Yuka Itaya

An American actor in Tokyo struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese 'rental family' agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients' worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality.

Yuma, a 23-year-old comic book artist with profound cerebral palsy, has been emotionally stunted by her well-meaning but overprotective mother. As she begins to seek independence and sexual awakening on her own terms, she discovers an unexpected path to love and forgiveness.

When a tough yakuza gangster is betrayed by his bosses, it means all out war. Bodies pile up as he takes out everyone in his way to the top in a brutal quest for revenge.

Rei Kiriyama is a 17-years-old shogi (Japanese chess) player. He debuted as a professional shogi player when he was in middle school. He lives by himself in Tokyo, because his parents and younger sister died in an traffic accident when he was little. One day, Rei Kiriyama meets three sisters who are his neighbors. The three sisters are Akari Kawamoto, Hinata Kawamoto and Momo Kawamoto. This is his first meeting with someone outside of the shogi world in many years. Having meals with the Kawamoto family brings warm feelings to Rei Kiriyama. As Rei Kiriyama continues his shogi career, his interactions with his neighbors allows him to grow as a shogi player and as a person.

The time spent between professional Shogi player Kiriyama and his three stories helps to heal his wounds. As he prepares to secure another win in an upcoming tournament, the father who left the three sisters appears and disturbs the peace.

Misuzu Hara (Nao) works as a high school teacher and prefers to keep a distance from her students. In her past, she was raped by her best friend’s boyfriend Hayafuji after he found out she liked him. She didn't report the crime to the police and she didn't tell anyone else what happened. She still suffers from the trauma from what happened, but she continues to have a forceful relationship with Hayafuji who is now her best friend’s fiancee. One day, a rumor spreads that her student Yuki Niizuma is in a secret affair. Misuzu Hara, as his teacher, has a meeting with him to provide counseling.

The housewife and part-time private detective Noriko Yamada plays her old tricks again, uncovering mysterious corruption cases. But this time she will solve it adopting the style of "Beatrix Kiddo" from Kill Bill.

Five bizarre stories with no apparent connection to one another eventually become intertwined, resulting in surreal circumstances.

A group of friends from high school days reunite for once more time before one of them dies from cancer.

Arima Kousei won numerous piano competitions while under the strict watch of his mother. He was known as the human metronome during that time. Since the death of his mother, Kousei has been unable to hear the sound of his piano. He then meets Miyazono Kaori through childhood friend Sawabe Tsubaki. Kaori plays the violin and has a free sprit. Since meeting her, Kousei is able to face the piano again. Meanwhile, Kaori holds a secret.

Diagnosed with dementia, Yuriko's mind quickly begins to fade. Yet, for her son Izumi, memories of the mother feel as vivid as when he lived them. One in particular, when he believed she had disappeared, haunts him terribly.

In a not so distant future where lifespan extension has become a priority following the spread of a mysterious virus, a privileged man looks back upon his life as he is facing a dilemma: should he live if it means taking someone else's life?

Abandoned by his mother, Kenji scrapes out a meager existence doing odd jobs, including driving bar hostesses and their customers home. Besides this, he cares for the sister of an incarcerated friend and a young illegal immigrant. Eventually, his life reaches a turning point.

A serial-murderer is on the loose who just so happens to also be removing the hearts of his victims and taking them with him. His victims however, are not merely random humans as thought by the police. They are in fact, the past and present guardians of the gateway of the afterlife.On the day he is to be married, Detective Kanzaki, who happens to be on the case, discovers that his fiancé Mina has been murdered with her heart also missing. He also learns that the killers are Kudo, a geneticist, and his evil secretary Rei. The two are trying to obtain six hearts from the guardians so that they may call forth a horde of demons from the Gate of Rage and have their every desire granted. Only problem is, once they open the gate the entire world will be covered in darkness.

Yokubo from director Tetsuo Shinohara is based off of the award-winning love story by Mariko Koike. A young man searching for physical comfort and dumb lust, and the world-weary woman drowning in a sea of men that works with him. This is a fantastic new film from a remarkably skilled cast about "the beauty of sensualism."

