
Acting
Kenichi Yajima
Born
1956-03-01 (70)
Place of birth
Gifu, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
100 titles
Known for
7.5Detective 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
7.5Daimon 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 This causes Michiko to incur odium at the hospital, however, everyone becomes frozen when Michiko points out the outdated skills of the director.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
7.8Izumi Sakuragi is a new police sergeant with the Special Investigations Office, which was set up within the Metropolitan Police in November last year. The new investigation team uses DNA analysis and the latest in forensics science to investigate cold cases as well as cases suspected to involve missing persons.
Absolute Zero
2010
7.4Dr. Shindo seems cold, but is a competent surgeon. He is also an ER doctor capable of accurate decisions and treatment, who always tries to see things from the patient’s side. Although once retired from his profession, he one day discovers someone in need of help, who he treats and rushes to the Kohoku Medical University Emergency Center. This incident encourages him to once again work as an ER doctor. Confrontation erupts between female doctor Tamaki, and Shindo, now a just-arrived ER doctor. While this human drama depicts the relationships among doctors and nurses, it appeals emotionally to viewers on the subject of life.
Emergency Room 24 Hours
1999
9.0Based on true story of the wife of Ando Momofuku, the businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd. and the inventor of instant ramen, the 99th Asadora follows the life of Tachibana Fukuko, a young woman who tries to survive tough times in Osaka with her husband from before WWII to the rapid economic development era. Together they overcome various setbacks before they succeed in creating instant noodles. (Source: MDL)
Mampuku
2018
8.8Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of Columbo. The series is a police detective drama starring actor Masakazu Tamura as Furuhata Ninzaburo and Masahiko Nishimura as his stereotypically bumbling sidekick, Shintaro Imaizumi. The program aired weekly and featured a guest villain each time, usually a famous talent in Japan. Pop-stars like SMAP, television hosts like Sanma Akashiya and even sports figures like Ichiro Suzuki have been featured on this program. It was one of the most popular television dramas in the history of Japanese television, having spawned several seasons and TV specials.
Furuhata Ninzaburo
1994
Film credits
2020s · 7 titles
6.5Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Fukushima 50
2020
8.0Set in war-torn 15th century Kyoto, on the eve of the Onin War, the movie centers on a band of outlaws led by Hyoe, a scoundrel whose lethal sword skills place him at the tip of the spear in a deadly uprising against the corrupt Shogunate and its army, led by former friend-turned-archrival Doken.
Samurai Fury
2025
6.0Former assassin Daiya has long left the criminal world, but he decides to take up a mission to kill a rival gang boss for a huge payday. The catch: To kill his target at a talent show, he must go undercover and perform in a pop dance group.
The Specials
2026
7.1After Shogo Ogami’s death in Hiroshima, Detective Shuichi Hioka successfully implemented Shogo Ogami’s plan, which was to control the yakuza to prevent further gang wars and save innocent people from getting harmed. Shuichi Hioka manages the criminal organizations, but, due to one evil person who gets released from prison, the situation drastically changes.
Last of the Wolves
2021
6.9Lord Oda Nobunaga plans to control Japan where rival warlords battle by waging war against several clans. His vassal Araki Murashige stages a rebellion and promptly disappears.
Kubi
2023
7.3Sousuke Aoyama is a college student who suffers painfully from the loss of his parents in a traffic accident. He meets Kozan Shinoda, a suibokuga (India-ink painting) artist, at an exhibition. Kozan becomes interested in Sousuke and surprisingly accepts him as his disciple. However, Kozan's niece is dismissive of Sousuke and declares to compete with Sousuke for the "Kozan Award." Although Sousuke seemed uninterested in painting at first, he gradually becomes drawn to it by each stroke he draws...
The Lines That Define Me
2022
7.5A family drama is born that depicts the youth of the heroine, who dreamed of working at an expo with the desire to connect with people all over the world, and her family, with a heartwarming touch.
Sun Expo
2024
2010s · 19 titles
7.2When 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.
Shin Godzilla
2016
5.6Accused of a murder he didn't commit, a prosecutor sets out on a mission to clear his name.
Manhunt
2017
7.5A high school girl, Sayaka Kudō was the bottom of the class. After a year, she improved her deviation value from 30 to 70, then passed Keio University that is considered one of the most difficult to enter in Japan.
