The setting is Japan. After the bursting of its asset-inflated "bubble economy" in 1990, the country is suffering an economic hangover. Foreign capital is flooding in, and great transformations are underway. Accountant Kenji Wakasugi's auditing firm is divided into two camps. The "doves" favor overlooking what are called "window-dressed accounts" so as to allow businesses to recover their financial footing. The "hawks" won't ignore the slightest infraction, holding that inferior firms should be allowed to perish. Wakasugi himself believes in strict accounting practices -- until he is brought face-to-face with the distress and even deaths of employees of companies forced to go under. This is a fictionalized report from the economic front lines, replete with human interest.
Urasawa Naoki no Manben (Naoki Urasawa's Manga Exertions) is a TV Documentary airing on NHK Educational TV. It follows acclaimed mangaka Naoki Urasawa (creator of 20th Century Boys and Monster) as he sets out to break new ground for manga even further than he already has. In an attempt to educate viewers about manga and preserve the intricate craftsmanship and process of Japanese artists on video for future generations, he invites a manga artist to have their workplace filmed for a couple of days, so as to display them in the process of crafting chapters for their current serializations. After the footage has been shot, Urasawa meets with the artist and they discuss the footage, talking about the artist's workplace and workflow, the difficulties involved in the mangaka lifestyle, their reasons for drawing manga in the first place, and their perspective on the current industry and their own work.
17-year-old Aoi came to Yui Obstetrics and Gynecology clinic as a part-time nurse apprentice in Summer 1997. Right after her entry, she is shocked after witnessing an abortion surgery. However, she also met staff members like Yui, the head of the clinic who is careful about everything, Sayako, a reliable and experienced nurse, and Sakaki, the gentle head nurse, who face each pregnant patient and support them after surgeries. Fumika, Aoi's mother, is worried about her clumsy nature and poor communication skills, but Aoi's unique compassion and kindness draws patients' hearts. "I wonder what's life..." Aoi matures while looking at the newborn babies' overwhelming life and asking herself that question.
Set during the early Showa period, Yakumo enters the world of rakugo. He forms a friendship with talented storyteller Yurakutei. Yakumo admires Yurakutei’s talent and struggles to achieve his level of performance. With the help of geisha Miyokichi, Yakumo grows up as a rakugo storyteller. Yurakutei and Miyokichi get married, but they die in a mysterious accident. Yakumo takes Konatsu, who is the child of Yurakutei and Miyokichi, and raises her. Konatsu grows up blaming Yakumo as her parents’ enemy. Konatsu and Yakumo’s disciple Yotaro chases after the truth of her parents’ death, which Yakumo hides.
A suspense story about a girl with an ability to read people's mind. Together with her psychic friends, Nanase, the telepath, tries to save others from danger and fight those who threaten her power. The drama deals with friendship and social tendency to exclude strangers.
Nakane Kyoko (Ono Machiko) grew up in a wealthy family and was raised by her strict father Shigekazu (Tachi Hiroshi) who did not see learning as a necessity. At 19, Kyoko was introduced to Natsume Soseki (Hasegawa Hiroki) as a prospective marriage partner. The two of them were drawn to each other and got married. Soseki took up a post in Kumamoto as a high school teacher and this was the beginning of their new married life. Although Soseki was an extraordinary intellectual, he did not know the warmth of family because he was given up for adoption as a child. In an attempt to understand her husband, Kyoko tried to read what he read, interacted with his friends and joined difficult conversations. But she was not exactly successful. Then she miscarried their first child and her attempted suicide because of loneliness caused a commotion. How would husband and wife overcome this crisis?
A story of Yagyu Jubei, master swordsman from the well-known Yagyu-Shinkage school in the Edo period. Even decades after the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, many were framing plots to topple Tokugawa's political system. The master of Yagyu-Shinkage school, Yagyu Munemori who serves the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu is commissioned to keep an eye on Daimyo lords all around Japan. Munemori's eldest son, Jubei starts a stealthy trip to fight against those who engage in secret maneuvers. Enjoy sword fighting actions between Jubei and his rivals.
Hayakawa Yui is a young girl whose biggest quality is to be a fast runner. She accidentally travels through time up to the Sengoku Era and falls in love.
Enmadou Sara is the judge of the world who decides whether to send the deads to heaven or to hell. Victims who were killed by someone went to her and told her that they still have their thoughts left in the world and want to come back to life. Sara told the dead that they need to find out the truth of their deaths in order to revive. However, not only did they learn about the truths of their incidents, they also find out that they did not live hard when they were alive. The best time to change your life is when you find the readiness to live!
Ichinose Ryo works as a salesperson for a subsidiary of Hashiba Electronics, a mid-sized electronics manufacturer which prides itself on its long history. One day, he is ordered to transfer to the company’s headquarters. Why him when he has no strong points? The new company president Matsumoto, who has come from America, has his eye on Ichinose’s perseverance as a salesperson and intends to make a five-member team contemplate strategies to improve the management of Hashiba Group. Ichinose and the members head to Vietnam in search of cost-cutting measures. While in Vietnam, he learns about the ongoing bribery behind the contract work between headquarters and subsidiary as a result of a new business plan – a license business – which has severely shaken Hashiba Group. Ichinose is determined to change the company in order to correct its way of doing things and fulfil his own and other members’ dreams.
Silent poor... the poor and needy whose cries for help are drowned out in today's busling society. Their existence is spreading rapidly across the nation, and as such, the government decided to set up a body to help them. Nationwide, there are now people called Community Social Workers (CSW), and their jobs are to attend to the poor and needy. One such person is Satomi Ryo, and she works at the Shitamachi area's Council of Welfare. The people that she meets in her busy working life are people afflicted with juvenile dementia, those who have shunned society and locked themselves up in their rooms, the homeless... generally people who are in despair over life and the fate dealt to them. Ryo herself had been down the lonely road before, and as a way to pull herself out of her depression, she decided to work as a CSW, in order to help others like her. She strongly believes that one can always start all over again, and it is her belief that helps her to move forward in life.
About two people who are aromantic and asexual and begin living together. Sakiko finds it difficult to live in a society which operates under the assumption that people will fall in love with each other. She meets supermarket employee Takahashi when she goes to support a "fall-in-love" campaign by her junior at work. She is startled when she hears him say that there are people who don't fall in love. As Sakiko's mother keeps hurrying her to get married, she decides to move out and rent an apartment with her friend but her friend backs out at the last minute after reconciling with her ex-boyfriend. Just when Sakiko is about to give up, she ends up living with Takahashi under one roof because of their similar values towards romance.
Kaze to kumo to Niji to deals with the Heian period in Japan. Based on Chōgorō Kaionji`s novels Taira no Masakado and Umi to Kaze to Niji to. The drama was made by Go Kato`s request. The story chronicles the life of Taira no Masakado . The story begins with Masakado′s childhood. Masakado happens to meet Fujiwara no Hidesato, and he thinks that he want to be great Samurai like Hidesato in the future.