Mieko Harada

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.

The story of Takeha, a free-spirited genius poet who lived through Taisho Romanticism, and the women who gave themselves over to his ambitions.

Hitomi Ashizawa works at a real estate corporation as a team leader. She is engaged to physician. On the 100th day before the wedding, Hitomi Ashizawa is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Her mother appears even though they have not seen each other for the past 28 years. Her mothers with her bright personality offers Hitomi encouragement and she tries to live positively.

In the tradition of Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and Gelsey Kirkland's "Dancing on my Grave" comes an insider’s look into the secret world of classical musicians. From her debut recital at Carnegie Recital Hall to the Broadway pits of "Les Miserables" and "Miss Saigon," Blair Tindall has played with some of the biggest names in classical music for twenty-five years. Now in "Mozart in the Jungle," Tindall exposes the scandalous rock and roll lifestyles of the musicians, conductors, and administrators who inhabit the insular world of classical music.

A bullied high schooler becomes an overnight sensation after a viral video. But when his newfound fame turns sour, he must learn to fight for himself.

Shakespeare's King Lear is reimagined as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan where an aging warlord divides his kingdom between his three sons.

During the Kyoho period in the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, there is a gang of thieves active not just in Edo but also the Tokaido and the Nakasendo, and all across the Kansai region, stealing large sums of money with skillful techniques. They only target the very wealthy and never kill or injure people. They appear with the clouds and disappear like the mist. On the night that the beautiful Ochiyo is to become the bride of a dry goods dealer, a large amount of money hidden inside the shop is stolen. The gang disappears without injuring anyone. It was a two-year plan to marry Ochiyo off so that she could bring them in. The leader of this gang is Kumokiri Nizaemon, the greatest bandit of all time. He keeps a rein on his highly-skilled and notorious followers Nanabake no Ochiyo, Kinezumi no Kichigoro, Subashiri no Kumagoro, Ingakozo Rokunosuke and others.

Tells of the childhood of two nine-year-old twins in a rural village in Japan after World War 2. Includes the boys relationships with their schoolteacher mother, civil servant father, elderly landlord, a rough new boy at the school, and three mysterious spirits in the form of old women.

A youthful film depicting the sexual awakening of a boy who has just entered adolescence and his heartbreaking romance during the summer holidays with a young sprightly girl.

Saka no Ue no Kumo is an NHK 21st Century special drama which was aired over three years starting from November 29, 2009. The series runs 13 episodes at 90 minutes each. The first series, with 5 episodes, was broadcast in 2009, while series two and three, each with 4 episodes, were broadcast in late 2010 and 2011. While most episodes were shot in Japan, one of the episodes in series two was shot in Latvia. The TV series is based on the novel Saka no ue no kumo by Ryōtarō Shiba and adopted by Hisashi Nozawa. The theme song of the drama series is titled "Stand Alone". It was composed by Joe Hisaishi, written by Kundo Koyama and performed by British soprano singer Sarah Brightman.

An emotional drama about teenage Asako and her relationship with Yuhei, a man who became a father figure to her for six months when she was five years old after he started dating her mother. Thirteen years later, she discovers he is serving a prison sentence, having been convicted of her mother’s murder.

While visiting Japan, philosopher Sushila and her astrophysicist husband Kenji attend the final performance of the dancer Mako before she retires. Subtly but surely, the performance shakes up the silence and tension that has been mounting between them.

Yuichi Sugawara is a freelancer, who spends his days meaninglessly. He lives with his long-term girlfriend Satomi Suzuki. One day, they start to argue over a trivial matter which causes Yuichi to leave their home. He wanders around and meets with his friends, sister, and mother. When he starts to feel uncomfortable around them, he leaves them behind. He then crosses paths with his father, Koji, for the first time in ten years. Koji also ran away from his family, including Yuichi, at that time. Koji then invites Yuichi to come over to his house. Hen accepts and turns off his smartphone to cut off all the relationships he has.

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.

Tsuda Umeko was born in December 31, 1864 and became a pioneer in women's eductation. In 1871, Tsuda Umeko, with her father's recommendation, went to the United States to study at the age of 6. She was the youngest of the group of females to travel there. They were the first Japanese female students to study overseas at their government's expense. 11 years after studying in the United States, Tsuda Umeko returns to Japan. She wants to become a woman who is helpful to her culture, but she is shocked by the low status of women in Japan. (Source: AsianWiki)

This documentary records the lives of people in a mountain village surrounding the kozo (paper mulberry) tree, a raw material used to make Tosa washi paper.

A man is immobile and incapacitated, but has professional and nonprofessional volunteers serve and help him. Though, he takes full advantage of the situation and uses and abuses the volunteer crew.

