Winter 2011 Dramas

Taisetsuna Koto wa Subete Kimi ga Oshiete Kureta
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Mondays, 17 January 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Toda Erika, Miura Haruma, Takei Emi, Suda Masaki, Goriki Ayame, Hirose Alice, Nakajima Kento, Ishibashi Anna, Nose Anna, Shinoda Mariko, Uchida Yuki, Nishimura Masahiko, Azama Morio
Synopsis: Uemura Natsumi (Toda Erika) is an English high school teacher at Meiryo Gakuen Senior High School. It had been her dream to teach. She has a good relationship with her students because of her passionate and straightforward personality, and has a fulfilling professional life. Furthermore, Natsumi is in bliss for she is engaged to marry Kashiwagi Shuji (Miura Haruma) six months later. Shuji who was her classmate in high school as well as university, and is now a fellow teacher. Shuji is a popular biology teacher well-respected by students, parents and colleagues. Everyone blesses the marriage between Natsumi and Shuji. However, Shuji makes a mistake by having a relationship with Saeki Hikari (Takei Emi), a second-year female student in one of his classes the night before the start of the new school term. Hikari is, for some reason, under the impression that she is “defective goods” and has an inferiority complex. As a result of that one night with Shuji, Hikari approaches Natsumi … Shuji’s betrayal makes Natsumi learn about her jealous and cruel side, and she has to come to terms with her own self again. On the other hand, Shuji, who is caught between Natsumi and Hikari, is in agony but gradually finds himself hoping to save Hikari when he finds out about the darkness in her heart …
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/kimigaoshietekureta

Control ~ Hanzai Shinri Sousa
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 11 January 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Matsushita Nao, Fujiki Naohito, Yokoyama Yu, Kitamura Yukiya, Usuda Asami, Sato Jiro, Okumura Kae, Yoza Yoshiaki, Katsumura Masanobu, Izumiya Shigeru
Synopsis: Segawa Rio (Matsushita Nao) is an hot-blooded female police detective who brims with a sense of justice and solves mysteries of brutal crimes using psychology. However, she is hopeless in love. As a result of her strong, over enthusiastic personality, she is kept at arm’s length by those around her. Her partner is Nagumo Jun (Fujiki Naohito), a psychology professor who is very logical but eccentric. The two of them get along like oil and water, locking horns though working together to crack cases.
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/control

Utsukushii Rinjin
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 11 January 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Nakama Yukie, Dan Rei, Watabe Atsuro, Miura Rieko, Takachi Noboru, Moriyama Eiji, Suzuki Sawa, Minami Keisuke, Kusabue Mitsuko, Kobayashi Masahiro, Takeno Isao, Fujii Mina, Aoyama Haru
Synopsis: A sudden encounter between a gracefully attractive but mysterious woman, Saki (Nakama Yukie), and an ordinary housewife, Eriko (Dan Rei), who has a happy family, causes Eriko’s serene daily life to fall apart. Eriko’s husband, Shinji (Watabe Atsuro) becomes the target of Saki’s advances and finds himself caught between her and his wife.
Website: www.ktv.jp/rinjin

Fake ~ Kyoto Bijutsu Jiken Emaki
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 4 January 2011
Station: NHK
Cast: Zaizen Naomi, Minamino Yoko, Sano Shiro, Terada Minori, Fujimura Shiho
Synopsis: 40-year-old Urasawa Yu (Zaizen Naomi) is a part-time university lecturer. She is single, has no boyfriend and is awkward in interpersonal relationships. However, just as her name suggests, she is such a good judge of works of art that she is in a league of her own – able to tell the real from the fake when the issue of authenticity arises.
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/drama/fake

Shijuukunichi no Recipe
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Tuesdays, 15 February 2011
Station: NHK
Cast: Wakui Emi, Fubuki Jun, Ito Shiro, Tokunaga Eri, Watabe Gota
Synopsis: Yuriko (Wakui Emi) decides on a divorce with her husband and returns to her family home where her stepmother, Otomi (Fubuki Jun), had passed away two weeks ago. There she sees her father, Ryohei (Ito Shiro), Imoto (Tokunaga Eri), a mysterious young woman who looks after her father, and Harumi (Watabe Gota), a Brazilian youth of Japanese descent. The four of them, including Yuriko, begin a strange communal life together until the 49th day after Otomi’s death …
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/drama/49nichi

