Three women working for a big corporation full of catch-22s have finally broken out of the company with a dream of starting their own business! Their goal is to open a specialty shop for mail-order sweets. But challenges and difficulties fall upon them one after another.
These three women, who are positive about both their love lives and careers, are sure to give “genki" power to female audiences.

The setting is the Tsukishima district of Tokyo where the Summer Olympic Games will be held in five years. A small old-fashioned confectionary shop, “Sakuraya” stands as a remnant of the past amid the rapidly changing cityscape. Akiko Sakurai has been running the shop on a shoestring for over 50 years, along with her grandson, Taro (33) whom she raised form childhood after he lost his parents in a traffic accident. With them also is Reiko, a single mother who has returned to Tsukishima with her child. Seemingly left behind by a fast-moving world, Taro appears as something of a “loser” who finds himself reexamining his lost childhood in an effort to move forward. Life takes a strange turn when his grandmother, Akiko, receives a letter that she is being sued for damages because her cat, Mi-chan, allegedly scratched up a neighbor’s luxury car. What should be an easy case to win turns into a fumbling mess at the hands of Taro who can’t seem to win for losing in this wacky yet endearing and slightly heartwarming late-night drama.

Minami is a deaf girl who, through sign language, tries to relate herself to her first love, Kaiji, and in so doing nurtures their puppy love for one another. In the process, Minami begins to develop an unrealistic desire to “hear Kaiji’s voice”. In response, Kaiji swears to Minami that he will “be her ears for her”. Alas, they are too young to keep to their promise… This is a beautiful but painful love story of the 15 long years of their unforgettable first love and family ties.

Dropping out of high school and joining a bike gang, girl teen Makoto Kiryu's rough-and-tumble life thus far takes a new turn when she meets Rinko Kominato after a motorcycle accident. Rinko convinces Makoto to quit the biker gang and attend evening high school. Nine years later, the fully reformed Makoto is a college graduate and an upstanding physical education teacher who enjoys immense popularity among students. Having finally landed full-time status with her own class in her third year, life seems great until a bombshell drops from school principal. Makoto and her colleagues are being tasked with strengthening the school's dance program, a newly-mandated component of physical education. It is Makoto's worst nightmare come true. And God forbid that her students ever discover the truth: that she can't dance a lick.

College student and Economics major, Yuka Minami (19) suddenly learns of the freakish death of her friend, Ikumi, on whose corpse were found reams of 10,000-yen bills. The eyes of Yukichi Fukuzawa, the face on the 10,000-yen note, had all been darkened black. When the bodies of 5 more men and women around Ikumi turn up in the same manner, rumors spread of a “death cash” curse. Frantic over this rash of inexplicable deaths in her immediate surroundings, Yuka one day hits upon a certain “rule” she believes might combat the workings of these fatal deaths. Horror and suspense surround her in this visceral depiction of modern society’s biggest and most terrifying subject: money.

The story begins when a housewife named Aoi meets a boy named Yuichi, who is the orphaned son of her close friend. It is a heartwarming comedy about Aoi, the constantly positive, cheerful and accommodating housewife, transforming Yuichi, a sissy and sensitive crybaby, into a mature and independent man.

In the year 2060, a failed science experiment has brought about a barren, famine-plagued world where “flowers” no longer bloom. While recovery efforts show promise, District 7 - ground zero for the accident - has been left to its own devices, exempt from reconstruction as “an abandoned city.” One resident of District 7 is Ai, an angelic-looking young girl who hides a darker face. As member of a team of assassins called “Last Garden,” she is a coldhearted killer who carries out her assignments with faithful precision. Her life now roiled by a bizarre fate, this lone woman assassin must simply learn to survive.

The setting is one of Japan’s most prestigious private high schools, Ouran Academy, with a student body made up of scions of the country’s rich and famous. It is also home to an extracurricular club made up of “beautiful” boys called the Ouran High Host Club. The story begins with the only penniless boy in the school, Haruhi Fujioka, making his way into the school on academic merit alone, and unwittingly stumbling into Ouran High Host Club membership. Having found himself saddled with enormous debt, Haruhi is ordered by the club’s leader, Tamaki, to make his debut as a host. But the problem is… Haruhi’s actually a girl.

By day, Shio manages an aromatherapy salon. But by night, she is the owner of “Striped Sheep”, a business that dispatches men to the homes of women who suffer from insomnia to lie next to them. These “Striped Sheep” in fact represent a brand new profession of so-called “co-sleepers,” whose sole mission is to provide a night of relaxation to restless women. Shio’s four “sheep” consist of Gai, her ex-husband’s brother, Ran, a man with a cool, soothing gaze, the glib Linda and a taciturn book worm named Matthew. As sleep-sharers, these four men find out a lot about what drives or plagues their women clients, and help them gradually discover themselves and the right life pathways. “There are nights when a woman just needs a man at her side.”