Flying Colors
2015
6.7In July 1945, during the end of World War II, Japan is forced to accept the Potsdam Declaration. A cabinet meeting has continued through days and nights, but a decision cannot be made. The U.S. drops atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. General Korechika Anami is torn over making the proper decision and the Emperor of Japan worries about his people. Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki leads the cabinet meeting, while Chief Secretary Hisatsune Sakomizu can't do anything, but watch the meeting. At this time, Major Kenji Hatanaka and other young commissioned officers, who are against Japan surrendering, move to occupy the palace and a radio broadcasting station. The radio station is set to broadcast Emperor Hirohito reading out the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War.
The Emperor in August
2015
6.2Ryuzo and his 7 former henchmen are all retired yakuza, but they now live as regular old men. One day, Ryuzo becomes the victim of a phishing fraud. He calls his 7 men together to reform their society.
Ryuzo and the Seven Henchmen
2015
6.3Young public prosecutor Keiichiro Okino is assigned to the department of the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office that deals with violent cases, where he will work with Takeshi Mogami, whom he admires. When a money lender is killed and it is suspected that someone from Mogami’s past is the perpetrator, the team prepares to do his best in order to prove the alleged criminal’s guilt.
Killing for the Prosecution
2018
7.0A 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
7.2Set in 1988 in Hiroshima, Japan, prior to the enactment of the anti-organized crime law. A rumor exists that Detective Shogo Ogami has ties with the yakuza. He is partnered with Detective Shuichi Hioka and they investigate a missing person case involving a financial company employee. Conflicts between opposing yakuza groups become more serious.
The Blood of Wolves
2018
7.1Masuda, an aspiring journalist, plans to write an article in order to expose his co-worker Suzuki, who is a psychopathic murderer according to Masuda.
My Friend "A"
2018
6.9A 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
6.8A detective in Toyama is forced to confront his painful past when he takes on a murder case involving his two estranged childhood friends.
Reminiscence
2017
7.7Dr 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…
A Lone Scalpel
2010
7.3A friend of the detective has been is murdered. During the investigation, he comes across a source which tells him that his friend was murdered for involvement with the dark side of the political world. On top of that, a woman approaches the detective with a request.
Detective in the Bar
2013
NRDo criteria exist for the death penalty? Yusuke Mito, a law faculty lecturer who did not become a lawyer even though he passed the bar exam, the famous lawyer Kojiro Otomo who advocates the abolition of the death penalty, and the public prosecutor Mariko Nagase studied law together. Each have their own thoughts about the death penalty. One day, Otomo’s wife is murdered by someone. Shinzo Sabae who is resentful of a lawsuit that Otomo had been in charge of, is arrested as a suspect. Otomo reverses the stance he had had until now and seeks the death penalty against Sabae. This prompts Mito to make the decision to become a lawyer and stand in the court. However, the first case Mito takes charge of is the defence of Sabae, who murdered the wife of his good friend, Otomo…
Shikei Kijun
2011
NRDetective Takeo Kosai is about to be demoted. He then plans to entrap Akira Dojima without his partner Detective Emi Ishikawa's knowledge. Akira Dojima kidnapped and killed a girl 15 years ago
Kaibutsu
2013
8.0Nakadai Tatsuya, Japan’s greatest living actor, gives the performance of a lifetime as Shoji Sanosuke, and elderly samurai forced to pick up his sword to protect those he loves in this adaptation of a Fujisawa Shuhei novel. As a ”Heya-zumi” (essentially a freeloader living off his family) Sanosuke has one last chance to help his grandniece escape from the cruel samurai of an arranged marriage. Nakadai proves he ”still has it,” when fate forces him into a deadly duel. This award winning samurai drama from the pen of noted author Fujisawa Shuhei is a tribute to one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen!
A Duel Tale
2015
7.1A retired samurai must redeem himself for a crime that he committed earlier in his life.
A Samurai Chronicle
2014
5.5Katagiri, a highly ambitious young detective, teams up with older detective Takiguchi, who is about to retire, to investigate a murder that took place by Sumida River. Katagiri is annoyed by Takiguchi's pushiness, but is surprised to hear that the victim was a suspect in the 300 million yen robbery.