Quartet (2011)
Date: From 1.00 a.m., Tuesdays, 18 January 2011
Station: TBS
Cast: Fukuda Saki, Matsushita Yuya, Natsuna, Kamikawa Takaya, Oishi Goro, Nagasawa Toshiya
Synopsis: Shun (Fukuda Saki), who has tattoos and piercings all over her body, is the third generation descendant of a Japanese orphan left behind in China during World War II. Takeru (Matsushita Yuya) is a lonely and reckless hooligan whose family was murdered when he was a child. Shun, Takeru and a third youth with an equally troubled past and background, become collaborators in police undercover operations in the city of ‘Midori’, a neighbourhood for illegal residents. They infiltrate a criminal gang to investigate, and find illicit human drug experiments and slave treatment staring them in the face. They grow to trust one another and mature through this experience.
Website: www.mbs.jp/quartet

Misaki Number One!
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Wednesdays, 12 January 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Karina, Fujigaya Taisuke, Kitayama Hiromitsu, Omasa Aya, Ichikawa Tomohiro, Ohno Takuro, Tanaka Kei, Usuda Asami, Tsuchiya Yuichi, Hajime, Tejima Yu, Tsukaji Muga, Toda Keiko, Zaizen Naomi 　
Synopsis: Tennoji Misaki (Karina), the popular, number one hostess at a Roppongi cabaret club, transforms into a sexy high school teacher at the request of the club’s female proprietress whom she feels indebted to. Misaki becomes a teacher at the prestigious Mido Gakuen for a 3-month period, and is put in charge of Class 2Z which is full of problem children. She stands up to the students with her innate passion while hiding her identity as a cabaret club hostess.
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/misaki

Honboshi ~ Shinri Tokuso Jikenbo
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Thursdays, 20 January 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Funakoshi Eiichiro, Otsuka Nene, Kiriyama Ren, Yasuda Misako, Sugata Shun, Satoi Kenta, Komiya Motonari, Shiraishi Shunya, Enoki Takaaki, Ishibashi Renji, Takashima Masahiro
Synopsis: Former psychologist, Kirishima Kosaku (Funakoshi Eiichiro), is now an investigator. His belief is that “The heart, which the eyes cannot see, will always take shape and manifest itself. With that as the cue, all complicated shifts in mood can be explained using psychology”. He sees through the lies of his subjects from their expressions and behaviours, and exposes the truth by setting up psychology experiments. This investigation method is seen as offbeat, but it is backed by sound academic theory.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/honboshi

Kokuhatsu ~ Kokusen Bengonin
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Thursdays, 13 January 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Tamura Masakazu, Maya Miki, Aibu Saki, Kondo Yoshimasa, Matsuo Toshinobu, Yamaguchi Tomomitsu, Hashizume Isao, Kimura Tae (guest star), Hara Sachie (guest star), Shaku Yumiko (guest star), Wakamura Mayumi (guest star), Kuninaka Ryoko (guest star), Ichihara Etsuko (guest star)
Synopsis: Lawyer Sawara (Tamura Masakazu) is a court-appointed attorney – a lawyer elected under a provision in the Constitution for defendants who are unable to request a lawyer due to financial and other reasons. Armed with the conviction to save the people who have committed crimes, Sawara fights for the truth. He takes no account of fees, makes no distinction between victims and defendants, and wishes for the happiness of those people. His relationship with his only daughter, Tsuruko (Aibu Saki), a member of an international medical team, has not been cordial ever since his wife was murdered as a result of his carelessness.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/kokuhatsu

Gaikoukan Kuroda Kousaku
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Thursdays, 13 January 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Oda Yuji, Shibasaki Kou, Kagawa Teruyuki, Konno Mahiru, Kaho, Tanaka Kei, Nishijima Takahiro, Iwamatsu Ryo, Hagiwara Masato, Kusakari Tamiyo, Kondo Masaomi, Katase Nana
Synopsis: Kuroda Kousaku (Oda Yuji), a diplomat who belongs to the Japanese anti-terrorism office, crisscrosses San Francisco, Mexico and Japan with one conviction: to protect Japanese people. His partner is Ogaki Rikako (Shibasaki Kou), a somewhat unreliable female detective who is an onsen and map enthusiast.
Website: wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/KOSAKUKURODA