Left at the alter after quitting her job to marry, Kaoru travels to the countryside to work at the Japanese inn and hot spring resort that her mother manages. With her daughter back, Kaoru’s mother decides to groom her to become the next manager, but this causes the woman previously in line for that position to become a jealous rival. On top of that, the rest of the staff don’t respect her and refuse to cooperate at every turn. Fighting to thwart the efforts of her rival, earning the respect of her co-workers, learning a new job and hopefully finding love along the way may be tough, but she is determined to make this her new home!

Heitaro, a father, has just retired from the company for which he has worked for 38 years. He proposes that the combined total amount of 30 million yen, made up of his retirement money and the savings his wife had left, should be divided equally by the 6 members of the family — That is, 5 million yen each. Will Heitaro’s sincere gift of 5 million yen be able to make each of his daughters happy?

Takuto, our protagonist, shares a house with his friends from high school – Kyohei and Hajime. He comes home to find a baby sleeping peacefully in the room. When the other two residents also return, they read a letter that has been left on the desk. “This is your baby.” Although they’re not quite sure what to do, the young men begin to feel responsible and they appear to make a decision to raise it together. However…

The three young men – afraid of learning the truth - take on the task of raising a baby in this slapstick comedy drama.

How would react if you suddenly became a father?

Nodoka Kuribayashi, is a struggling cartoonist. Excusing herself for being busy with her work, she lets her husband, Tetsuya, be responsible for everything from housekeeping to child care. Tetsuya, who reaches the point where he can no longer take it, presents Nodoka with divorce papers. She then goes through homemaking training to get married again! Will she be able to improve herself as a woman and remarry?

Yumiko, a nurse and housewife, has been happily married for 9 years. As she experiences a fateful encounter with her patient, Keisuke, she begins to fall for him. What begins as an infatuation soon turns into a love affair that traps her. While repeatedly saying to herself “That couldn’t happen to me!” Yumiko starts to regain the “womanhood” within her.

Two humans with identical genetic makeup will attract and find each other, no matter how far apart. And those drawn-together clones will enter into a mutual battle of extermination. “The laws of magnetism” and “survival of the fittest” clash the moment these clones are pulled together, leading to crafty scheming and high-stakes competition in what turns out to be the ultimate game of “musical chairs” played out by clones yearning for distinction as “the true one.”

A TV drama series in an omnibus format. Bittersweet girlhood memories are introduced in various episodes.

An extremely fearful youth, Tenma Hokai, grudgingly runs a ghost extermination agency only because he hails from a long genealogy of those with special abilities to communicate with spirits. When a request comes in, he and his company colleagues strap on special devices and head for the haunted sites in what is a Japanese version of Ghostbusters. Or so one would hope. But alas, the weak-nerved Tenma can hardly bear the thought of encountering ghosts and tries instead to hear their grievances and rectify the problems that keep them in the corporal world, even through gentle persuasion. Meanwhile, Tenma must contend with a lady who follows him around, speak to his deceased father through dreams, a bothersome detective, a parade of quirky clients and spirits in what is far from a tale of horror but rather a hilarious comedy with comical interplay that also delivers a serious treatment on the meaning of "life" in a completely original drama.

A huge fan of the Hiroshima Carp baseball team, you the viewer become the story protagonist, Ryo Kirigamine, vice-president of the Young Detectives Club at Tokyo’s Koigakubo Academy. In the search for truth, each week the school club gets tangled in perplexing local crimes and mysteries, including murder!
Ryo is a self-avowed super detective, but tends to get lost in the maze of clues at critical junctures of a case. But never fear; there are plenty of people to come to get her back on track, including the biology teacher, Hiromi Ishizaki. Take part in an intricately-constructed, hardcore mystery every week.

Starring Japan's currently most popular comedian, Yuki "Bananaman" Himura finds himself the central character in an eccentric drama that unfolds in ominibus style with each episode penned by a different writer and featuring an ever-changing support cast. Only Himura appears each time without fail, showcased and accentuated by resplendent actresses. Giving color to all who appear are the prominent globally-acclaimed film directors. Himura versus 10 movie directors and 10 stunning actresses. Witness a wholly new kind of TV drama that can only be seen here!

How to win the greatest love by the worst means! The world of romance is not for the timid. For Jiro Kagami, who has never been popular with the girls, the only way to win the heart of his beloved Yuri is by beating out four rivals with the use of a so-called “dark machine” that he hopes will make up for his lack of a way with women.

Aki loses her husband-to-be right before their wedding. What is left for her are the three children he had with his ex-wife. This story depicts the transition of Aki and the children instantly becoming a “family,” discovering love and bonds and building a true family. The new family of four heals their wounds of losing their loved one by gradually clearing up normal household issues and becomes true to themselves through their life in the nature of Nasu Heights.