300 Million
2010
NRProsecutor Sakata of the Yonesaki District Public Prosecutors Office and his colleague Shoji are pulled into assisting the Tokyo Office’s Special Investigation Department to investigate influential Diet lawmaker Okouchi and Masumoto of a technical skills foundation. The two men are believed to be involved in a bribery case. But a key witness in this scandal commits suicide, and the next person believed to hold the key to the case, the foundation’s accountant, has disappeared.
Kenji no Honkai
2016
2000s · 22 titles
7.2A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
One Million Yen Girl
2008
7.4A young man is falsely accused of molesting a high-school girl on a train. He is arrested and charged, and goes through endless court sessions, all the while insisting that he is innocent.
I Just Didn't Do It
2007
5.9Kohei Takahara, an astronaut who dies in the line of duty, is legally resurrected as a clone: however, contrary to the scientists' expectations, he reverts to his childhood memories when his twin brother drowned sacrificing his life for Kohei. Kohei's clone discovers the body of his former self mistakenly believing that it is his deceased twin. Reliving his tragic past, he sets off carrying his corpse body to the beautiful hometown where he lived with his now dead mother.
The Clone Returns Home
2008
6.3During a dark time in the Heian period, when evil forces threaten the kingdom, the emperor relies on the onmyōji to keep the supernatural forces in line. But as political events become highly charged, friction within the order leads to betrayal. Now, Seimei, a talented member of the clan, must face down his master, Dōson, in the hopes of restoring peace to the kingdom.
Onmyoji
2001
7.2When radicals from Japan's Red Army took a woman hostage in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano in 1972, Officer Atsuyuki Sassa was put in charge of diffusing the situation. But the task had its challenges. Upon arriving in mountainous Nagano, Sassa had to compete with freezing winter temperatures, conflicting opinions between the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Nagano Prefectural Police, as well as public opinion to gain entrance to the lodge that held the single woman captive.
The Choice of Hercules
2002
5.2Akira, a teacher from Tokyo, has just arrived in a small rural town to begin his new job. Soon after arriving, he meets, and begins to fall for, Miki, a papermaker and part of a large and unusual family. When he learns of an ancient legend that the family carries the curse of the Inugami, or Dog God, he brushes it off as silly superstition. After a series of mysterious deaths, however, the townspeople begin to grow restless, and Akira must confront the truth about Miki and her family.
Inugami
2001
NRThe famed leader Oda Nobunaga had two right-hand men who contributed to unifying the nation. One was Akechi Mitsuhide and the other Kinoshita Tokichiro, both rivals of each other for higher promotions. Eventually Mitsuhide was recognized for his work and was given a castle. However, Nobunaga's ambition to conquer the nation did not allow Mitsuhide to live happily in his territory. That is when an idea flashed across Mitsuhide's mind… Akechi Mitsuhide, the man who was considered to be the most intelligent general of the warring states era. What was the truth about him, Oda Nobunaga's best general and murderer?
Akechi Mitsuhide: The Man God Hated
2007
5.6In the aftermath of a major earthquake, scientists predict that Japan will sink into the sea. As further disasters follow, politicians plead with other countries to take refugees, while scientists struggle to save Japan itself.
Japan Sinks
2006
5.6Follows the ups and downs of four female friends in Tokyo looking for love and trying to cope with the responsibilities in their lives.
Strawberry Shortcakes
2006
7.0In this movie, Japan's top negotiator confronts a formidable foe threatening Tokyo's subways. As high-stakes tension brews, Mashita must outsmart an adversary with a personal vendetta, testing his skills like never before.
Negotiator
2005
5.5Asuka is an aspiring model who moves to Tokyo to pursue her career. She moves into a small apartment with a friend of a friend, Kasumi. A bizarre murder occurs in the hotel across the street. The body was mutilated and repositioned into a lurid work of art. After this, a string of murders start happening all around the two girls, as if some crazed serial killer was following them. At the scene of each crime, the perpetrator leaves a black lip print, and is subsequently dubbed "The Black Kiss."
Black Kiss
2004
8.0The housewife and part-time private detective Noriko Yamada plays her old tricks again, uncovering mysterious corruption cases. But this time she will solve it adopting the style of "Beatrix Kiddo" from Kill Bill.
