food culture. Futaro gets off to a rocky start with his new female boss, and always seems to be saying or doing the wrong thing. He also doesn't seem to be particularly suited to his new position on the Italian Restaurant Project, considering he doesn't even like tomatoes! But Futaro may still have a few tricks left up his sleeve that he can use to win over Izumi and find success in his new job.

Who Do You Think You Are?

1998

Princess of the Frog poster
7.0

Mio Kurasaka was a bright musical star on Broadway, but setbacks forced her to return to her hometown of Yume City in Japan. Back in her hometown, Mio is asked to coach a band of amatuer housewives in the town music hall which is under threat of being torn down. Can Mio return the music hall to it's former glory and stop it's destruction?

Princess of the Frog

2012

Maison Ikkoku poster
6.0

"Maison Ikkoku" is a live-action TV special premiered on TV Asahi on May 12, 2007. It stars Taiki Nakabayashi as Yusaku and Misaki Ito as Kyoko. A finale was aired on July 26, 2008, under the title "Maison Ikkoku Kanketsuhen", featuring Akina Minami as Kozue Nanao, and Ikki Sawamura as Shun Mitaka. ~~ Adapted from the manga "Maison Ikkoku" (めぞん一刻) by Takahashi Rumiko (高橋留美子).

Maison Ikkoku

2007

School!! poster
NR

This drama revolves around a public elementary school beset with problems. Yosuke Eguchi plays the character Seichiro Naruse, a passionate protagonist, who worked at construction sites for 20 years with a mid-sized general contractor. However, in order to keep a promise he made with his former teacher, he suddenly changes jobs and becomes the principal of his old school, which he must save from closing down. He now attempts to change the school with his bright personality and acting power.

School!!

2011

God Does Not Play Dice poster
6.0

Everything seems normal until the Oriental Air 402 plane is swallowed into some kind of energy and disappears. Ten years after having everyone think the plane had mysteriously crashed and everyone died, in 2006, it reappears as if nothing had happened. Now the passengers of 402 apparently can experience how life is 10 years after the day they boarded that plane...

God Does Not Play Dice

2006

The Last Woman poster
4.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Last Woman

2020

しんがり〜山一證券 最後の聖戦〜 poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

しんがり〜山一證券 最後の聖戦〜

2015

Meoto Zenzai poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Meoto Zenzai

2013

Goodbye Newspaper poster
NR

A huge Japan newspaper company decides to sell itself due to failing sales. An eager buyer for the acquisition is a domineering Japanese man like Donald Trump who heads a foreign company. A dynamic finance drama that questions the role of the media of the 21st century.

Goodbye Newspaper

2017

Behind the camera