A young boy with a brilliant mind, a sexy female and two athletes form an unlikely quartet in a game of thievery that calls for cooperation, intrigue and cunning in an effort to steal various treasures ranging from physical objects and data to people’s hearts. But participants must be on constant guard in this thrilling caper lest their prized winnings be stolen away by other players. Under orders from a mystery woman, Yoko Kitaba, brainy protagonist Rei Kamimura teams with the saucy Karen Katagiri, technician Taiga Kishihara and brawny Jack to take on a host of ne’er-do-wells in hopes of recovering treasure and a lost memory.

If you missed the last train, and had no money to get home by other means of transport, and had to spend the night in and around a particular train station, what would you do? This is how our story begins, with the protagonist missing the last trine. He has no money with him and must figure out how to pass the time until the first train in the morning. Little does he knows of the encounters and "late night adult adventure" that await him and which will cause him to grow. A one-night romance with a mysterious and attractive woman? The suspense and perils of becoming embroiled in a criminal incident? Or an incident of interpersonal connectivity sure to make one smile broadly? Enjoy a brand new type of drama that will leave you thinking about missing your last train tomorrow.

Hoshimitsu Kokku is a Criminal 1st Division cop with professional level culinary skills. Nicknamed “Captain Cook”, he brings his own eccentricities and philosophy toward crime-fighting with the conviction that “Food doesn’t lie.” If there is one thing Captain Cook can’t stomach, it is the thought of people getting away with murder and then being able to eat freely and sumptuously. So he recreates the meals of victims in an effort to understand them better in the course of his investigation, and invites suspects to a grand feast where he can smoke out the true criminal. His compassion and unwavering pursuit of criminals in the name of justice make him a new hero in the gourmet world. Meanwhile, constantly stressed to the max is his new partner, Azumi Nanase, who despite having fulfilled her dream of becoming a cop is diametrically different in personality and disposition from her partner. As a consequence, she is constantly stressed out being at the mercy of Captain Cook’s freestyle sleuthing style and having to salvage the peace between her partner and his rival detective, Nekota. Nevertheless, Nanase and Hoshimitsu together make a crack crime solving team.

Osamu Shirato is a timid man and ultra pushover who goes completely unnoticed by women and is devoid of any sex appeal. He’s been searching vainly for employment for two years. But his life undergoes a radical change when he is reunited with a childhood friend named Hitoshi Kurosaki. Following a certain “incident,” Osamu is suddenly a magnet for women as he finds himself embroiled in - and solving - one messy situation after another. Still hoping to “find work” over “solving crimes”, the endearingly awkward Osamu can’t bring himself to refuse requests for help, be it solving a murder, bank robbery or organized shoplifting to stopping stalkers, buggings, and graffiti.

Remi Takasugi is the most popular “item” at the “Rental Lovers” company where no customer request is deemed too impossible, outlandish or difficult to fulfill as long as certain rules and time constraints are observed. The company motto is “The ultimate rental girlfriend” and they guarantee complete satisfaction and perfectly-met requests. Remi is the ideal girlfriend in every way. But she also exhibits a few distractingly different traits. She absolutely refuses to smile once a date “gig” is over, and she wears an odd-looking bandage on her neck. So who or what is Remi? And what’s with the bandage? Cyborg? Alien? Cat? The suspense-filled love story starts here.

Angered by his boss, a strident and selfish production company employee, Takasugi, quits his job as a director and finds himself saddled by a 10 million yen ($100,000) debt. He decides to hatch a plot, conspiring with a former assistant director friend named Sonobe, to kidnap a very rich family’s beloved dog for ransom. But then a mysterious woman, Natsuko, shows up as well as the son of the family whose dog they plan to kidnap, both wanting in on the plot. Then things really take a complicated turn when Takasugi is marked by a real kidnapper to take the blame for a separate child kidnapping in this thrilling, humor-filled and moving suspense.

There are five members in the Kazamatsuri family - Asako, the carefree mother, Yu the capable eldest daughter, weak-hearted son Dai, Saki the free-thinking individualist and Takashi, the head of the household who has just been transferred back to his company’s home office. One day on the way back from karate practice, Yu, Dai, and Saki find a puppy abandoned in a cardboard box. The puppy runs into the property of the Takenouchi family, who are notorious dog-haters. That night, Dai and Saki, worried that the puppy will end up in the pound, sneak out of their house… And thus begins a family’s journey as volunteers of raising and training a seeing-eye dog.

A mystery writer and master of-the-trick-ending turns active interviewer in search of answers to a series of mysteries taking place in the realm between the virtual world and reality in an isolated town. Suffering from writer’s block, the author teams with his editor to solve a gothic murder that leads them down a labyrinthine path in this edgy mystery with dark comedy streaks.

