Known For
SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games. These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges with their gourmet cooking. Last is a musical performance by SMAP which may include celebrity guests, as well.
Through the introduction of his friend Danma Ryuji, Onizuka Eikichi, the former legendary bike gang member, visits Meishu Academy to tend to the trees in the garden as a part-time gardener. Learning that Yoshikawa Noboru, a student in teacher Fuyutsuki Azusa’s class is being bullied by Uehara Kyoko and other classmates, Onizuka befriends and saves Yoshikawa. Seeing Onizuka’s unprecedented but visceral, powerful response to problem solving, the school’s president and principal, Sakurai Yoshiko, overrides resistance from her vice principal Uchiyamada Hiroshi and makes Onizuka a teacher. Onizuka goes on to tackle many issues as the teacher in charge of the most problematic class, Class 2-4.
Shogo Kai is a lawyer at one of the big 4 law firms in Japan. He is good at his job, but he is arrogant. Shogo Kai only thinks about winning and he thinks the only way to satisfy his clients is to win. He is getting close to becoming a senior partner at the law firm. Shogo Kai's boss worries about his focus on winning above all else. As a condition of his promotion at the law firm, his boss asks him to hire a young lawyer as an associate. Shogo Kai interviews prospective young lawyers and meets Daiki Suzuki. Daiki Suzuki has high intelligence and his memory ability is amazing.
Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto entertain their guests by doing whatever their guests want to do.
A young, maverick airline copilot navigates love, ambition and workplace drama while struggling to prove himself worthy of promotion to captain.
Two surgeons with contrasting objectives are asked to work together in a city hospital. While one of them strives to achieve fame and power through his work, the other wants to save human lives.
An incident is talked about all over Japan. The case involves the Doizaki couple that killed their 15-year-old daughter and hid her body under their house for 16 years. One day, housewife Toshiko Hagitani visits Shigeko Maehata who works for a small editing company. Toshiko tells Shigeko that her 12-year-old son Hitoshi might have a special ability to see other people's memories. She pulls out a picture drawn by Hitoshi. The picture has a girl with a grey colored face lying in a house that has a bat shaped weather vane on its roof. The picture seems to depict the incident involving the Doizaki couple. Shigeko decides to do some research, but Hitoshi dies in a car accident. Meanwhile, the attorney for the Doizaki couple tells their second daughter Seiko that the couple has cut off all ties with her. Around that time, a female high student is confined.
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Movie Credits (74)
Takeharu Samejima is a reticent photographer who runs a deserted photo studio. Taiichi Igarashi, a talented photographer captivated by his photos, gives up his brilliant career to become his apprentice. Taiichi, who has even avoided communication with his family, cannot hide his ...
Having lost his job and the company he built, a 36-year-old man at rock bottom goes on a wistful solo trip to Japan in search of the love he left behind.
Wakabayashi Ema is a temporary employee who works at a banquet hall where glamorous celebrities gather. But, she loses her job after protesting against her superior's sexual harassment towards a junior employee. Wandering, Ema visits a perfume shop run by a mysterious woman named Shirashi Yayoi, also known as the "witch." While helping in the shop, Ema realizes that she holds the key to shaping her future through the words and scents given to her by Yayoi. Ema moves to work for a fragrance company, where she reunites with Ren.
Drama set in the historical Warring States Era of Japan. Tokaido name Imagawa Yoshimoto personally led his army to invade Owari Province territory, now in Aichi Prefecture Nagoya City area, was the leader Nobunaga of this surprising burst of death. After the war, the Imagawa clan who originally dominated the Tokaido region fell away, and the victorious Oda Nobunaga quickly expanded his power in Central Japan and the Kinki region, laying the foundation for his future control of the central government of Japan.
A corpse of a clown is found in a park. Detective Shirataka Amane of Musashino Higashi Police Station begins investigating with rookie detective Uzuka Shinsaku. They find a picture of the victim holding a balloon with the number 1 and the letters TTX on social media which indicates pufferfish poisoning. Shirataka intuitively suspects that this is an incriminating statement done by a serial killer, but Chief Investigator Fukukawa Saeko denies her. Detective Kusano Seiya and other personnel of MPD First Investigative Division join the investigation, then a second murder occurs. Shirataka recalls an unsolved kidnapping and murder case from two years ago that she still regrets.
Story depicts the life and love of Yayoi Yuki (Haru) and Taro Yamada (Ryo Narita) over a 30 year period. As high school students, Yayoi Yuki and Taro Yamada deal with their friend Sakura Watanabe (Hana Sugisaki) passing away from an illness. Yayoi Yuki and Taro Yamada have feelings for each other, but they hide those feelings and live different lives. While they live their own lives, they go through meaningful events like marriage, having children, divorce, and losing a family member in a disaster. Throughout all of this, Yayoi Yuki and Taro Yamada are always there for each other.