Part-Time Detective 2
2004
6.2For 60 years, the group of detectives known as "Detective Office 5" has raised the bar for detective work. The agents of Detective Office 5 are a group of stellar detectives lead by the genius code breaker Detective 507. When an unknown client enlists 507 to crack his most difficult programming code yet, the detective embarks for Shanghai where he crosses paths with a sniper, an informant, the head of the Blue-Dragon Mafia, and beautiful singer on the run, Meilan. As 507 stumbles deeper into a twisted quagmire of intrigue he discovers the sad truth behind the mystery.
The Code
2009
NRIn a small nook of Kawasaki Private investigator 591 and adultry specialist investigator 522 embark on separate investigations that leads them both to the same beautifician.
Detective Office 5
2005
6.0One day in February, 2005, Metropolitan Police Department Superintendent Muroi (Toshiro Yanagiba) is arrested to take responsibility for a botched murder case he headed. His faithful colleagues, including Arashiro (Toshio Kakei) and Okita (Miki Maya), only exacerbate the situation when they try to help clear his name. Is Muroi guilty as charged or merely taking the fall? What is the truth behind the murder? Two lawyers, one determined to get Muroi, the other resolved to save him, a feud between two police departments, political power plays and legal trappings, all combine to orchestrate Muroi’s downfall.
The Suspect: Muroi Shinji
2005
5.5The Isokaze, an Aegis-class escort vessel, sets sail on a routine training exercise, playing host to a platoon from the Fleet Training Group. No sooner is the Isokaze on open water, however, then the FTG reveal themselves to be terrorist stowaways who kill the ship's captain, send the rest of the crew overboard and take control of the vessel. The ship is carrying a secret biological weapon which the terrorists are now threatening to use to level Tokyo! Only a stowaway NCO, Sengoko (played by Sanada Hiroyuki from Ring and Twilight Samurai) is in a position to stop them - but does he really have what it takes to save the day? Playing like a cross between a sea-faring version of Top Gun and Die Hard, director Sakamoto Junji shows that it's not just Hollywood that can produce thrill-a-minute action spectaculars.
Aegis
2005
6.2On August 12, 1985, a jumbo jet crashes, causing 520 fatalities, making the accident the biggest single-plane accident in the world. The local press reporters are tossed about by the waves of facts and rumors. While overwhelmed by the magnitude of the accident, Yuuki, in charge of this crash report at a local newspaper, faces a string of decision-making moments. What are news and a reporter? How should a man do his work and survive in a corporate hierarchy? What do family and friends mean to him? An intriguing story, which keeps the audience on the edge of tension and reality.
Climber's High
2008
7.5Satoshi Nomura, a top-level bureaucrat of a prefecture government, has passion for his career. One day, he is hired by the fixed-term personnel exchange training between public and private businesses. This personnel exchange training is part of some big prefecture project. This project is very big, so success of this personnel exchange training will probably determine his career. Nomura goes to a supermarket called "Mantendo".
Star Reformer
2006
NRA 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.
Music of Remembrance -Gb-
2002
6.2On board at the boat Kanikosen, where fish and crabs preserves, forced workers to work under miserable conditions, with minimum wages. Some can not cope with conditions and even death from malnutrition, and is also the supervisor of the more vicious variety. Shinjo, one of the employees, trying to convince the others that they will get good luck and fortune in his next life, and persuades them because they commit suicide to get there faster. It ends, however, in a single major failure. Rather than flee Shinjo being picked up by a Russian ship. Once there, he is overwhelmed by the social conditions that are completely different from those he has just left and decided therefore to return to Kanikosen to save their employees.
Kanikôsen
2009
4.0Miyuki receives an invitation from her friend Hikune Youhei to the themed inn called "Ruins", located in a virtual ghost town haunted by the legend of a vampire. However, what Kindaichi had originally dismissed as spooky rumours with no basis became horribly real when their fellow guests staying at the inn are found dead one by one, with their bodies drained of blood and wounds in their necks that resembled vampire bites
The Files of Young Kindaichi: The Legendary Vampire Murders
2005
6.6Graduating at the top of her class, elite detective candidate Jun Shibata is transferred to the section that handles cases deemed "unsolvable" by the department. Her partner, though a well-respected and experienced detective, has grown complacent after unsuccesfully pursuing these cases that many consider an exercise in futility. With her upper class breeding, her colleagues don't expect much from her either, but she suprises them all with her motivation and astounding powers of deduction. Well-constructed mysteries and colorful characters abound in this stylish and edgy police drama.