Jidankoshonin Gota Keshi
Date: From 11.58 p.m., Thursdays, 6 January 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Nishino Akihiro, Kutsuna Shiori, Gori
Synopsis: Shirai Torajiro (Nishino Akihiro), nicknamed Byakko (‘White Tiger’), is a former diplomat whose hair turned white overnight after he was subjected to tremendous physical abuse. He dislikes people and is a loner, but during his time as a diplomat, he was trained in areas such as negotiation techniques and behavioural psychology, and conditioned to be the trump card in political diplomacy. Assisted by Sakura Ayano (Kutsuna Shiori), a freeter, Shirai applies his negotiation skills to penetrate the lies of those who have maliciously created trouble, and free people from the depths of despair.
Website: www.ytv.co.jp/gotakeshi

Akuto ~ Juuhanzai Sousahan
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Fridays, 21 January 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Takahashi Katsunori, Koizumi Kotaro, Uchiyama Rina, Suzuki Kosuke, Umezawa Tomio, Hirayama Hiroyuki, Murakami Hiroaki
Synopsis: Police Sergeant Togashi Masayoshi (Takahashi Katsunori), a senior detective of Yokohama Minato-cho Police Precinct’s Fourth Section leads a team of strong players – Iinuma Reiko (Uchiyama Rina), Yamashita Manabu (Hirayama Hiroyuki) and Shibata Haru (Suzuki Kosuke). The detectives of the Fourth Sub-division pride themselves on having the best arrest rate among all the police precincts of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police. These villainous detectives, who stop at nothing to solve cases, use other evil ways to close in on the bad persons targeted and hunt down criminals through actions that are barely legal. Despite such devious action taken, they always arrest the ultimate villains in the end. Then, Satonaka Keiichiro (Koizumi Kotaro), the new head comes to the Fourth Sub-division. He is an elite who brims with a strong sense of justice …
Website: akutou.asahi.co.jp

Lady ~ Saigo no Hanzai Profile
Date: From 10.00 p.m., Fridays, 7 January 2011
Station: TBS
Cast: Kitagawa Keiko, Kimura Tae, Hiraoka Yuta, Kaname Jun, Sudo Risa, Santamaria Yusuke, Ozawa Yukiyoshi
Synopsis: A young lady of action and a strong sense of justice, Katsuki Shoko (Kitagawa Keiko) learned criminal profiling at the FBI academy in the US and is recruited to be a profiler at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s newly created Criminal Profiling Support Team (CPS). She infers criminal profiles by analysing their actions and psyche from traces of crimes which are more than the detectives of the First Investigative Division can handle, and solves cases with her boundless energy. Shoko is also ‘crime maniac’ who knows the details of past crimes and is lousy at romance.
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/LADY_cps

Bartender
Date: From 11.15 p.m., Fridays, 4 February 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Aiba Masaki, Kanjiya Shihori, Arakawa Yoshiyoshi, Mitsuishi Ken, Ikezu Shoko, Nishi Keiko, Kaneko Nobuaki, Omi Toshinori, Tsugawa Masahiko, Takenaka Naoto
Synopsis: Bartender Kase Goro announces that Sasakura Ryu (Aiba Masaki) is sacked despite winning a European cocktail contest at the age of 26. Not understanding Kase’s intentions, a dejected Ryu returns to Japan and leads a wandering existence. However, Ryu’s encounter with the magazine reporter, Kurushima Miwa (Kanjiya Shihori), who is actually the heiress of the Kurushima conglomerate, brings about a change in him. He sets his sights on being a bartender who can save the lives of hurt people with a drink, while he gropes about the way of life of a bartender.
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/bartender