A university student kills her father with no apparent motive. But is her claim that she is a liar simply another lie? A psychologist burdened with her own scars seeks to uncover the truth. There, she discovers a fabricated past and the screams of a soul violated by those she loved. Based on the novel by Shimamoto Rio.
A bruised and battered corpse in Shibuya, Tokyo has the attention of the local cops. A veteran detective is assigned to the case. The last utterance of the victim is one clue that detective Imanishi has to work on. Yet, the case becomes more tangled quickly. Elsewhere, a prodigy named Waga Eiryo is composing an orchestral piece. Remake of The Castle of Sand (1974).
In 1940s Japan, the wealthy head of the Inugami Clan dies, setting off a chain of bizarre, gruesome murders. Detective Kindaichi must unravel the clan’s terrible secrets of forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty, and disguised identities to find the murderer.
Set one year after drama series "Overprotected Kahoko." Kahoko is busy running her daycare center "Kahoko House" and also doing housework. Things at work and home are not going smoothly. "Kahoko House" is in financial difficulties and she isn't very good with housework. Her relationship with her husband Hajime is troubled and his career as a painter has been unsuccessful to date. Can Kahoko turn things around?
After decades of single-minded dedication to his work, a worker with an elite career course at a major bank is transferred or rather relegated to a subsidiary company, where he finds himself at a loos as he reaches retirement age.
A police detective Shoukokuji Ryuuya from the first section of Metropolitan Police Department is tasked to investigate the murder case of a woman which takes place at a grand party held by a big-time actress but faces the hurdle of finding the true culprit among the large pool of suspects.
Yukari Kawahara works at a drink manufacturer. She works hard and achieves recognition for her work. Yukari Kawahara is dating research doctor Kippei Koide. They have lived together for 5 years. One day, Kippei Koide collapses from a brain hemorrhage. Yukari Kawahara soon learns that everything she knew about her boyfriend was a lie. She hires private detective Takumi Kaibara to investigate Kippei Koide.
A story of three couples and their intertwining love stories set in 1940s Taiwan and Shanghai, centered around the 1949 sinking of Taiping.
At the end of the World War II and the middle of the Chinese Revolution, three couples from different backgrounds with different nationalities flee from China to the island of Taiwan.
Seven scary true horror stories in this 15th anniversary special. The stories are: S Douzan no Onna (Woman from Copper mine S); Satoru-kun; Hannin wa Dare da (Who's the Crmininal?); Sasoi no Mori (Forest invitation); Ude wo Choudai (Give me your arm); Takushi Doraiba wa Kataru (A story from taxi driver) and Yami e no Shikaku (Vision to the Darkness)
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.
Erika Toda joins a law firm headed by Serizawa-san, on the first case she meets Enomoto Kei of Tokyo total security who unlocks Serizawa who has accidentally been trapped in a vault. Form thereon the trio solve 10 cases related to the locked room. Enomoto always makes a small scale model and thinks technically in terms of security and locks to solve cases, while Serizawa assists by hinting some circumstantial evidences. Serizawa is always ready to take credit of new found fame.
TV Credits (70)
When Shinji Nagashima sees Hikazu Kamuro, memories flood back of his unrequited love for Chiharu and the financial strain of her family's struggling company, now seeking another loan.
Kurisu has always admired his father, who runs a tax accounting firm, and dreamed of working with him one day. To broaden his skills, he joined a major tax firm, but a professional setback left him disillusioned. His life takes an unexpected turn when he meets racehorse owner Sanno Kozo, reigniting his sense of purpose.
Riki, who works as a temp, is distressed when her colleague invites her to earn money by donating her eggs. However, after taking the interview, she realizes it’s not for egg donation but for surrogacy. A former ballet dancer, Kusaoke Motoi, and his wife, Yuko, are looking for a surrogate mother to bear their child in exchange for high rewards.
Sakuragi Miyabi is a high school student in Aomori. She lives with her lawyer grandfather and receives special education from him in the field of law. Sakuragi Miyabi soon becomes the youngest person to pass the bar exam on their first try. A decision is then made to send Sakuragi Miyabi to her grandmother in Tokyo, who works as a director of a law office. Sakuragi Miyabi begins to work as an apprentice lawyer at her grandmother’s law office. Despite her position, she still has the mindset of a teenager and sometimes has disagreements with senior lawyers. Meanwhile, Sakuragi Miyabi begins classes at her new high school in Tokyo. She hides her lawyer job from people at her high school, but she eventually begins to give counseling at her school on law matters.
Hasebe Kaori is a rookie movie director. She consults with new screenwriter Kai Chihiro about her movie's screenplay. The script is based on the Sasazukacho Family Murder Case that occurred 15 years ago. That murder case involved a hikikomori man who murdered his younger sister at their home and then set their home on fire. The fire also killed his parents. The town where the murder took place is also the hometown of Kai Chihiro. Both Hasebe Kaori and Kai Chihiro have secrets related to the family murder case. While Hasebe Kaori and Kai Chihiro look into this murder case for their movie, a shocking truth is uncovered.