Keizoku: Unsolved Mysteries - Beautiful Dreamer
2000
1990s · 12 titles
7.7Beleaguered police detective Nishi takes desperate measures to try and set things right in a world gone wrong. With those close to him suffering their own tribulations, Nishi's methods become increasingly extreme.
Fireworks
1997
7.5Murakawa, an aging Tokyo yakuza tiring of gangster life, is sent by his boss to Okinawa along with a few of his henchmen to help end a gang war, supposedly as mediators between two warring clans. He finds that the dispute between the clans is insignificant and whilst wondering why he was sent to Okinawa at all, his group is attacked in an ambush. The survivors flee and make a decision to lay low at the beach while they await further instructions.
Sonatine
1993
6.6When his mother's untimely death quickly follows his father's, a doctor begins to believe a killer may be targeting him and his amnesiac wife.
Gemini
1999
6.2When a major bank is caught paying off a corporate extortionist, the media and prosecutors begin to dig, breaking open a money-and-favours scandal that threatens to rock the entire structure of business and government to its core. While the bank's top executives continue to vacillate, a quartet of middle-management reformers, led by straight-arrow Kitano (Koji Yakusho), decide to stage a boardroom coup and install a new, clean management team. With the aid of a hotshot news anchor (Mayumi Wakamura) and a hard-nosed prosecutor (Kenichi Endo), heads begin to roll.
Jubaku: Spellbound
1999
NRJiro's only target is a mysterious assassin. Faced with an enemy whose true identity is unknown, Yuki decides to become a decoy herself. The assassin relentlessly pursues Yuki, and Jiro also pursues the assassin. Killing after killing, they end up at the destination, where an unexpected person is waiting for them.
Tuff Part IV - Harvest of Blood
1991
7.0Jiro, a freelancer working at a delivery pizza shop, witnesses the brilliant killing techniques of professional assassin Nejime at a gangster's office where he makes deliveries. Jiro rescues the wounded Nejime and volunteers to become his apprentice. From that day on, Jiro learns the art of killing in a dog eats dog world.
Tuff Part I - Origin
1990
8.0The story of Shien brought up as a killing machine in a nunnery. Can she flee from the clutches of the underground organization?
XX: Graceful Beautiful Beast
1997
6.2A young foot soldier in the yakuza seeks revenge when his prostitute girlfriend dies after a session with a high-ranking Japanese politician with a taste for torture. He sets out on a 'kamikaze' mission to kill his bosses and the politician; along the way, he acquires the aid of a taxi driver who has recently returned to Japan after living in South America for several decades and is struggling to cope with poverty and the prejudices of native-born Japanese.
Kamikaze Taxi
1995
A biographical film of war photographer, Taizo Ichinose.
One Step on a Mine, It's All Over
1999
8.0An ex-boxer working for a game parlor owner gets caught up in a complex blackmail operation he doesn't understand. Before long he's caught between two yakuza bosses and a mysterious thief who motivation is unknown. Add in the boss' daughter who has a crush on him and watch him struggle to make sense of it all and come out alive.
Wild Life
1997
NRJiro has avenged the murder of his mentor and stands alone as an assassin. He finds a new agent and makes a contract with him. However, the ghost of someone whom he once killed, appears...
Tuff Part III - Business Killing
1991
9.0Downtown Los Angeles. It is a shadowy town filled with drug addicts, homeless people, and others who have lost their homes. Jiro, tired of his killing spree, is also addicted to drugs and drifts through his days like a corpse. Jiro's foggy mind begins to flash with blood-soaked reminiscences...
Tuff Part V - Killing Anthology
1992
Series credits
7.5Detective 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
7.5Daimon 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
7.8Izumi Sakuragi is a new police sergeant with the Special Investigations Office, which was set up within the Metropolitan Police in November last year. The new investigation team uses DNA analysis and the latest in forensics science to investigate cold cases as well as cases suspected to involve missing persons.
Absolute Zero
2010
7.4Dr. Shindo seems cold, but is a competent surgeon. He is also an ER doctor capable of accurate decisions and treatment, who always tries to see things from the patient’s side. Although once retired from his profession, he one day discovers someone in need of help, who he treats and rushes to the Kohoku Medical University Emergency Center. This incident encourages him to once again work as an ER doctor. Confrontation erupts between female doctor Tamaki, and Shindo, now a just-arrived ER doctor. While this human drama depicts the relationships among doctors and nurses, it appeals emotionally to viewers on the subject of life.