Deka Wanko
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 15 January 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Tabe Mikako, Sawamura Ikki, Tegoshi Yuya, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Masu Takeshi, Okura Koji, Ishizuka Hidehiko, Mikami Kensei, Sano Shiro, Ito Shiro
Synopsis: Hanamori Ichiko (Tabe Mikako), nicknamed “Wanko”, is a rookie detective who belongs to the Thirteenth Section of the First Investigative Division’s Eighth Violent Crimes Unit and is partnered with the police dog, Michael, whom she regards as her rival. She dresses in Goth Lolita fashion and has a nose like a bloodhound, never forgetting a scent once she has smelled it. This astounding sense of smell guides her in solving difficult cases one after another. In fact, Ichiko has the best arrest rate but also gets into the most trouble. The handsome detective Kirishima Ryuta (Tegoshi Yuya) is Ichiko’s colleague. He initially reacts adversely to Ichiko but gradually gets caught up in her pace …
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/dekawanko

Taro no Tou
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Saturdays, 26 February 2011
Station: NHK
Cast: Matsuo Suzuki, Tokiwa Takako, Tanabe Seiichi, Hamada Gaku, Yamazaki Hajime, Masana Bokuzo, Cunning Takeyama, Tezuka Toru, Shimada Kyusaku, Matsuo Takashi, Narimiya Hiroki, Hirata Mitsuru, Yo Kimiko, Nishida Toshiyuki, Nakao Akira, Kohinata Fumiyo, Terajima Shinobu
Synopsis: The members of the Okamoto family were the admired “holy family of art”. Okamoto Taro (Matsuo Suzuki) was born into this artistic family as the son of novelist Okamoto Kanoko (Terajima Shinobu) and manga artist Okamoto Ippei (Tanabe Seiichi). Spurred to take the path of avant garde art, he constantly battled against the old Japanese society. And then he met Okamoto Toshiko (Tokiwa Takako) who was to become his adopted daughter …
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/dodra/taro

Shakking 2 ~ Unmei no Hoshu
Date: From 12.00 a.m., Saturdays, 8 January 2011
Station: WOWOW
Cast: Nakamura Shunsuke, Honjo Manami, Fukikoshi Mitsuru, Uehara Misa, Kirishima Reika, Sano Shiro, Masu Takeshi, Osugi Ren, Ishibashi Renji
Synopsis: Securities analyst Kuroki Miho (Honjo Manami) and former Metropolitan Police Department inspector Koshikawa Motohiro (Fukikoshi Mitsuru), who is now a homeless man, have each borrowed 300 million yen from the president of a financial company, Hongo Keisuke (Nakamura Shunsuke), a man with a painful past. In order to repay the money owed to Hongo, Miho and Koshikawa join hands with him, and begin to carry out schemes to take large sums of money from bad people who make money through dirty tactics. Their first target is Tsushima Goro (Sano Shiro). Tsushima is the president of Premium Beauty and has amassed a personal fortune by selling inferior cosmetic products. Miho offers ‘Cleopatra’s coffin’ to Tsushima whose hobby is collecting historical artifacts, but he seeks proof to enable him to verify the authenticity of that coffin. Will the three of them be able to strip the deeply suspicious Tsushima of money?
Website: www.wowow.co.jp/drama/king2
Related: Shakking ~ Zeni no Tatsujin

Go ~ Himetachi no Sengoku
Date: From 8.00 p.m., Sundays, 9 January 2011
Station: NHK
Cast: Ueno Juri, Miyazawa Rie, Mizukawa Asami, Seto Koji, Mukai Osamu, Sometani Shota, Sakamoto Shogo, Saito Takumi, Suzuki Honami, Kishitani Goro, Suzuki Sawa, Kitamura Yujiya, Hakamada Yoshihiko, Hagiwara Masato, Tokito Saburo, Toyokawa Etsushi, Shiba Toshio, Daichi Yasuo, Ichimura Masachika, Otake Shinobu, Ishizaka Koji, Naraoka Tomoko, Kitaoji Kinya
Synopsis: Go (Ueno Juri) was born as the third daughter of Azai Nagamasa (Tokito Saburo), the lord of Odani Castle in Omi province, and Ichi (Suzuki Honami), the younger sister of Oda Nobunaga (Toyokawa Etsushi). She was the last of the “three Azai sisters” who were famous historical figures. Her father was wiped out by Nobunaga soon after her birth. Her mother, Ichi, then married Shibata Katsuie. However, Katsuie was defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Kishitani Goro). Ichi committed suicide and the sisters were taken into custody by Hideyoshi. Go was the first among her three sisters to marry, but she was forced to divorce her husband, Saji Kazunari, because he was in the camp opposed to Hideyoshi. Her second husband, Hashiba Hidekatsu, departed for the battlefield shortly after their marriage and died of illness in Korea. Her third marriage was to Hidetada (Mukai Osamu), the son of Hideyoshi’s greatest rival, Tokugawa Ieyasu (Kitaoji Kinya), and future second-generation Tokugawa shogun.
Website: www.nhk.or.jp/go