Keiichi Kaburagi is arrested as a suspect in a murder case and sentenced to death. He escaped from prison during the transfer, but while fleeing, he rescues the people he meets in his hiding place from the predicament. And when the rescued people realize that Kaburagi is a wanted death-row prisoner, they begin to wonder, "Is he really a murderer?"
Onoda Shizuru is a university student in Kyoto. As soon as she starts living out her long cherished desire, the strange horror newspapers begin to arrive. At first, she believes them to be a prank but the stories in the newspapers begin happening one after the other. Murders, accidents, abuse, natural disasters, injustice... these newspapers predict all sorts of tragedies. What is the truth behind them?
Daichi has served time for murder, and is now living a life without hope. One day he is suddenly told by his former love that he has an 8 year old daughter called Hana, who is suffering from leukemia. Although he is shocked, when it becomes clear he can save Hana by being her donor, fatherly love overwhelms him and he finds meaning in life again. However, a conspiracy leads to his arrest for murder. Unless he takes the transplant surgery scheduled in two weeks, he can’t save his daughter’s life. Desperate, he starts his great escape.
Kanji Takizawa worked diligently at a bank, successfully reaching the position of branch manager. Despite the fact that his conversation with his wife Mariko was dwindling and there was a growing distance between him and his young, unmarried daughter, Misaki, he had come to accept his peaceful life. One day, Kanji gets loaned out to a client company for an unjustifiable reason. Shocked, Kanji lies to his family that he was going on a business trip to Switzerland, where he meets and finds a kindred spirit in Shiori Meguro. Meanwhile, Mariko suspects that her husband may be having an affair, and finds herself falling in forbidden love with her daughter’s fiancé, Haruki Hino.
Shogo Kai is a lawyer at one of the big 4 law firms in Japan. He is good at his job, but he is arrogant. Shogo Kai only thinks about winning and he thinks the only way to satisfy his clients is to win. He is getting close to becoming a senior partner at the law firm. Shogo Kai's boss worries about his focus on winning above all else. As a condition of his promotion at the law firm, his boss asks him to hire a young lawyer as an associate. Shogo Kai interviews prospective young lawyers and meets Daiki Suzuki. Daiki Suzuki has high intelligence and his memory ability is amazing.
College student Kahoko is the quintessential overprotected child born out of today's Japanese society. Shielded by her parents, Kahoko grew up completely pampered and became somewhat of a miraculously naive "test tube human." She is 21 years old and about to start working for a company, but she has never slept away from home, had a part time job, chosen her own clothes, or even ridden a train alone. Kahoko has had her picture taken, but she has never taken a picture herself. Now, Kahoko is about to step out of her germ-free isolation pod and into the germ-infested world. It won't be long until she realizes, "I'm different from everybody else!" She has been her mother's best friend all her life and her father can't live without her. As they become emotionally unstable from the changes that Kahoko goes through, their family begins to fall apart. That's when Kahoko herself and the people around her begin to see the strength that hides deep within.
Yosuke is a middle aged businessman who has a wife and two kids; wife is a teacher, his son a job-hunting student, and his daughter has a good job. His family is looking forward to buying a new house as Yosuke is about to be promoted soon. But one day, he is forced to leave the company because of a gossip con set up by his colleague! He loses his job but he cannot tell that to his family. At the same time his wife and daughter are also facing problems at their work, both thinking to quit because dad’s job is secured. When they find out dad left the company, can they support him or...?
An incident is talked about all over Japan. The case involves the Doizaki couple that killed their 15-year-old daughter and hid her body under their house for 16 years. One day, housewife Toshiko Hagitani visits Shigeko Maehata who works for a small editing company. Toshiko tells Shigeko that her 12-year-old son Hitoshi might have a special ability to see other people's memories. She pulls out a picture drawn by Hitoshi. The picture has a girl with a grey colored face lying in a house that has a bat shaped weather vane on its roof. The picture seems to depict the incident involving the Doizaki couple. Shigeko decides to do some research, but Hitoshi dies in a car accident. Meanwhile, the attorney for the Doizaki couple tells their second daughter Seiko that the couple has cut off all ties with her. Around that time, a female high student is confined.
Shinichi Todo is handsome and smart. He is loved by family, friends and his girlfriend. Everything in his life seems to go well, but, one day, someone with the same name is arrested. After that, his smooth life changes. An imposter takes his life.
Hikari will perform household chores to perfection for the sake of her husband, Kubota Masazumi. Her own life is only to support him. Kubota, a newscaster, takes pride in his popularity because of his outspoken remarks despite the conventions of sponsors and the television network. His behaviour mobilises public opinion and he wishes that he can change society with his words. Kubota owes his position as main newscaster on the news programme to the support of his wife of six years too. But why does Hikari devote herself completely to him? The certain characteristic that Kubota’s wife possesses is an enigma, and a shocking development awaits him.