Emergency Room 24 Hours
1999
9.0Based on true story of the wife of Ando Momofuku, the businessman who founded Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd. and the inventor of instant ramen, the 99th Asadora follows the life of Tachibana Fukuko, a young woman who tries to survive tough times in Osaka with her husband from before WWII to the rapid economic development era. Together they overcome various setbacks before they succeed in creating instant noodles. (Source: MDL)
Mampuku
2018
8.8Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of Columbo. The series is a police detective drama starring actor Masakazu Tamura as Furuhata Ninzaburo and Masahiko Nishimura as his stereotypically bumbling sidekick, Shintaro Imaizumi. The program aired weekly and featured a guest villain each time, usually a famous talent in Japan. Pop-stars like SMAP, television hosts like Sanma Akashiya and even sports figures like Ichiro Suzuki have been featured on this program. It was one of the most popular television dramas in the history of Japanese television, having spawned several seasons and TV specials.
Furuhata Ninzaburo
1994
7.4Yū Amagi is a slightly eccentric detective who has been assigned to the Twelfth Section of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigative Division from the Lost and Found Centre. The Twelfth Section is called the "graveyard of detectives" and ridiculed as the "banishment room where hardened detectives who cannot be fired are sent." Its assembled detectives Kōsuke Samura, Takumi Yamashita, Keita Nagasawa, Tamaki Mizuta, and Masatoshi Katagiri are elite and yet oddballs. Amagi appears fixated with time which seems to have no relation with a case. Raising questions about the timelines of the perpetrator and victim derived from the estimated time of death, time of crime, time of alibi, and time limit, he searches for the meaning of "blank time" which arises from this. He obsesses over the weight of every minute and second of time because of some incident.
Seven Detectives
2015
8.2Yuri Ishikawa and her team try to crack unresolved cold cases in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
Cold Case: Door of Truth
2016
7.0Shomuni, that's the common name given to General Affairs Section 2 of a trading company. Here are six women who have ended up in this department known as "the dump" for office ladies. But Chinatsu Tsuboi (Makiko Esumi) declares that the value of woman is equal to the number of men. With her as the central focus they create a totally new type of office lady drama that does away with those heartless men still caught up in worn-out social ideas and the class system within the company.
Shomuni
1998
9.0The 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 upheaval in the Meiji Restoration, headed by those from Satsuma.
Atsuhime
2008
7.5Donoue General Hospital runs into a budget deficit, even though the doctors drive expensive imported cars and live an outlandish lifestyle. Office manager Momoi finds surgeon Kosuke Sagara through a medical website. Kosuke Sagara arrives at the hospital and tells the director of the general hospital to decide on his pay after watching his work. Kosuke Sagara informs the hospital that he had previously quit his job at a university hospital and taken a year sabbatical.
DOCTORS: The Ultimate Surgeon
2011
7.2Although 23 year old Yamada Naoko is a "super" magician, she is continously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late. After being fired once again, her boss shows her an ad of a physics professor, a non-believer of all things magical, offering money to anyone who can prove to him that magic is real. Desperately needing the money, Naoko accepts the challenge, which is how she comes to meet Professor Ueda. Falling prey to her simple magic tricks, Ueda is impressed, and enlists Naoko to help him uncover the tricks behind a local cult. Their hilarious antics, along with those of police officer Yabe, leads them onto further mysteries, all with tricks needing to be solved in sort of an "X-Files" meets "Scooby-Doo"...
Trick
2000
NRThis anthology-style mystery series is part of the D‑5 PROJECT, centered around Detective Office 5 - a long-running private detective agency in Kawasaki. Each detective is known only by a number rather than a name (e.g., Detective 596, 532), with standalone stories featuring different characters and surreal, quirky cases.
Detective Office 5: Another Story
2005
7.7Freelance 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 the client’s death, they cannot help getting involved.
dele
2018
6.6Detective Goro Nanase and his colleagues of "Akatsuka Detective Office" are based in Shimo-Akazuka of Itabashi-ku, Tokyo. The detectives take on a string of challenging cases that no one else wants to take on.