Fuyu no Sakura
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 16 January 2011
Station: TBS
Cast: Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, Imai Miki, Sato Takeru, Kato Rosa, Takashima Masanobu, Yamazaki Shigenori, Denden, Oshima Yoko, Shirahane Yuri, Yoshida Hideko, Enami Kyoko
Synopsis: Inaba Hiroshi (Kusanagi Tsuyoshi) is a glass craftsman in Yamagata prefecture who has devoted himself to caring for his mother. He has a kind, gentle personality but has never fallen in love even though he has turned 36. 41-year-old Ishikawa Monami (Imai Miki), a full-time housewife, has travelled alone to Yamagata in search of winter cherry blossoms. However, she meets with an accident and loses her memory. She cannot even remember why she is here. Or the fact that she has a husband, Koichi (Takashima Masanobu), and daughter in Tokyo. Hiroshi looks after her and she falls for him, but is disturbed when she regains her memory. It is first love for Hiroshi, who is worried when he learns that she has a short time to live. Meanwhile, Koichi becomes aware of Hiroshi’s existence and soon undergoes a sudden change in character …
Website: www.tbs.co.jp/fuyuno-sakura

School!
Date: From 9.00 p.m., Sundays, 16 January 2011
Station: Fuji TV
Cast: Eguchi Yosuke, Nishijima Hidetoshi, Kitano Kii, Tsukamoto Takashi, Kishibe Ittoku, Ichikawa Miwako, Miura Shohei, Horiuchi Keiko, Shiomi Sansei
Synopsis: A passionate man (Eguchi Yosuke) who is a born leader and is called the “eternal boss of the neighbourhood kids” and “a man among men” by the people around him has worked for a medium-sized construction company for 20 years. He is the manager of construction sites of dams, tunnels and bridges. One day, he returns to his alma mater as its school principal in order to fulfill his promise to his teacher. A public elementary school saddled with numerous problems such as declining academic standards, bullying and monster parents, it is in danger of being closed down. Once problems occur, families and local communities that had been blind to educational neglect, start criticising the school all at once, and teachers are the only ones denounced. Fearful of daily trouble and failure, the teachers play it safe. Although he has completely no knowledge of being an educator, he struggles to revive the school and break the situation with his characteristic cheerfulness and passion, and the fresh concepts of a layperson. However, there is another reason why he has become the principal …
Website: www.fujitv.co.jp/school1

Dr Irabu Ichiro
Date: From 11.00 p.m., Sundays, 30 January 2011
Station: TV Asahi
Cast: Tokushige Satoshi, Yo Kimiko, Hara Mikie, Nishimura Masahiko (guest star)
Synopsis: Irabu Ichiro (Tokushige Satoshi), 35, is an eccentric psychiatrist at Irabu General Hospital. Originally a pediatrician, the rather peculiar Irabu transferred to a different field of medicine because of the avalanche of complaints against him because of his constant quarrels with child patients. He became a psychiatrist. Greeting patients with a high-pitched, “Welcome”, he would give them an injection first. In truth, it seems that he has an obsession with injections. His father, who is the director of Irabu General Hospital and also the director of the Japan Medical Association, has a lot of influence in many places. Irabu’s beloved car is a yellow Porsche and he is the typical self-absorbed, mother’s boy from a well-to-do family. Why does there seem to be no end to the patients who come to see this somewhat weird doctor?!
Website: www.tv-asahi.co.jp/irabu

The Music Show
Date: From 11.30 p.m., Sundays, 2 January 2011
Station: NTV
Cast: Sawamura Ikki, Yasuda Ken, Toda Keiko, Kiritani Mirei, Katase Nana, Asama Toru
Synopsis: –
Website: www.ntv.co.jp/musicshow

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