Who can resist a good crisis or the scent of a woman?
The panic-thriller/comedy series “Panic In” celebrates all of the classical panic and disaster movie themes and tropes with a high-octane television drama full of suspense, laughter, tears, joy and soul-satisfying human emotion! Computer graphics add a level of scale and impact never before seen in made-for-television entertainment.
Torao Kurumada (43) is a hapless, middle-aged bachelor who is always changing jobs, but every time he starts at new place of employment, he is interrupted by some major incident or disaster such as a runaway bus, an unidentified mysterious animal, or terrorists. Each challenge is accompanied by a fateful encounter with a woman whether a college student, an office lady or a widow with whom he falls helplessly in love and for whom he is willing to sacrifice life and limb to save. It is the classic tale of a guy trying to win the girl amid extreme circumstances. But will it ever work for Torao?

Each episode is filmed by a guest director; Taichi Suzuki, the first ever 4-award winner at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (“The Brat” ’12), action specialist, Yoshikatsu Kimura (“Karate Girl”, ’11), globally-acclaimed director SABU ( “Bunny Drop”, ’11 & “Kanikosen”, ’09), Munenori Nagano, who while active also as an actor in the popular theatrical troupe “European Project” is an award-winning independent filmmaker, for a total of 4 directors all bringing their own flair and taste to this all new “panic” action-comedy genre.

Life in the row houses of yesteryear is nostalgic today, but the “Common House,” a new type of apartment building, brings together the merits of a row house and the privacy of individual homes. Each family has its own privacy, but all the members of a “House” live as one big family. More women continue to work today, after marriage or giving birth, so more people are turning to Common Houses for the safety provided for child rearing. What sort of joys and problems await them in these Common Houses? This story focuses on the search for happiness by one family who moves in to one.

With a title inspired by “Stomiiformes”, an order of deep-sea ray-finned fish called, this story follows Tomioka, a late-night security guard at a supermarket who laments his drab and solitary life. Feeling it unnatural to exist alone, he wishes upon a shooting star one night for a true friend. Soon, a mysterious woman appears in his life. She is Azusa, a next door neighbor who instantly falls in love with him. But as the kind of social awkwardness, Tomioka is obtusely unaware of her feelings for him. Can love bloom between these two? Especially when compounded by the sudden emergence of a homeless guy, who calls himself a “life wanderer”, and then an enigmatic death threat in the form of a letter that reads: “You will lose your mind within a year and die”. Life is suddenly turned upside down.

"Somato" is a term referring to the phenomenon at the brink of death where a person sees their whole life pass before their eyes. Those who are lost and happen to stumble into the Somato Incorporated are guided by Kaminuma by the entreaty, "Take as much time as you'd like to look back over your life" and then are handed a set of DVDs equal in number to each of your age. They contain parts of your life you had forgotten and your life as viewed by others. What's more, you get to learn the shocking truths you were not capable of knowing before, forcing you to face up to facts so shocking they may never recover. After watching every volume, what are people left thinking? Are they left with a sense of despair? Or hope.

56-year-old, Mother-in-law, Misako Yoneda, still acts like the daughter-in-law that married into the household. One day, her son announces his intention to marry Natsuko Fujisaki, 35 years of age, who suddenly comes into the home of this well-established rice cracker shop through her marriage. This is a story of the laughter and tear filled days of the two women — the mother and her daughter-in-law.

Upon the sudden death of her father, Maki Uehara has inherited her father’s profession and risen to become a world-famous illusionist. Until one day, a happening reawakens her to the profession she longed for as a child; to be a nurse. Throwing everything away to pursue her new goal in life, Maki’s sudden change of heart is alarming, but gradually, her positive and cheery disposition begins to impress those around her and reminds them of the lust for life and something that they had all forgotten. Here is a comical and heartwarming story that takes place in a hospital but speaks to universal themes of love, dreams and trust in one another.

At nearly 30 years of age, Hikaru Shimizu got her credentials as a nurse so that she could be of help to her intern boyfriend, but then he suddenly dumps her. Frustrated in her job on top of that, she hits rock bottom. She is brought low by two men—her ex-boyfriend Shunsuke, and Katase, a man who has made his fortune in IT and who has “picked her up.” Thanks to these two men, her life takes a sudden downturn, but Hikaru soon turns the tables on them.

Company worker Akiko finds that a business she helped to revive has been taken over by a vulture capitalist, Ryoji, who looks identical to her deceased husband. When Ryoji’s next acquisition turns out to be a beloved bakery, Akiko suspects an ulterior motive and vows to resist. Caught between hatred of vulture capitalists and budding feelings toward her new boss, Akiko finds support from her stepdaughter, Miyuki, who is dedicated to looking out for her stepmom in this heartwarming drama.

Prior to the start of World War II, Saichiro Aichi witnessed firsthand the technological prowess and industrial strength developing in the automotive industry of the US and Europe. Under Saichiro’s strong visionary leadership and the efforts of his team, a do-mestic passenger car is finally built just as the march of war is heard approaching. Saichiro’s group bides its time through a devastating war by building military trucks and machinery only to confront a dire depression upon war’s end, due to a financial re-trenchment policy by the Bank of Japan. Short on capital and troubled by labor strife, as well as personal illness, Saichiro and his men refuse to give up. Here is an inspiring tale about visionary men who through blood, sweat and tears and the spirit of “monozukuri” battled back from the brink of bankruptcy to build a Japanese auto company that would be the pride of the world.

