Rena Tanaka
An omnibus drama based on Ryo Asai's short stories, which won the 22nd Novel Subaru Rookie Award for "Kirishima, Stop Club Activities" and the 148th Naoki 35 Award for "Nanimono".
Daisuke Manpyo is the owner and president of the successful Hanshin Bank. He also owns several other companies and some real estate. His son-in-law is a bureaucrat at the Ministry of the Treasury, who tips him off that there is a move afoot to reorganize commercial banks. Manpyo is in for difficult times as he attempts to block the merger between his bank and another.
A family asks a man to build a house he would like to live in himself. However, when it is completed, the family disappears without moving in.
Sawa lives in a small port town called Hososhima in Hyuga City. He is a cheerful person who supports a single mother, Yoshiko, and also takes care of a junior high school younger brother. On the other hand, my divorced father, Takuji Tamayama, is a clumsy but hateful man who lives surfing. Sawa visits his father from time to time and takes care of him. Such a peaceful daily life is completely changed by the “incident” caused by my brother. Furthermore, by a reunion with my childhood friend Takeshi who is aiming to become a professional surfer, Sawa will be aware of the “real feeling” that he has hidden in his mind.
Michiko Oshitani, who lived in Shiga Prefecture, is found dead at an apartment in Tokyo. She was strangled to death. Mutsuo Koshikawa is the owner of the apartment and he goes missing. Detectives including Yuhei Matsumiya who is a cousin of Detective Kyoichiro Kaga , have difficulties in solving the case. They can't find a connection between Michiko Oshitani and Mutsuo Koshikawa. They soon learn that Michiko Oshitani came to Tokyo to visit Hiromi Asai . They graduated from the same school, but there isn't a connection between Hiromi Asai and Mutsuo Koshikawa. Detective Yuhei Matsumiya finds something near Michiko Oshitani's body. That something has the names of 12 bridges surrounding the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Detective Kyoichiro Kaga learns of the clue and becomes agitated. There's a connection with his late mother
As young girls Ino, Shika, and Cho were known as "The Wild Boar Butterflies of Bakurocho". Now, over thirty years old, and in a situation they can't tell anyone about, they abandon their jobs and families and set off on a journey to Ise. It's a hilarious trip for the girls!
Makoto Tanaka (Tadanobu Asano) is 40-years-old and has remarried. His wife is Nanae (Rena Tanaka) and they care for 2 daughters from Nanae's prior marriage. Makoto tries to have an ordinary family. Nanae then becomes pregnant. Afterwards, things begin to change among the family members.
Set in the Edo period, a story revolves around Kiyo, a woman who strives to overcome status differences of those days. When she pledges to live for love, a knife attack occurs at Edo castle. And as a 48th loyal retainer, her fate changes after a raid on Kira: she is determined to serve at the inner palace of Edo Castle called "Ooku".
The Katsuragi Household that runs a small store may appear serene. But as the younger son Minoru commits a murder on the street, the family is exposed to the public. Is there anybody that is behind this murder case?
Natsuko Kotani was born to be a swindler. Meanwhile, Tetsuko Ishida is Natsuko’s distant relative. Unlike Natsuko, Tetsuko is an attorney with an upright disposition. Whenever Natsuko makes trouble, Tetsuko is called to solve her troubles. Believing that Natsuko is using her, Tetsuko, with her boring life, begins to change.
The hotel Chateau de la Reine is located in Paris, France and it is considered the finest hotel there. The hotel has been in existence for 300 years. Tourists from all around the world want to stay at the Chateau de la Reine. A travel agency, which is teetering on bankruptcy, devises a plan to revive their company. They want to offer suite rooms at the Chateau de la Reine for night and day periods. The plan appears perfect, but the tourists who made reservations have tempers.
Fumi becomes Genzui Kusaka’s wife. During the turbulent times of the closing days for the Tokugawa shogunate, she lives positively and tries to keep up Shoin Yoshida's will. Shoin Yoshida is her older brother and intellectual.
32-year-old Kurosaki Yoriko has no man, no friends and no job. She starts to live alone for the first time and comes in touch with a new world. This is the story of the small incidents that occur within a 7-minute walking distance from her apartment.
Aruku, Aruku, Aruku ~Shikoku Henro-michi~ (NHK Drama Special, Winter 2013) is about Hayama Misa (Tanaka Rena), a down-on-her-luck free-lance writer. Leaving her unhappy life in Tokyo, she takes part in the Shikoku Pilgrimage as a lone walking pilgrim. It has been said that if a pilgrim completes the pilgrimage by visiting all 88 sacred places, his/her wish will be fulfilled.
