The Black Leather Notebook
Ginza is a night town filled with ambition and burning desire… How does a plain bank clerk embezzle an enormous amount of money and jump into the underground world? What is her ultimate goal? Her greatest weapon is a black leather-bound notebook.
Hidetomo Matsuda
Meiji Fujita
Casts & Crew
Ryoko Yonekura
Also Directed by Hidetomo Matsuda
Based on the novel "Tsuyoki Ari" by Seicho Matsumoto In her past, Isako Sawada ran a restaurant. She then met Nobuhiro who is 31 years older than her and an executive of a corporation. They eventually married. Nobuhiro owns a large mansion and his money is managed by housekeeper Saki Tsubaki. Isako Sawada doesn't like that arrangement, but she hides her contempt because she has a plan. Her plan is to become a widow in 3 years and inherit one billion yen from her husband. Isako Sawada schemes to have Nobuhiro die in an apparent natural manner and she is having a relationship with another man.
Ring: The Final Chapter is a television series, produced in Japan, based on the Ring movie series. There are a total of 12 episodes in the series and a sequel was made called Rasen, consisting of 13 episodes.
Japanese-American track star Mizuki Ashiya transfers from a school in California to Japan, but not to just any old school. The school is Osaka High School - an all male high school! Mizuki Ashiya must disguise herself as a boy, all to get closer to her hero Izumi Sano, a high jump athlete who attends Osaka High. Now with short hair, flattened chest and deeper voice, Mizuki becomes roommates with Izumi Sano, but trouble soon starts to brew. Izumi Sano discovers by accident that Mizuki is a girl and falls in love with her, but Mizuki is unaware of the fact. Complicating things, fellow classmate Shuichi Nakatsu starts to develop feelings for Mizuki, unaware that she is a girl!
This renzoku follows four women in the "around 40" generation. Shifumi is an attractive woman who stole her classmate's boyfriend in high school, and despite criticism from others, she got married and had a child. However, she soon divorced and currently keeps a younger boyfriend. Three of Shifumi's former classmates: ordinary housewife Makiko, work-focused doctor Neri, and housewife Miwa. Miwa is having an affair with Shifumi's ex-husband Keishi (the boyfriend Shifumi originally stole from her.) Eventually, the various secrets and lies kept by the four women all come to light.
Nobuko Sawaguchi is a surly, unattractive housekeeper in her mid-thirties. However, in actuality, she is a beautiful woman, but she hides this fact using her makeup because of a traumatic past experience. One day Nobuko is sent to housekeep for the Uehara family, known for its tremendous wealth. In the Uehara family, there is a massive quarrel over each member’s future succession and inheritance. In the middle of this hectic situation, Nobuko is asked by the daughter called Akemi to protect her.
Motoharu Akiyama is an elite pilot who has just completed astronaut training at NASA. Something happened in his past that caused him to go out searching for the meaning and purpose of life. However, he hasn't been able to find a satisfactory reply and the void in his heart has only expanded. But Akiyama has a meeting that changes his life. He meets Reiko Nishina, a director at an investment bank, who is looking at investing in an attempt at the first Japanese space shuttle launch. Although the meeting was pure chance, it affects Reiko greatly. She realizes that although it looks like she has everything, there is something she wants that she doesn't have. And this meeting has an effect on those around them also...
Journalist Maebata Shigeko, young Tsukada Shinichi and elderly Arima Yoshio all suffer from and become involved in a serial kidnap and murder case. Shinichi first discovers a cut arm and handbag from the murder case. Elderly Yoshio's granddaughter is a murder victim. Based on the novel "Mohouhan" by Miyuki Miyabe.
Hosted by veteran comedian Tamori, "Bizarre Tales 2002 Spring Special" presents five tales. 1. Mushi Game (Ignore the Game) - starring Uchiyama Rina 2. Okashina Machi (Funny Town) - starring Yanagiba Toshiro 3. Tokage no Shippo (Lizard's Tail) - starring Kashiwabara Takashi 4. Yogisha no Otoko (Man's Night Train) - starring Osugi Ren 5. Manhole - starring Kagawa Teruyuki
Nobuko is a plain, unattractive woman with disheveled hair, and is hired as a housekeeper in the Inamura residence in Tokyo. The Inamuras are a family of six. The father, Tatsuya, is the head of a university hospital's department of internal medicine. He lives with his wife Haruko, their three sons, and Tatsuya's mother, Shigeko. Although the Inamuras appear to be a happy family, Nobuko soon uncovers the truth.
Takanashi Shoko is a former lawyer. She was disbarred from the law profession due to an incident. Later, she persuades a university professor, who is accredited as a lawyer, to open a law firm. Takanashi Shoko hires a lawyer and assistants to work at the law firm. The team goes after legal victory. They go up against a large firm in a civil suit. While working on the suit, the team experiences difficult situations.
Also Directed by Meiji Fujita
Akira was a sax player in New York, but retired from it because of his wife's sudden death. One day, Akira Agawa met Yui Uehara, a young woman who works for the cleaning station, and eventually reunited in New York. Since then, they have opened up their hearts and are gradually attracted to each other.
Detective Yoichiro arrives at a crime scene involving the brutal murder of three family members to find a young five-year-old boy hiding in the closet. The discovery of the young boy takes Detective Yoichiro back to his own tragic childhood when his parents were killed in a fire. Without any real clues, the murder investigation continues unsolved. That is, until another murder takes place one year later, this time with a mother and son as the victims. And evidence found at the scene links the killer to the murder that took place a year ago.
The drama has Okada playing the part of Shiba Kengo, a pure-hearted young surgeon who is dedicated to his work. He gets transferred from a prestigious university hospital to a financially troubled hospital, but there he meets a capable and cool-headed chief nurse named Kasugai Yuka (Nakatani), who teaches him the reality of the medical world. The pure Kengo must face various obstacles and challenges as he tears off the “masks” of respected professionals – doctors, nurses, and educators – and uncovers their true natures.
A blackmail arrives at Appi ski resort. “We demand 30,000,000 yen as consolation money for the destruction of the environment. If you do not respond to the demand, a time bomb set on the ski slope will be detonated.” If the bomb goes off, it will not only hurt the skiers but trigger an avalanche and cause a major catastrophe. The general manager of the ski pistes, Kurata (Ken Watanabe) pleads for an immediate shutdown of the ski site and reporting to the police, but the president of the ski resort gives priority to business interests and decides to negotiate with the blackmailer. And a negotiation process for a despicable ransom case with a massive hostage of all the skiers at the resort begins.
A young, mentally retarded boy is wrongfully accused of murder, but his family lacks the means to hire an attorney to defend him. The boy’s sister, Kiriko, pleads with an accomplished attorney named Otsuka to defend her brother pro bono. But because of Otsuka’s busy schedule and other priorities, he refuses to take the case. Lacking a proper defense, Kiriko’s brother is eventually convicted of murder, and dies in prison. From that point on, Kiriko is determined to take revenge against Otuska.