Yamakura of the Kobe Fire Department aspires to wear the vaunted “orange” uniform of an elite rescue force that only 3% of all firefighters can attain. But to do so, he and his fellow trainees must suffer through the most rigorous training. As Yamakura and his fellow trainees grit their teeth and complain, their superior officer, Sakurai, impresses upon them the lessons of the Great Hanshin Earthquake (Kobe Earthquake) 20 years ago as “the only time we ever lost.” What hap-pened on the front lines of rescue that day and in the aftermath? What raced through the hearts and minds of rescuers as they tried to get a handle on unimaginable disaster? The shocking facts pour from Sakurai’s mouth in hopes of preparing the recruits for the unforgettable event that awaits them.

Based on the writings of a true life, vision-impaired lawyer comes a story about a blind man who manages to pass the extremely difficult bar exam and earn his lawyer’s license. Long desiring to help the weak, Kensuke Okochi gets a job at an attorney’s office while he and his wife, also blind, look forward to their first child. When a plaintiff in a divorce case decides to withdraw from litigation, Kensuke worries at first that it has to do with his own perceived inadequacies as a lawyer, but a few days later, he is visited by the female plaintiff, Satomi, showing injuries to her body. While it appears an open and shut case of domestic violence with an audio recording as proof, Kensuke detects a “certain scent” coming from the plaintiff which gives him pause as to her real intentions.

This prequel to the hugely popular SPEC act ion series, delves into the story behind protagonist Saya’s loss of her left hand. Saya’s parents are supposedly killed in a plane crash when she’s in high school. But later Saya is approached by Kondo, a Metropolitan Police Agency detective, who tells her it’s likely her family was murdered by a SPEC agent. Five years later, Saya is a cop at the Public Safety Department’s Section 5 Task Force for unresolved cases. Meanwhi le, Saya’s brother blames Saya for their parents’ death, setting out to destroy her under the pseudonym Ninomae. He’s guided by Saya’s jilted ex-boyfriend, Satoshi, who’s poisoned both Ninomae and Saya’s minds so that they can’t recall being close.

Television serialization of a bestselling novel series called “SRO”. Japan’s Prime Minister has just launched the Special Research Office for Extensive Investigation (SRO) akin to the U.S.’s FBI to conduct wide area investigations of spreading crime. It is a groundbreaking new organization designed to free operatives from the “jurisdictional” restrictions of prefectural police departments. But the reality is that the SRO is not at all welcomed by the police organization. In the course of in-vestigating a dead body reduced to bones along the border of Kanagawa Prefecture, SRO members realize that police spies are in looking to torpedo the fledgling organization.

Do you have a teacher you will never forget?
An ordinary looking school and a typical classroom. So many students have passed through it over the years; as have many battle-scarred teachers. A message on the blackboard embodies three dramatic periods in Japan’s postmodern history. There was the time just after World War II, the economic miracle that followed, and the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami. Viewed from three fascinating and iconoclastic teachers living through these three revolutionary milestones moments, here is a story that drives at the heart of education. What did these children learn? What were the adults able to impart to them? What does it mean to be Japanese? And what are the hopes and dreams of people of all ages?

A year after his last big fight, Takeru Sebumi, returns to the Metropolitan Police following some time off recovering from medical treatment on his eyes. But he is immediately confronted with a very strange murder case involving a machine gun shootout that took place in the middle of a street in broad daylight where only one high school female survived. But the girl's testimonial is that the shooter was dressed all in black and could move by instant teleportation. Photos taken by a combatant in the firefight revealed the presence of Satori, who had been badly knifed and held The Empress tarot card in her hand. Saya Toma views the incident as a blatant showdown between "spec holders" of specialized powers. Thus, a new challenge is thrown down for former special forces cop, Sebumi, and the quirky Toma with her 201 IQ.

Ataru Returns!
Tasuku, the young brother of Ataru who never appeared in the television drama emerges here as the lead suspect in a serial killing case.
Ataru flies from New York to rescue his brother and discover the truth behind the murders which bear a strong resemblance to the "Crucifixion Murders" that shocked the United States in 1997. He is joined in the effort by 1st Crime Division investigator, Sawa, and ex-cop and current private detective, Maiko, for a reunion of the "Ataru Trio." But their movement is checked by Ataru's arch rival, who received the same special skills FBI training as he, and who seeks a final showdown.