Yuna lives on a remote Ryukyu island in Japan dividing her time between studies and tending the home for her father, a stoic sugar cane farmer. For reasons unknown to Yuna, her father has been ostracized by the rest of his family. Like generations before her, Yuna will move to the big island of Okinawa to finish her education, but before she leaves she must lead her traditional music circle in a farewell concert. In her stirring portrayal of Yuna, accomplished pop and television star, Miyoshi Ayaka sings and plays the sanmisen, a traditional Japanese stringed instrument. Director Yoshida has worked closely with the locals of Minamodaito to craft a sensitive and poignant impression of a young girl on the cusp of adulthood, torn between the alternately attractive and conflicting natures of tradition and progress.
Five former middle school classmates receive an email from a girl who was their classmate, but disappeared on a school trip 20 years ago. The email causes the five former classmates to meet once again.
The story is set in the 70s where Ishihara plays Fumiko, an university student, who gets involved romantically with her assistant professor Katase Shintaro (Iura Arata) and his wife Hinako (Tanaka Rena). However, on 28 February 1972, the police finds Shintaro seriously injured and a young man working in a electronics store (Saito Takumi) dead in a bungalow at Karuizawawhile Fumiko and Hinako are also present at the scene. The truth behind the case is not known and the case is quickly classified as a crime of passion which leads to Fumiko being sent to prison. 40 years later, a report writer Torigai Mitsuhiko (Watabe Atsuro) comes to know about this case and goes to interview the elderly Fumiko (Harada Mieko) in prison which leads him to find out what really happened at the bungalow.
Akinori Kimura (Sadao Abe) and his wife Mieko (Miho Kanno) opens an apple orchard in their hometown of Hirosaki in Aomori Prefecture. Due to Meiko's allergic reaction to pesticides, Akinori Kimura has to grow his apples without the aid of chemicals. Because of this challenge, his family endures hardships and suffers severe financial difficulties. Akinori Kimura even contemplates suicide. A miracle then happens...
Yamamura Shuji (Tamaki Hiroshi) runs staffing "Family Romance Company" - a company that rents out people to act like their client's family members for occasions like weddings, funerals & meeting with teachers. One day, a customer, who wants to be loved by a family, comes to the "Family Romance Company." The customer's name is Tosaki Ryunosuke (Takenaka Naoto), who only has only one month left to live. Yamamura Shuji takes on the request of Tosaki Ryunosuke, but something which Yamamura Shuji does not expect occurs in the process.
11 mysteries, 11 actors. Japan's favorite mystery author, the world of Higashino Keigo comes to life on screen through an assortment of short stories.
After losing their restaurant in a fire, a husband and wife come up with a strange plan to rebuild their shattered finances: marrying the husband off to a series of lonely women and defrauding them.
A man's body is found under the statue of a winged kirin in the Nihombashi area of Tokyo. A suspect named Yashima has a car accident and falls unconscious while he is attempting to run away. Yashima's lover Kaori comes from Fukushima and tells detectives that he is absolutely not a criminal. Meanwhile, Detective Kyoichiro Kaga's (Hiroshi Abe) investigates and uncovers a point of contact between the dead body and Yashima. A hidden fact of the victim is revealed which even his children did not know about...
Tsuji Eriko, who is the ace in her cosmetics company’s public relations division, always gets the man she targets. She has the contact details of hundreds of men in her mobile phone. No man has ever cut her off. A god appears before Eriko and declares that he intends to test her for the lowest level. “Who do you think I am?” An irate Eriko starts by aggressively flirting with Ogura Tsukasa, the person in charge of her company’s cosmetics at a major advertising agency, but the god ruthlessly judges her negatively. Even her younger sister Kaori has to point out that love is something more intimidating. The god does not offer concrete advice for he is not motivated by a love test for humans to begin with. Exposed to his complaints and digs, the remarriage of Eriko’s mother, Hisako, makes Eriko recall that bitter first love during junior high school days … … Before she knows it, she speaks out about her embarrassing self which she has never let anyone see, to the god. Will she pass the text and be able to have a happy love?
Kinjiro, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, is a good-natured fellow who goes around the country helping farm families. At his new appointment in Usuki City, Oita Prefecture, he visits a tea-growing family he has known for a long time. There, he finds the family head's granddaughter Minori, who lost her job in Tokyo and has just returned home.