Hello, Detective Hedgehog
2017
5.0Sky High is a live-action, supernatural Japanese television drama series, starring actress and model, Yumiko Shaku. It aired in Japan, first run, from 2003 to 2004, and was popular enough to spawn the 2003 feature film of the same name. Both are based on the Japanese manga, Skyhigh. Shaku stars as Izuko, the Guardian of the Gate to the afterlife. The basic premise of the television series is somewhat similar in concept to the American series, Ghost Whisperer, in which the protagonist must use her powers to guide the dead on their journey to the afterlife by helping them determine the meaning or circumstance of their death. However, in Izuko's case, no matter how hard she tries, her guidance does not always result in a happy ending.
Sky High
2003
10.0The 37th NHK Taiga Drama is Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The series focuses on the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and final ruler of the Tokugawa period. Born the seventh son of Lord Nariaki of Mito, Yoshinobu is named shogun when he is just 29 years old. With a wisdom and vision beyond his years, he tries to prolong the life of this 200-year-old dynasty which began with Ieyasu. However, he is unable to forestall the winds of revolution as clans in Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, with the help of the Imperial Court, clamor for change.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu
1998
7.7Keizoku is a Japanese mystery thriller created first as a TV drama and later as a film. It is about Detective Jun Shibata, who handles unsolved cases with her hardened partner Tōru Mayama. The television series was broadcast in eleven episodes between 8 January and 19 March 1999. A two-hour "special drama" was then broadcast on 24 December 1999. The series has been called "epoch-making" in the police procedural genre on Japanese television.
Keizoku: Unsolved Cases
1999
7.5Michi, a 26 year old high school math teacher, tentatively accepts her boyfriend’s proposal of marriage, uncertain of her love for him but feeling pressure from her father and society to do what is expected of her. Hikaru, a 17 year old boy frustrated by his home life with his single mother and having been expelled from many high schools for bad behavior, enters Michi’s class as a new transfer student. As their relationship grows they realize that they both feel that they have lost themselves to the pressures of those around them, and it is this common bond that draws them dangerously close. What follows is a heart-wrenching story of forbidden love where Michi must face society’s judgement for corrupting a minor, abandoning her fiance, and disappointing her parents and co-workers.
Forbidden Love
1999
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Kagi no nai Yume wo Miru
2013
6.5Kitajima Daichi has wanted to join the rescue squad and wear the same orange uniform ever since he was saved by them as a child. When the squad calls for young firefighters to join, he and some other men take the challenge to go through the tough training. Together, they live through hard times and joy as they save lives while living on the edge themselves.
Rescue: Pride of Orange
2009
6.4Ichiro Seike is a popular, 43 year old politician. He has gained popularity for his impressive smile and liberal speech and behavior. He is expected to be a future prime minster candidate. He has a secretary, Toshiya Suzuki, who carefully works to guide him to the prime minister position. They look like a perfect match as a politician and his secretary, but Reporter Kanae Michiura feels something is off about the relationship of these two. She begins to investigate their past and notices the mysterious deaths that have followed Ichiro Seike during his rise in politics. Her own father's death, who was also a reporter, is somehow connected to the politician's past.
Smiling Matryoshka
2024
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Reset
2009
8.3Kitagawa Keiko plays Sasaki Rena, a detective who risks her life investigating detectives for her dead sister. Beautiful, intelligent, and with a great memory, the talented woman judges situations and chooses the most appropriate course of action. Her brutal past surrounding her sister's death inspires her to learn everything she can about detectives, leading her to visit the Suma Research Company. As the sole member of the Anti-Detective Department responsible for investigating and pursuing unethical detectives, she is a solitary lady detective.
Detective versus Detectives
2015
7.0The show is based on the "Jiu" suspense novel series by Honda Tetsuya. Motoko (Kuroki) is a fierce, physically capable investigator with a strong battle instinct, while Misaki (Tabe) is more intellectual, kind-hearted, and naive. The two of them are both working to track down Jiu, the ringleader responsible for a series of brutal crimes.
Jiu: Special Investigation Team
2011
7.5Adapted from Keiko Suenobu's manga "LIFE," this drama delves into the dark side of high school life. The story focuses mainly on bullying, but the manga also touches on subjects such as self-mutilation, suicide, and rape. Kitano Kii stars as Ayumu Shiiba, one of the students bullied by a group of classmates led by Ayumu's former friend, Manami Anzai (Fukuda Saki).