Three years ago, obstetrician Rin Izumi had a miscarriage, losing the child she and her husband, Keita, had finally conceived after 10 years of trying. It resulted in the removal of Rin’s uterus and estrangement with her husband who as a chocolatier left to work in Paris. They hadn’t seen each other since. “We need to talk about the future,” he says one day informing her of his plans to return home. With confusion in her own life mounting, Rin encounters challenges at work including a pregnant woman formerly treated elsewhere whose baby is born premature. When DNA tests reveal the child to be neither hers nor her husband’s, something is terribly amiss.

A human relations drama with a comedic touch set in a small “izakaya” tavern that caters only to regular patrons, The Tavern centers on the daily life of its chef owner, his family, the clientele and a new female customer.

February. The story begins with a man and a woman riding the Twilight Express. Keisuke and Chie are on a last trip together before an agreed-upon breakup. Though Chie had a family, she had long admired Keisuke in secret until the day when she could no longer contain it. But Keisuke, too, loved her and looked over her with quiet strength. Here on the Twilight Express, however, time passes slowly. The two melt into each other’s company as the beautiful snow-blown winter landscape outside rolls gently past the window. There is the elegant Salon de Nord with its wide observation windows, the dining car “Diner Pleiades,” and the special suite room where true feelings can collide without reserve. Until now, Keisuke and Chie have been unable to break the hold they’ve had on each other. But now they have some time, and a lot will need to be said and resolved between their departure in Osaka until their early morning arrival in the northern city of Sapporo.

An epic rags to riches story, Kimiko Tomikohji grew up poor, amassed an incredible fortune during Japan’s miraculous period of economic growth and then, right before the asset bubble burst, she passed away. What she left behind were major romances carried out simultaneously with three different men, to whom she each later said had fathered her child. Here is the story of an unfettered woman of incredible mystery as depicted mainly through the lives of the three men who couldn’t resist her seductive power.

Just where is Level 7 and what is it? Two completely distinct plot lines ultimately cross paths and converge on a heinous murder. A man and woman wake up in a condominium room but have no memory of anything. The only clue they have to their identity is a tattoo on their arms that reads, "Level 7." Meanwhile, in a separate location, a solitary elderly lady goes missing having left the message, "Once you arrive at Level 7, there is no return," prompting her granddaughter to begin a search for her whereabouts.

Entitled after a poem in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland", about a hunter who was supposed to be hunt down and destroy a legendary monster called a Snark, but finds himself ruled by the thirst to kill, this vivid tale of suspense explores the frightful region of the human psyche that resides within us all. A man whose wife and child were brutally murdered loses all manner of reason and composure when the murderer gets of scot-free . Burning with homicidal anger, he himself transforms into a "monster" and plots an elaborate scheme which he is sure will exact perfect revenge.

Yuki leads a comfortable life as an illustrator with her doctor husband, Kenzo Tamukai. But they have yet to be blessed with a child. The story begins with the arrival next door of a new neighbor, a woman named Sachi Tachihara, whom Yuki gradually befriends. But Sachi plants seeds of doubt in Yuki, informing her of an alleged love affair her husband is having. One by one the lies and realities surrounding Kenzo come to light, erasing treasured memories of their marriage. Just as an anxiety-ridden Yuki finds she has no one to rely on except Sachi, a police detective enters the scene to turn her world on its head.

Based on a novel by Japan's premier suspense novelist, Miyuki Miyabe. Four people are found brutally murdered in a luxury high-rise condominium populated by the rich and famous. But none are residents and nobody knows who they are or from whence they came. Why were they found dead here? The investigation only uncovers increasing layers of mystery with everyone that appears in the story hiding something in what amounts to a thrilling, top-shelf mystery about knotty human relations.

Trading company employee, Tetsuya, lives alone with his only daughter, but is busy preparing to remarry a Vietnamese woman named Lien. One day, the president of a Vietnamese trading company promises Tetsuya a contract if he will help solve a mystery. But there is a time limit that, if not met, will cause the dissolution of a big project in Vietnam his company has been working on for years. Tetsuya pours his energy into cracking the mystery, but the key to solving it lies in Japan. A hundred years ago, under harsh colonial rule by the French, a Vietnamese hero fighting for independence took an incredible risk to find passage to Japan, where he forged a strong bond with a nameless Japanese doctor. Now, a century later, a long-hidden truth is re-vealed in this epic story about love and friendship between Vietnam and Japan.

Haruki Mizunuma is a workaholic who runs a design office in Tokyo and has left the rearing of his grade school son, Ren, completely to his wife, Kyoko. But she becomes hospitalized for de-terioration health. Treatment fails to work and suddenly, she has departed from this world. Ha-ruki is not ready to be suddenly raising a son by himself, and Ren himself is devastated by his mother’s death and loses the desire to live. And then on the first anniversary of Kyoko’s death, Haruki and Ren pay a visit to her native home in the mountains where the family business of forestry has been maintained for 500 years. Haruki begins to seek the meaning of the “Tree of Happiness”, which Kyoko had written in her day planner. But first he must confront the cold treatment by his father-in-law, Shigeya, who had never approved of their marriage.