A collection of 4 specials of Miyabe Miyuki “Gokujou” Mysteries.
Taira no Kiyomori is a 2012 Japanese television series. It is the 51st NHK taiga drama.
"Genji Monogatari" focuses on the love and hate relationships surrounding Genji Hakaru. Lady Fujitsubo is Genji's first love. Ryokuzono Miyasutokoro is obsessed with Genji and eventually becomes a spirit. Yu Kao, who is from the lower class, give comfort to Genji's emotional wounds. Writer Murasaki Shikibu is jealous of Genji and is eventually ordered by Seime Abe to write a work ...
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) was the Japanese Naval commander who was given the order to attack Pearl Harbour, an order he was duty bound to obey which went against his own personal beliefs. While this infamous attack is a low point in Japanese and US history it wouldn’t have happened if the Japanese government had listened to Yamamoto in 1939 and searched for a more peaceful way to end their war campaign, proving his many ominous presages of the outcomes of the attack to come true.
"FLOWERS" covers the lives of six woman whose lives span a period of three generations (from the Show period all the way through to the present day). Starting in the 1930's, Rin (Yu Aoi) is worried about her arranged marriage that her parents setup. Eventually Rin has three daughters: Kaoru (Yuko Takeuchi) - who tragically loses her husband in a car accident, Midori (Rena Tanaka) - a career woman who becomes shaken by a marriage proposal, and youngest child Sato (Yukie Nakama). In the 1960's Sato gives birth to Kanna (Kyoka Suzuki) and Kei (Ryoko Hirosue). In the present day, Kanna is now worried about becoming a single mother. The lives of these woman are portrayed with beauty and grace.
A story about a temporary-staff worker who finds refuge in the fantasy world of a comic, Rose of Versailles. Katsuko's mediocre days is put to an end when the son of her company president arrives at her office and lays out unreasonable a cost-cutting policy which upsets Katsuko. Her inner ear hears the voice of Oscar, the main character of "Rose of Versailles" who stands up for the people, and decides to take action against him to save her helpless colleagues. --NHK
Niini no Koto o Wasurenaide is a special drama that was broadcast on NTV on August 29, 2009 which starred Ryo Nishikido in the title role. The special was based on a true story and the original Novel of the same name by Kawakami Masumi.
Rintaro directs a tale of three children who visit a land of wonder. This is the first "3D anime" that Madhouse has produced. Oh, and there are penguins.
The arrival of a bride-to-be shakes a hapless ski resort and proves to the three young down-and-out local skiers that there is much more to life than they think.
Ryokiteki na Kanojo is a Japanese television drama based on the South Korean movie My Sassy Girl. It narrates the story between Saburo Masaki, a marine biologist, and Riko Takami, an aspiring writer with a short temper. While the two are at odds with each other at first, they eventually become attracted to each other and develop a relationship. It received an average of 8.18% viewer rating throughout the series.
One day a puppy comes to the house of Akari, who has just turned twelve, and was trying hard to act strong after her mother suddenly fell ill. She immediately falls in love with the puppy and names it "Socks" after the paws which looked like they had white socks on. Akari was together with Socks day and night. However, as Akari grows up, her feelings and interest moves away from Socks. Year by year, their distance grows, which also leads to her physical distance as she moves to a far off city, and must leave Socks behind to a childhood friend.One day Akari remembers the 10 promises that she had made with Socks and her deceased mother...
Young women disappear one after another in drizzling rain. They all hear the “cursed song” of the Cage Song before they vanish into thin air. Kitaro and his friends investigate these mysterious cases when they meet Kaede Hiramoto, a high school girl who finds herself involved in this mystery. With the help from the librarian of Yokai Library, they find out that the curse was caused by an evil Yokai that was released from 1,000 years of sealing. To save Kaede, they are to gather the 5 ancient musical instruments and perform the ritual to seal the evil Yokai again, which has to be done within 48 hours!
Based on a short story written by Shuhei Fujisawa (who also wrote Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, Love and Honor), the film depicts the uneasy life of Noe Isomura (Rena Tanaka) with the difficult family she has married into after her former husband passed away. One day as she tries to brake off a branch of a cherry tree, she is aided by a samurai who she does not recognize but who recognizes her. He turns out to be a former suitor that she never met named Yaichiro Tezuka (Noriyuki Higashiyama) and who teaches swordsmanship to the local samurai. Meanwhile, the powerful new chief retainer of the village enacts land policies that threaten the survival of the local farmers.
