TOKYO DRAMA AWARD

2018

A coming of age story about a young girl finding a place of her own in the big city.

The year is 1964, Tokyo is hosting the Olympics and the country is experiencing rapid economic growth. Mineko, a 17-year-old born in a farming family is also facing a major turning point in her life. Her father went to work in Tokyo but has gone missing. Mineko decides to leave her hometown to go to the big city to find her father and work there so she can support her family. Her first job in Tokyo pays little, but she learns to enjoy it and the company of her co-workers-that is until the factory goes bankrupt. The distraught Mineko is saved by the owner of a restaurant her father often told her about. And finally the shocking reunion with her father was waiting for her...
This is a story about a country girl coming into bloom in the big city through her love and losses, hellos and goodbyes.

College student Kahoko is the quintessential overprotected child borne 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.
"Overprotected Kahoko" is not a simple drama that chronicles the growth and transformation of an overly protected child. Similar to Princess Ann in "Roman Holiday," this drama depicts the various experiences and struggles of a young woman who finally ascends to the throne and becomes the queen of her small kingdom called "family."

The drama takes place at a newly established lab named "Unnatural Death Institute (UDI) Lab" where specialists investigate the cause of unnatural deaths. The characters who work there are a medical coroners Mikoto Misumi(Satomi Ishihara), Kei Nakadou(Arata Iura), a lab technician Yuko Shoji(Mikako Ichikawa), a rookie medical recorder Rokurou Kube(Masataka Kubota), and a director of UDI Yasuo Kamikura(Yutaka Matsushige). There is a truth to be discovered under the unnatural deaths. The heroin Mikoto cooperates with her intensive co-workers, dealing with many bodies of"unnatural deaths" that are carried into UDI every day.
The theme of the drama is to change the world by facing death. Each episode is a complete story disclosing the secrets and truths behind the different cases of deaths. It is a story full of suspense and entertainment.

The main character, Dahko (Masami Nagasawa), is a confidence woman whose age and real identity are unknown. She is a woman prone to making silly mistakes and with a soft spot for money, fashion and food. She resides in the suite of a luxury hotel in Tokyo, where she spends her days and nights crafting elaborate frauds. Her partners in crime are serious and dedicated young confidence man Bokuchan (Masahiro Higashide) and battle-hardened veteran confidence man Richard (Fumiyo Kohinata). The team of three resorts to any means necessary to steal money from money-mad unscrupulous company bosses and Mafia dons. Watching them cheating and be cheated, sometimes even deceived by their friends, and wonder what tricks they will use next in order to take money from their targets. And so, an unpredictable game of deception begins.

Inspector Saimi feels alienated on his first day as the Intelligence Unit manager. He transferred from Criminal Investigation Division 4 to 2 and is reunited with an old colleague, Inspector Kizaki, who bears a grudge against him. Kizaki is tipped off about a corrupt official from Ministry of Foreign Affairs as they prepare for the G8 summit in Okinawa. Kizaki knows the official will be tempted by the astronomical funds and he sees a chance to apprehend the corrupt official who believes he's above the law.
Kizaki won't accept Saimi's help after a Cabinet Secretariat bribery case he worked on was sabotaged.
But when the Foreign Affairs corruption develops into a national scandal, it could be too big for them.

The Akazas are a blue-collar family living in a working-class neighborhood of Tokyo. Older brother Inosuke (Yo Oizumi) is a carpenter who works for his father Shinobu's (Takashi Sasano) construction business. Younger sister Momoko (Aoi Miyazaki) is a truckdriver. Passions run high in the Akaza household and the two siblings are constantly bickering.
One day, Momoko reveals she had a miscarriage but refuses to say who the father is. Inosuke, over-protective as ever out of his love of his little sister, is outraged. In a fit of anger, he hits her. Not one to take such abuse lying down, Momoko bites his arm. Soon the two are fighting like cats and dogs. That pulled the trigger, Momoko moves out of the house.
Fast forward six months. Inosuke is planning a party to celebrate their father's seventieth birthday, although his true intention is to lure back Momoko, who hasn't set foot in the house since their fight. When her little sister Sachi (Miori Takimoto) tells Momoko this, she reluctantly decides to attend the party. The whole family is gathered together, eagerly awaiting Momoko's return, when suddenly her ex-boyfriend Yuki Obata (Taiga) shows up...