May, 2007. The Jikei Hospital is a small clinic in Kumamoto Prefecture operating out of a pri-vate dwelling that begins accepting anonymous “deposits” (“Baby Post”) of unwanted infants abandoned by their parents for various reasons under the operational name, “Stork Nest.” Based on a true story, this moving human drama, fictionalized to protect privacy, depicts the passion and dedication of hospital staff as they rescue 92 abandoned infants over a period six years, all the while overcoming public criticism.

The condemned Katakura house is so old it is a wonder it hasn't yet been torn down. Its tenant, a widow named Chiyo, has just completed a Buddhist service memorializing the 7th year of her husband's passing and is preparing to move out to make way for the home's destruction amid urban development. Meanwhile, her grown eldest son shows up suggesting they live together while her eldest daughter, Setsuko, brings talk of a suitor for her mother - now pushing 60 - to remarry. The suitor, Uichi Kurosaki, strikes Setsuko as an ideal companion for her mother as he is a friend of Chiyo's late husband, has no children and plenty in retirement savings. But the other daughter is adamantly against the proposition, sparking a fight among siblings whose varying interests clash in this revealing depiction of family, compassion, empathy, hard reality and richness of spirit.

Although Junpei is aiming to become a professional photographer, he has just completed a five-year teaching post at a reform school. His next assignment is deputy homeroom teacher at a prison school. Junpei will be working alongside senior teacher, Miyake. The students of the prison school are all convicted felons. Those who have not yet finished compulsory education but show the will to learn and have a clean slate of behavior in prison are the conditions for admission to the school. However, the screening process is strict, and only those judged worthy by the admissions committee are permitted to take 14 subjects and study for seven hours a day. The students are something of a motley crew and this drama traces not only their rocky path to graduation but also how Junpei grows through coming into contact with them.

Despite being celebrated as a brilliant lawyer, Taro Momose is a poor and lonely bachelor who lives in a run-down apartment and has never had a relationship with a woman in all his 40 years. Softhearted to boot, Momose has also become owner of a gaggle of cats that lost their home in a civil pet suit Momose had taken on. As a result, his Shinjuku office is littered with cats. Es-tranged from his mother at a young age, Momose has long dreamed of having a real family, but repeated use of dating services has yielded nothing. His professional motto is to accept all cases and then work to develop its merits and means for resolution. Once all the pieces have been put together, results nobody could have predicted await in this heartfelt mystery series brimming with tears and laughter.

The year is 1972. Fumiko is a very ordinary college student working a part-time job translating English literature where she meets university professor, Shintaro Katase and his wife, Hinako. She finds herself “enamored” with them. But the appearance of a young man named Katsuya Okubo leads to the destruction of those feelings. On one fateful day, Fumiko shoots Okubo to death in a violent incident that renders Professor Katase paralyzed from the waist down. His wife had witnessed the scene, but never speaks of it, allowing Fumiko to shoulder the blame. Fumiko does so willingly to keep a certain secret. 40 years later, in 2013, a reporter named Mit-suhiko Torikai is reexamining the case, trying to find out what really happened. Finishing a long sentence, Fumiko, who now suffers from terminal cancer, decides to bare her soul at last and reveal the secrets she’s kept locked away for so long.

This drama is set in an apartment block in the suburbs. The young heroine’s humorous interaction with the odd residents provides the back drop to a charming story as we follow her on her path to making major “life choices,” facing significant turning points and affairs of the heart. Unemployment, independence, change of career and romance are just some of the obstacles a 27 year-old woman experiences and the drama traces her growth as she positively overcomes each one – a tender and funny love story. Indecisive Asako learns to make a decision for the first time in her life, boldly opting to go it alone.

The lakeside at Lake Yamanaka is covered with snow. In the vacation house in such a quiet area owned by the chairman of Watsuji Seiyaku, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Japan, the tragedy suddenly breaks out. ”I have killed my granduncle!!” says Mako, who is loved by everybody in the Watsuji family. She has stabbed her granduncle, Yohei, to death. Soon after the domestic homicide, the entire family joining together in an attempt to make it look like a crime committed by somebody outside the family, begins to engage in imitative deception...

It happened all so suddenly. Sugako Hashida had urged her husband to be examined after he complained of chest pains. She had never given any thought to a major illness from the way her husband deftly went about fulfilling his long-cherished dream of becoming a farmer. But the verdict from the doctor, given first to Hashida before the patient Iwasaki himself, was cruelly unexpected. He has terminal cancer that cannot be operated on, and only six months to live. Knowing that her husband cannot fight the disease and that the time remaining is all they've got, Hashida elects not to tell Iwasaki. How to prepare for that inevitable "day of parting" becomes the central theme of this autobiographical drama written in the first person by screenwriter Sugaoko Hashida the author of numerous masterpiece dramas who confessed, "Of all the things I've experienced in my life, nothing could compare with the pain of this."