It may sound cliché, but Japanese people really do love their fish. If Japan has the best and freshest fish in the world, then Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market is where you're most likely to find them. It's the home of Japan's biggest daily fish auction, and it's a place of fierce competition between fish merchants that have been in the business for generations. Based on a comic series, The Taste of Fish follows businessman Shuntaro, who has a successful career in a trading company and is in a steady relationship with girlfriend Asuka. One day, Shuntaro has to help out at the fish wholesaler store run by Asuka's father, and he immediately falls in love with the world of Tsukiji Fish Market. Soon, Shuntaro quits his job and devotes all of his time to running the business while learning about the market's fascinating set of long-standing traditions. However, he must first also learn to distinguish the tastes of different fishes before he can survive in the competitive world of Tsukiji.
A series of murders of beautiful girls occur in Tokyo not long after the end of the war. Also the daughter of a retired actress, Yuzuki Yoko, has gone missing. In the meantime, a religious cult that claims to shut away misfortunes in a box has been gaining popularity, displaying an eerie aspect. Yoko's daughter is alleged to have been run over by a train, and taken into a research institute situated in a gigantic box-shaped building. A private detective Enokizu (Abe Hiroshi), a writer Sekiguchi (Shiina Kippei), a journalist Atsuko and a police detective Kiba each pursues their own case, and Chuzenji (Tsutsumi Shinichi), an owner of a secondhand bookshop, "Kyogoku Do" suspects that all cases are linked to the box-shaped research institute.
Thirteen years afterward, I wonder if those who bombed Hiroshima are looking at me and saying: 'We did it! We were able to kill another person!' They should be," murmurs Minami (played by Kumiko Aso), one of the two leading female characters in Yunagi no Machi, Sakura no Kuni, as she lies dying in 1958, her life brought to a premature end by sickness resulting from her exposure to atomic bomb radiation. This is a story about those who at least initially survived the first U.S. atomic bombing of 1945 and their descendants in contemporary times. The film, based on a comic by Fumiyo Kono, jumps between the two time frames and quietly depicts the sorrow and mortification experienced through the everyday lives of laid-back and soft-spoken Hiroshima people. Only a few scenes of the bombing and the ensuing devastation are featured.
Hana, 21-year old, is sent to a mental hospital for attempting a suicide. She suffers from hearing a deep male voice in her head almost everyday that goes, "Twenty yards of linen are worth one coat..." She gradually regains her peace of mind by traveling across Kyushu dragging with her Nagoyan, a guy from Nagoya who is suffering from depression. They take on their journey on Nagoyan's old faithful car, Luce.
Saeko Shirasu is a 25-year-old war front-line photo-journalist who became a celebrity after taking a picture of civilians raising a makeshift UN flag in war-torn Uddiyana. The image then became an instant symbol for peace. However, just before the peace agreement is achieved, the flag was stolen by an armed extremist group in order to obstruct the truce. The UN peacekeepers decide to covertly send in a SDC (pronounced as "Seedac"—Special Development Command) unit to retrieve the flag. Because of her connection with the "Flag" photo, Saeko Shirasu was offered the job of following the SDC unit as a front line journalist. Among the SDC unit's equipment is the HAVWC (High Agility Versatile Weapon Carrier—pronounced "havoc") mecha armored vehicle.
It's the story of a rebellious Japanese-Taiwanese girl (played by Rena Tanaka from “Kitaro”) who gets transported back to ancient times and embarks on an adventure with a Taoist priest and a thief. On the road, the group encounters numerous dangers, stumbling upon a conspiracy involving a powerhungry sorcerer and the corrupt court.
Michiru has lost her eyesight, and to make matters worse, her father dies shortly afterwards. She is now all alone and spends most of her day isolated in her home. Akihiro is a Chinese-Japanese immigrant, that has had to deal with racism all throughout his life. He is now tormented at work by one of his older co-workers named Toshio. One day at a train station in front of Michiru's house, Toshio is thrown into the path of an oncoming train. The only person seen at the train stop was Akihiro. Akihiro frantically flees from the scene and manages to enter Michiru's house without her knowledge. After a few days, Michiru starts to sense the presence of another person in her home.
One 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.