Katsumi Yoneda is a police sergeant who is about to retire. One day at his favorite cafe, he finds a booklet featuring a cafe called Kohaku, which is located in Uozu, Toyama. Soon after he rushes into a bullet train to make his way to the cafe, holding documents regarding an unsolved case of 25 years ago.
Katsumi meets Toshio Arai, a master of the cafe with solitary eyes. Sachiko Hirai, a married woman who works at a local fisher's union joins Katsumi and Toshio. Three of them eventually get together at the cafe. Katsumi is a quiet man but he becomes increasingly talkative as Sachiko asks questions one after another. He finds connections between Toshio and Hakuba, a cafe in Ginza that Katsumi used to go.
They all have their own secrets; Katsumi conceals the fact that he is a police investigator. Toshio apologizes to a photograph of his deceased wife, Sachiko stops smiling and heads back home as soon as she becomes alone. They mingle each other and start realizing the darkness they have.

Doctor Heisuke Shiba (Yo Oizumi) visits a mansion in the countryside, where a widow called Sanako Karatsu (Yo Yoshida) suddenly passes away. A year earlier, Sanako was accused for the murder of her husband with poison.
Doctor Shiba's close friend Rokusuke Kuroido (Kenichi Endo), who is the village's wealthiest man, is shocked by Sanako's death as he had proposed to her. Kuroido then reveals to Doctor Shiba, that Sanako had been threatened by a man regarding her husband's murder case. Meanwhile, a note in the form of a will left by Sanako is suddenly delivered. Kuroido says that he wants to read it alone, so Doctor Shiba leaves the mansion residence. However, soon afterwards, Kuroido is found dead in his room, after being stabbed by someone with a dagger in the back.
A competent detective called Takeru Suguro (Mansai Nomura) lives next door to Doctor Shiba, and both of them eventually become detective partners in dealing with the case. As their investigation moves foward, many types of potential suspects arise in the horizon.

Commemorating 20th years of beloved novelist Shuhei Fujisawa's death, a dramatization of "A little bridge", a story from his short story collections.
A story of a struggling mother and her two children in the heart of Edo, whose father had suddenly disappeared. It's been four years since Tamizo (Yosuke Eguchi) has gone missing, 10 years old Koji (Kanau Tanaka) lives with his mother Omaki (Yasuko Matsuyuki) and sister Oryo (Ryoko Fujino). Mother works tirelessly to make ends meet while grudging over her missing husband. Koji sees her with mixed emotion. Oneday his sister Oryo who constantly had fight with her mother runs away from family...
A director of "From the Northern Country", Shigemichi Sugita portrays a moving family story living in Edo.

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are the two characters who appear most in television and movies worldwide. Miss Sherlock brings these two characters revered by the world into a completely new series with a fresh and fearless reinterpretation authentic to the mysteries we all love. What would happen if Sherlock Holmes and John Watson existed in modern day Tokyo? And, what if they were both Japanese women? Hulu, which has brought about many sensational original drama series, joins forces with world-renowned television broadcaster HBO's Asian division HBO Asia for the first time to bring Miss Sherlock to 20 countries worldwide on the very same day.

Synopsis:
Wato Tachibana has just returned to Japan after working as a volunteer doctor in Syria. She's greeted at the airport by her mentor, Takayuki Mizuno. He suddenly collapses and dies after his stomach explodes. The case is assigned to Inspector Reimon and Sergeant Shibata of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. They work alongside Miss Sherlock, a talented and arrogant consulting detective. Wato helps out, determined to understand Mizuno's death and give closure to his widow. Sherlock discovers the cause of death was a remotely triggered bomb. Will they find the culprit before more deaths occur?

"SHEENA AND ROKKETS"
Vocal: SHEENA Guitar: Makoto Ayukawa. A rock band formed by husband and wife. For 40 years, they have been playing the music vigorously, despite the death of Sheena 3 years ago.
This story depicts the path how the legendary band "SHEENA AND ROKKETS" was born.
Etsuko, the later "SHEENA" was born in Wakamatsu, Kitakyushu City. Her parents ran a fashion retailer. Etsuko grew up in a stylish surrounding and nurtured numerous dreams, inspired from her love for music. Sometimes, her questing mind made her run away from home, heading to gigs throughout Fukuoka and Tokyo. Her activeness, and spontaneity made people so astounded that they thought she was like "A dynamite that could explode anytime".
"What I want, is a real ROCK, with powerful beat and speed"
It was then, when she came across a fateful encounter in Fukuoka, at a dance hall that she unexpectedly stepped in. The band was called SONHOUSE. And that was when she first met, her later husband, Makoto Ayukawa.