Kayo Otahara, known affectionately as “Dr. Mom”, pours heart and soul into providing medical care to her local community. For roughly two months each summer, the rustic Gifu Prefecture village of Gujohachiman is transformed into a bustling center of activity, swelling to 30 times its normal population during its “Gujo Odori” festival, a folk dance where people clack wooden clogs on the ground in rhythmic cadence, also known as the “clog dance.” Against this bucolic backdrop, a story unfolds between Dr. Mom and a village clog maker’s family working to preserve the town’s tradition. She finds herself unraveling a family in-cident while serving as the only hope for rescuing their suddenly infirm daughter.

One of the hottest selling tickets in town is to see the hugely popular “rakugoka”, or comic storyteller, Danshun. Danshun himself was inspired as a little boy to become a rakugoka after seeing the legendary Danshi. He had found his calling. After his resistant parents relented to their son’s pleas, Danshun at age 17 became an apprentice of Danshi, the man dubbed a “wunderkind” and “genius” of the rakugo world. He soon realized however how hard the training was, and embarked upon a rigorous existence in which he had to deliver newspapers to earn a living. Living with hardship and joys, Danshun and his fellow apprentices would eventually rise in the rakugo world. A resplendent cast comes together to depict the rough and tumble world of a man who loved rakugo above all else and was destined to fulfill a dream.

Yuichiro Sawada is an elite company man with a blue chip trading company, in charge of a major overseas infrastructure building project. Supported by his beautiful wife and talented cook, Yoshino, his son, Daichi, a graduate of Tokyo University now employed at the Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry, and daughter, Mariko, a student at the University of Washington, Sawada's life seems the picture of success with talk of a major promotion to executive status close at hand. But then Yuichiro is diagnosed with cancer, and before he has a chance to tell his family, they have become estranged from him. Forlorn, Yuichiro resolves to use his remaining time on Earth helping his family fulfill their dreams, and it becomes his driving passion and wish as a father and husband. Yuichiro's passionate pursuit soon begins to transform his family, too, realizing how the ability to dream can create new and lasting bonds between people, and in their relationship to society.

After working their part-time jobs at a family restaurant, Shingo, Satoru and Yoshinori decide to visit a noted haunted spot. Convinced that they experienced something supernatural, they are returning home from the spot in a car when Yoshinori suddenly gets swallowed up by the backseat and simply vanishes. Shingo and Satoru are beside themselves until they find out from their boss and Yoshinori's supposed family members that their friend never existed.

Companies specializing in the settlement of estate or personal affects have gar-nered close attention in recent years along with the rise in numbers of solitary and unattended deaths. Aiko Tanizaki is an employee at one such company who rather than simply dispatching the belongings left behind by the deceased takes an inter-est in finding out about who they were, what they were like and the lives they led. It leads to a reexamination of values and sometimes a reestablishment of bonds be-tween the dead and their estranged family. Here is a mystery and suspense-filled drama depicting the careful process by which protagonist Aiko examines the things left behind by the dead, following up on the doubts and questions they raise, often discovering messages the departed hoped to convey, and even solving mysteries behind murder and suicide.

Aki, who has been studying child psychology to become a kindergarten teacher, takes up a side job as a private tutor and baby sitter as recommended by her professor. Then she meets a 5-year-old boy named Tsuyoshi. In the dimly-lit room, Tsuyoshi is drawing pictures. What he is drawing is a creepy guy called “Gi” who has the skill to “delete anyone that is unwanted.” Then, as Tsuyoshi predicts, people die one after another!

With dreams of becoming a Naoki Prize-winning author, Tomeji Kosuge is a widower who ekes out a living as a reporter for a trade newspaper while caring for his young daughter, Noriko, and living with his mother, Takie around 1963. Based on the true story of writer, Shuhei Fujisawa, Simple is Best traces the half life of protagonist, Fujisawa, up until his winning of the Naoki Prize in 1973 as seen through the eyes of his beloved daughter, Noriko.
A moving and poignant depiction about a man’s abiding love for family and passionate pursuit of a dream.

The year is 1934. Demand for the automobile is at last beginning to heat up some 10 plus years after the devastation of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 had utterly destroyed shipping and distribution networks. Now, the likes of U.S auto making giants, Ford and General Motors, were looking to carve up the Japanese market for themselves with their foreign-made automobiles. Wataru Yamazaki is sales manager for “Hinode Motors”, a GM dealership in Aichi Prefecture. Resistant to the misguided American sales techniques being forced upon him, he constantly tries to offer suggestions, but who’s going to listen to a salesman at one little dealership? One his way home from Osaka one day, Yamazaki sees a stalled Chevrolet atop the Suzuka mountain pass being fixed by a mechanic in a suit: Saichiro Aichi. It marks the beginning of a long and rich relationship between two men who would go on to launch the first Aichi Motor Automobile Dealership.