Kyogokudo is a used book seller who doubles as an onmyouji, or Heian style occultist. His friend Sekiguchi brings him the story of a woman who has been pregnant for twenty months. Sekiguchi investigates further with the help of his friend Enokizu, a detective with the unusual ability to see people's memories. They are hired by the impossibly pregnant woman's sister to find the woman's missing husband and lay this whole matter to rest. In the end, they need the help of Kyogokudo to exorcise the family curse.
Kanzo Hattori, an apprentice Ninja, leaves his home town of Iga for his final training. He must go to the city of Edo (Tokyo), and the first person he meets shall be his master, whom he must protect with his life, whilst upholding the ninja code. Also while in Edo, Hattori must find out why their rivals, the Koga Ninjas, are flourishing while the Iga Ninjas are dying out. Hattori's master is Kenichi, a 9 year old boy. Kenichi is an introvert and not very popular boy, so he never plays with the other children from school. Kenichi also has a secret crush on a young lady called Midori, yet he's too shy to speak to her. Though as he watches Hattori trying his best, he too begins to try. Meanwhile, people are being found unconscious, their bodies completely unmarked. All the victims have a tattoo (the Koga Ninja crest) and are found with a throwing knife lying close by.
Seven friends gather at a party in Kyoto to celebrate Masamichi's entry to graduate school. Maki & her boyfriend Nakazawa join the party and get drunk easily after the friendship reunion. Kate has a crush on one of the cute guy who doesn't have any interests on her though. The cheerful and unforgettable night is full of joy while the whales and the thief incidents also attract the attention of them. Before the sunrise, seven friends meet again on the beach so as to witness the fade of youth days.
Pharmaceutical student, Keiko witnesses her boyfriend having an affair. Shocked and disappointed, she jumps on a train ("destination anywhere, east or west, she don't care") and ends up in a town named Masao in Tokyo's remote suburbs. There, she gets a part-time job at a newly opened drugstore. What do ya know.. The local shopping district's middle-aged men all fall for the young girl's charms, and they start practicing lacrosse once they have found out that that's her favourite sport.
Set in a toy store specialized in antique toys, a boy works in the toy store and is obsessed with tin toys. There's one particular tin toy he loves more than the rest. In walks a girl wearing shades, and starts telling her own story, a weird and fascinating experience she had with a toy.
Eriko – lonely, aimless and self-absorbed – falls for Tamura. Despite knowing that he is waiting for his girlfriend to return from overseas, she requests to enter into a relationship with him for just one year.
Director Jun Ichikawa spins this affectionate portrait of the people who populate Shimokitazawa, a bohemian corner of Tokyo filled with small theater companies and smoky coffeehouses.
This coming-of-age story from Japan opens just after 17-year-old Sataka has gotten dumped by her boyfriend. When her mother is hospitalized with a malignant stomach ulcer, Sataka is left alone with her emotionally repressed father; whiling away the hours one day, she comes across a love letter written to her mother 24 years earlier. Deciding to track down the letter's author, Sataka eventually finds Shinichiro (Hiroyuki Sanada), an overweight slob who was abandoned by his wife years earlier and now spends his time hanging around pachinko parlors. Determined to clean him up and reintroduce him to her mother, Sataka nags Shinchiro until he finally agrees to her demands, and a gradual friendship develops between the two as Sataka drags him to the gym and a clothing store. But once Shinchiro's makeover is complete, he turns the tables on his young friend, and when the time comes for him to meet Sataka's mother, all concerned parties find themselves embarking on a new phase in their lives.
Tohru Fujisawa's popular manga about a wildly irreverent high school teacher comes to the screen in this live-action comedy drama. Eikichi Onizuka (Takashi Sorimachi), who barely earned his teaching degree at a second-rate college, rolls into Horobonai, a small rural town in Northern Japan on his motorcycle to take a job as a substitute instructor. Ever since the closing of the local theme park, Horobonai has fallen into an economic tailspin, and many of the town's teenagers have sunk into a deep depression. Onizuka, however, isn't the sort of person who respects the town's newly somber personality; willing to mouth off to both his students and his superiors, Onizuka isn't much of a teacher, but he knows how to get people interested, and soon his brash style (and willingness to kick a few butts) brings new life to Horobonai.
Etsuko - a typical Japanese high school student, who's unlucky in love, an academic failure, and plain bored with life. That's until one day, the view of a boat gliding gracefully in the sea inspires her to take up the oar. Since she's rejected by her school's all-male rowing team, she decides to form her own all-women team. Nothing will ever be the same again.