"Mothers" is a drama that depicts the bonds of life. It is set in a house called" Smile Baby" that is run by an NPO which through special adoption is able to connect mothers who cannot raise their babies with those who are not blessed with children. Chukyo drafted an original script and created this story based on extensive coverage of the actual NPO.
"Madoka" is a homeless and pregnant woman who carries the baby of a man she met through an online dating service. She came to Takako Okada, the head of "Smile Baby" for help as she is coming to full-term. Although she was taken to a hospital without any problems, she learned of another NPO "Online adoption" that would give her quick cash if she promises to give the infant up for adoption. So, she changed to that NPO. Aiming for independence, Madoka pays tuition to the nursing school she was attending from the 200,000 yen she received from Nonogaki, the other NPO's representative. However, she started to feel uneasy about giving her baby to him because of his untrustworthy attitude.
Madoka asks to cancel the contract, but Nonogaki tells her that she must return twice the amount of money that she had been given in order to cancel the contract and forces her to sign the parental authority abandonment agreement with a lawyer. Nonogaki receives large amounts of money from those who wish to have children and gives babies to adoptive parents without examining their personality, their ability to foster, or their ages.
It is a malicious go-between who only considers the benefits to the adults and ignores the position of a child. Nevertheless, Madoka heads to the designated delivery location and gives her baby to the elderly adoptive parents.

"A Boy Named Flora A" is a family drama by talented director Yu Ning Chu, three-time winner of the highest honor in Taiwanese television awards, the Golden Bell Award.

This drama created a stir both in Taiwan and internationally, receiving high viewer ratings and a movie adaption.

Acted by singer Crowd Lu with a natural, comical touch, the unsuccessful Hua-jia brings out the true charm of this drama. Crowd Lu was also responsible for the theme song of the drama, winning both Song of the Year and Best Single Producer at the Golden Melody Awards.

Spoiled as a child, the 28-year-old Hua-jia never quite grew up, and has lived a lazy life since. But one day, upon hearing his grandmother is in critical condition, he returns to his hometown.

His family mourns for the grandmother, thinking she has breathed her last-- when suddenly she begins breathing again, remaining in a comatose state. In the ensuing fuss, relatives gather from near and far, and family concerns and conflicts begin to be revealed. Will the grandmother wake again? What will be the fate of Hua-jia's family?

Grandmother and grandson, father and son, nephew and uncle... Depicting the drama of each family relationship, "A Boy Named Flora A" is a moving work filled with both laughter and tears.

With a talented cast and crew, this Turkish drama is a remake of the Japanese television drama "Woman."

MEDYAPIM & MF YAPIM, the makers of "Woman," have previously created a stir with remakes of works focused on women, such as the Japanese drama "Mother." "Woman" gained high praise throughout its 32 episodes, and landed the number one viewer rating in Turkey.

Bahar is a single mother who loves her children with all her heart and would sacrifice even herself for their sake. Acted with fierce passion by Ozge Ozpirincci, she is a warm and loving mother, yet also carries a darkness in her heart from her youth.

Abandoned by her mother at a young age, Bahar loses both her father and grandmother and begins to believe that she is truly alone in this world. She then meets Sarp and falls deeply in love with him. But, after a happy marriage, and a daughter and a son on the way, Sarp dies in a tragic accident.

In the midst of Bahar's grief, her mother and her new family start living in the neighborhood. However, life has unexpected surprises in store for her. Upon finding out the truth about her beloved Sarp, how will she face the fate before her?

"Woman" portrays the lives of women as they struggle to survive. Don't miss this exciting new Turkish production!

This is a dramatization of the Vietnamese novel "Closed Heart," which depicts the psychology of Vietnamese society.

Gaining overwhelming approval across generations, this drama created a stir from the beginning of its broadcast, and went on to receive a prestigious Golden Kite Award (second place), and a Silver Medal at the National Drama Festival.

The drama tells the story of Di, a young girl struggling to live despite the whims of fate. Her portrayal by talented actress Xuan Van won the Vietnamese Best Actress Award in 2017. Thanks to the phenomenon stirred up by this drama, fellow cast members have subsequently starred in numerous films and dramas since.

Having been falsely imprisoned for a crime, Di finishes her sentence and begins working as a helper in a villa owned by Mrs. Mai. From the pain of lost love to tangled social relationships, the family members living in the villa each carry a deep darkness in their hearts.

Di's job is to care for Mrs. Mai, who suffers from depression. Yet upon Di's arrival at the villa, eerie events begin to occur. Who is the ghost that appears in the villa? Why are the hearts of this family shrouded in darkness? As she pursues the truth, Di discovers the secret of her own birth, and reveals the mysteries behind Mrs. Mai's family.

From young generations to old, this drama enraptured audiences across the board. The complex, shocking story it weaves across three generations of family members will leave your heart trembling.