Satoru Mizushima is a designer, who prefers traditional things like handmade items and handwritten works. One day, he happens to meet a mysterious woman, Miyuki Miharu, at the cafe named Piano. She seems to have similar values to him and he is attracted to her. Satoru asks for Miyuki's cellphone number, but she doesn't own a cellphone. They make a promise to meet at the cafe every Thursday. Since then, Satoru and Miyuki meet every Thursday and their relationship develops romantically. Satoru decides to propose Miyuki, but she doesn't show up at the cafe.

While celebrating with her friends in her new cheaply rented apartment on the thirteenth floor of a building, the young Sayaka unexpectedly jumps off the balcony committing suicide. Her mother goes insane and her older sister, Mariko, decides to investigate the mysterious death of her sister.

Hosted by veteran comedian Tamori, "Bizarre Tales 2003 Fall Special" presents five tales. 1. *Kagi (The Key) - starring Eguchi Yosuke. 2. Perfect Couple - starring Yada Akiko. 3. Toosugita Otoko (The Man Who Was Too Far Away) - starring Nakamura Shido. 4. Meiro (The Maze)- starring Tanihara Shosuke. 5. Kage ga Omonaru Toki (When Shadows Accumulate) - starring Yashima Norito. * Adapted from a novel by Tsutsui Yasutaka.

The emotional journey of a four-member family that fails to recognize that it is rapidly growing apart until the mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Kae Horii moves into her new flat in an undisclosed area of Kyoto. While unpacking her belongings, she discovers a hidden compartment behind a inconspicuous mirror. In that compartment, Kae finds a notebook, that turns out to be a diary belonging to the previous tenant. Later that evening Kae starts to read the diary. The writer of the diary is Ibuki Mano, a young lady about to embark on her first year as an elementary school teacher. Ibuki is also in love with a man named Takashi, who may or may not hold similar feelings for Ibuki.

Ai has had a crush forever on her classmate Tatoe. When she finds out that Tatoe is in a secret relationship with another girl, she sets out to sabotage their plans for the future.

Satoshi Makino is a genius classical guitarist. One day, he meets journalist Yoko Komine. They become attracted to each other, but Yoko Komine has a fiancé.

Detective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.

Izumi Sakuragi is a new police sergeant with the Special Investigations Office, which was set up within the Metropolitan Police in November last year. The new investigation team uses DNA analysis and the latest in forensics science to investigate cold cases as well as cases suspected to involve missing persons.

A first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat following Jake Adelstein, an American journalist who embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to reveal corruption. Based on Jake Adelstein’s non-fiction book of the same name.

In the end of Meiji era, Takei Chiyo was born in a poor family in Osaka, and was sent to a theatre tea room as a servant when she was 9 years old. There, she was attracted by the world of theatre comedy. She grows up to be an actor and marries to Amami Ippei , but the war broke out and she was forced to stay away from acting for a while. However, when she comes back again, her acting in a radio drama impresses many people and makes herself one of the leading actors in western Japan.

Murasaki Shikibu (Yoshitaka Yuriko), the heroine of this story, wrote the bestseller 'The Tale of Genji,' transcending a thousand years during the Heian period. She weaves the story of Hikaru Genji, fueled by her love for Fujiwara no Michinaga (Emoto Tasuku), with her hidden passion and incomparable imagination. It is a tale of a woman who lived with unchanging love in an ever-changing world. (From TV JAPAN)

Oomae Haruko is an A+ Temp worker who never cracks a smile or minces words, and leaves work on the dot. But her cynical nature indicates she has something painful to hide. Satonaka Kensuke has just been promoted to head S&F's new Marketing Division. Saddled with a rag-tag group of subordinates, he is struggling to lift his division off the ground. When Oomae is placed in Kensuke's department, she finds herself doing more work than she's ever done before. This is a timely drama that examines the different attitudes toward temp workers and regular employees, and the ways to overcome frictions in interpersonal relationships. This follows an October report on labor conditions by the Labor Ministry, which showed that, after regulations were relaxed, the proportion of regular employees to Temps had doubled compared to that of eight years ago.