Life
2007
7.8As Haru emigrates from Japan with her family to the coffee plantations in Brazil, Natsu is left behind in the care of spiteful relatives. Losing all contact, each must make her own way in an unforgiving world. Hardships abound in the struggle to survive in war-torn Japan and in the face of anti-Japanese sentiment in Brazil, financial ruin, familial pressure, abandonment and lost love. However they also experience the precious joy of survival and success. Now, after 70 years, Haru comes back to Japan to find her estranged sister.
Haru and Natsu
2005
6.0No synopsis available yet.
夜王 〜YAOH〜
2006
NRSaku Shingo is a non-career police officer but rose to become a director at an unusually young age. He is one of only 10 directors in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s First Investigative Division. Directors are the ones that take command of investigation task forces which are set up when major crimes such as murder and kidnapping take place. An investigation task force gathers some 40 – 100 investigators from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, the police precinct concerned and neighbouring precincts. A director is the leader at an investigation scene who manages this hastily assembled group and is required to come up with a solid investigation plan. Aloof and hard to figure out, Saku is a man who carries out his duties dispassionately. But he has a firm sense of justice and sense of mission
Team - Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Special Crime Investigation Headquarter
2014
7.0A new kind of melodrama about a man that wants children, but can't have them with his wife; and a single-woman that wants to have a child of her own. It is also about what children mean to both sexes.
Cross of Roses
2002
5.0No synopsis available yet.
When a Couple Breaks Up
2023
NRIn a red-light district, Nemoto Norio (Shibata Kyohei) is indiscriminately soliciting passersby. "Would you mind taking part in a survey? As a thank you, I'll give you a camera. Take this voucher and come to my office at Shinjuku West Exit later." "No way," replies Yoshikawa Kumiko (Furukawa Yuko). "That would be a problem," replies Saeki Nobuko (Mori Masako). "A camera?" asks Iketani Kaori (Tanaka Yuko), suspicious. The survey is about overseas travel. The three of them gather in a room in Shinjuku. This is how they get to know each other, and they gradually become good friends. Their desire is to find a youth they can be truly proud of. The drama depicts the daily lives of three women of the marriageable age who are desperately trying to make some memories before they get married.
Precious Moments
1981
10.0Eguchi Yosuke plays the character of Onishi Katsuo, a 35-year-old carpenter and former college football player who sees life almost in the same balance as a football game (guts and glory along with team spirit). One day he learns that his friend (a college football teammate) was killed when his house burned down. His friend's wife is in a coma and his four kids are now homeless, Eguchi has the children live with him (in his one room apartment) above his bosses home.
As Tears Go By
2000
NRHita Nanase, a housekeeper with the psychic ability to read people’s minds, leading her to uncover the secrets of the households where she works.
Nanase, Telepathy Girl's Ballad
2012
8.0What if the one you love were destined to lose his eyesight in three months? What would you like him to see last? If you were him, what would you want to see last? Shiki Tomokawa is a new pediatrician who is enjoying her life. She falls in love with Shunsuke, a cameraman, who is destined to lose his eyesight in a couple of months. How will Shiki react when she finds out Shunsuke's destiny? "To the One I Love" takes place in two contrasting cities?in the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, and in the peaceful city of Nagasaki, and depicts both the joys and sadness of life, and the interaction with family and friends.
To the One I Love
2004
7.0Why did an abused solitary boy become a murderer? A sad but powerful gut-wrenching drama portraying the destiny of humans seeking love, starting up-and-coming actor Yuma Nakayama.
Hokuto: Some Murderer's Conversion
2017
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Galapagos
2023
NRA 3-part series of biographical dramas to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of NHK.
Keisei Saimin no Otoko
2015
7.3A school is supposed to be the safe place for children, but unfortunately it is not any longer. It has so many problems that even most dedicated teachers would give up eventually. Kohei KAJI (Atsushi ITO) a young passionate teacher who's just started his career at a junior high school, but he is thrown into the chaos and desperation when one of his student dies at school. Tamako TSUMIKI (Miho KANNO) is a cool elite lawyer who seems to have some secret connection with that dead girl. Is that an accident? Or suicide? Together they start investigate what has been going on at the school and they have to face some terrifying facts that show how easily one could fall. This is a controversial theme that questions every one of us if we can change the world.
Our Textbook
2007
6.5A 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.
Kao
2003