Sky High is a live-action, supernatural Japanese television drama series, starring actress and model, Yumiko Shaku. It aired in Japan, first run, from 2003 to 2004, and was popular enough to spawn the 2003 feature film of the same name. Both are based on the Japanese manga, Skyhigh. Shaku stars as Izuko, the Guardian of the Gate to the afterlife. The basic premise of the television series is somewhat similar in concept to the American series, Ghost Whisperer, in which the protagonist must use her powers to guide the dead on their journey to the afterlife by helping them determine the meaning or circumstance of their death. However, in Izuko's case, no matter how hard she tries, her guidance does not always result in a happy ending.

Naoko Noda, who works in a trading company, is called "anego" by her younger co-workers. What is "anego"? It means "older sister," but in this case it is given as a nickname to Naoko because she is like a big sister to her coworkers, who depend on her to give them advice about everything. This drama, depicts realistically how Naoko lives her everyday life, including her love life, the problems she faces, and her uneasiness about the future. --NTV

Ataru is a TBS series is about an autistic young man with a mysterious past who helps the police solve criminal cases. It stars Masahiro Nakai in the title role and has received 19.9% TV viewership ratings.

College student Tadashi 'Hachi' Inukai is tired of feeling like a loser. But that all changes one day when he accidentally conducts a mysterious ritual he finds online, summoning a demonic yokai to the mortal plane, nicknamed Izzy. Bonded by magic, Hachi and Izzy must figure out how to navigate life, love and murder.

A mediatised married couple who no longer love each other is highly optimistic about getting a divorce. However, external circumstances will get in their way and they will have no other choice but to work hand in hand to reach their ultimate goal: getting a divorce.

Lawyer Sena Koyama, a realist disillusioned by love, teams up with idealistic newcomer Yu Matohara, who believes in love and sincerity. Despite their clashing views, the two grow closer as they navigate love-related cases and debates in court.

A young female police officer struggling with dismissive subordinates and a cryptic, 55-year-old transfer detective must overcome her self-doubt after a botched murder investigation—where a suspect escapes due to her error—as their uneasy partnership unravels hidden skills and life-changing truths about trust and leadership.

Asahi Mikuri‎ya works at a photography studio, located near the sea. In the past, Asahi Mikuri‎ya dreamed of becoming a famous photographer, but now he as a cameraman for weddings and school events. Asahi Mikuri‎ya was also in love with a woman, but she suddenly left him. Natsuki Chiyohara‎ then appears in Asahi's life. Natsuki works as a manager at a well known Italian restaurant in Tokyo. During the worst moment in her life, when her boyfriend dumps her, Asahi appears and even takes a picture of that moment. Natsuki begins work as a chef at the "House of Sea," located in the same seaside town where Asahi lives. Asahi's former senior classmate runs the restaurant. Natsuki and Asahi have their past in common and they begin to get closer. Meanwhile, Taniyama is Asahi's former junior classmates. She holds feelings for Asahi.

When an aspiring actress hits it big thanks to a candid Instagram post, the lives of several Tokyo women cross as they struggle to define happiness IRL.

In this reality dating series, marriage-minded singles in Japan meet, date and get engaged — before ever setting eyes on each other.

Chinami works at a fabric shop, dreaming of one day working in the fashion industry. By accident, she begins work in the editing section for a fashion magazine. Chinami believes her new job may open doors for her to new opportunities, but it turns out her new job is like working in a war zone with daily fights and competitiveness between the women who work there. Can Chinami survive in such a cutthroat environment?

The story revolves around a grand "impersonation" revenge plan carried out by the entire family against a businessperson who leaked a fabricated video of their second daughter engaging in "papa-katsu" (a form of compensated dating) with her male teacher, which led to public condemnation and her subsequent suicide.

A plainclothes detective travels back 10 years in time to prevent his girlfriend’s murder, using his future knowledge to confront police corruption and rewrite his destiny.