Story of displacement, power, and vulnerability told through the relationship between a hostess, the bartender she loves, and the boss who controls them. The story is set in the underworld of the New York City's Japanese Diaspora.

a TV drama special based on the life of SUNTORY's founder Shinjiro Torii

Hitsujido Honpo, an established Japanese-style sweets company known for its traditional flavours and reliability, has maintained a modest popularity. To win a new segment of customers, it has embarked on new business development. The leader of this team of five young employees is 28-year old Kudo Mayuko (Takahata Mitsuki). Mayuko was headhunted by the current CEO Okazaki Kengo (Maruyama Tomomi), for her achievements in her previous job. However, she struggles with the difficulty of new business development and pressures within the company. One day, a “new” 68-year-old employee Niimoto Kazuo (Kusakari Masao) is assigned to be Mayuko’s subordinate all of a sudden. She is dumbfounded to learn that he is 40 years her senior and even feels anger. Mayuko is confronted with the question of whether he should do the old job he was proud of? Or a new job as a brand new employee, and assumes the role of mentor.

Chokichi Kuwahata was once a leading actor, but he is ravaged by dementia and old age now. His daughter and the men in her life go against his wishes and place him in a retirement home. He slips away one day and meets another offspring from a different union.

A postman learns that he doesn't have much time left to live due to a terminal illness. A devil then appears in front of him and offers to extend his life if he picks something in the world that will disappear. The man thinks about his relationships with ex-friends, ex-lovers, relatives and colleagues who will be sincerely sad when he dies.

Nakadai Tatsuya, Japan’s greatest living actor, gives the performance of a lifetime as Shoji Sanosuke, and elderly samurai forced to pick up his sword to protect those he loves in this adaptation of a Fujisawa Shuhei novel. As a ”Heya-zumi” (essentially a freeloader living off his family) Sanosuke has one last chance to help his grandniece escape from the cruel samurai of an arranged marriage. Nakadai proves he ”still has it,” when fate forces him into a deadly duel. This award winning samurai drama from the pen of noted author Fujisawa Shuhei is a tribute to one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen!

A retired samurai must redeem himself for a crime that he committed earlier in his life.

A retired samurai must redeem himself for a crime that he committed earlier in his life.

It is the Spring of 1814. The restaurant “Tsuru-ka” is gaining much popularity after its chef, Mio, won the prestigious cooking competition. One day, the owner of “Tsuru-ka”, Taneichi, employed young Fuki to be the attendant for customers’ shoes. Mio could fully empathize with young Fuki, who was an orphan and yet was courageous enough to survive on her own. Around the same time, the famous novelist Seiemon started coming to “Tsuru-ka”. Even though Seiemon criticized Mio’s cooking each time, he always returned to the restaurant daily.

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.

A bullied high schooler becomes an overnight sensation after a viral video. But when his newfound fame turns sour, he must learn to fight for himself.

A regular pastry chef, framed for his wife's murder, embarks on a suspenseful journey to prove his innocence by manipulating the detective in charge of the case and uncovering the truth.

A quirky detective-inventor tackles bizarre cases with a laid-back style, surrounded by his outrageous inventions.

A brilliant chocolatier who's afraid of making eye contact meets an heir who can't touch others — but somehow, they're immune to each other.

At the height of his career and powers, Japan's master fixer, who has guided politicians and business heads through some of Japan's biggest scandals, discovers that fixing his family is harder than fixing a country.

A young man has college and a failed business behind him. Unemployed and planning his next steps he is lodging with is mother, a small business owner. His sister and her family also move in with the two, albeit temporarily. She sees him as a loser and a lush and wants him out. She also whispers in their mother's ear to ask him to leave the house in order to find his own way and begin the rest of his life. She probably has noble intentions, but is she right and will she succeed?

Jun'ichi is a young man without job or home who seems to have a great power of fascination over woman. He crosses the paths of different women who are unsatisfied with their lives and find comfort in his presence. It is a subtle love story between Jun'ichi's drifting life and six different woman from 16 to 65 years old.

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.

Hinako Todo (Haru) is a first-year detective who graduated from the police academy at the top of her class. She always carries with herself a bottle of shichimi chili peppers which was left by her late mother and sprinkles shichimi over everything she eats. Despite her a bit quirky/cheerful demeanor, she holds dark secrets locked deep within her heart… Hinako became a detective, because she wants to find the line between people who kill and those who don't. Once her "crime-solving switch" is on, nothing can stop Hinako from tackling even the most bizarre crime cases. Armed with her overwhelming memory and unstoppable curiously, will Hinako be able to find answers to her question through seeking to solve various crimes?

Hitomi Ashizawa works at a real estate corporation as a team leader. She is engaged to physician. On the 100th day before the wedding, Hitomi Ashizawa is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Her mother appears even though they have not seen each other for the past 28 years. Her mothers with her bright personality offers Hitomi encouragement and she tries to live positively.

A fragment of the lives of five 55-year-old men and women.

In the tradition of Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and Gelsey Kirkland's "Dancing on my Grave" comes an insider’s look into the secret world of classical musicians. From her debut recital at Carnegie Recital Hall to the Broadway pits of "Les Miserables" and "Miss Saigon," Blair Tindall has played with some of the biggest names in classical music for twenty-five years. Now in "Mozart in the Jungle," Tindall exposes the scandalous rock and roll lifestyles of the musicians, conductors, and administrators who inhabit the insular world of classical music.

Your whole outlook on life can change in an instant. Takuto Sawada (Haruma Miura) is your average college student. But one day, he finds out that he has ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and only has a short time to live. How will he choose to spend the remaining days of his precious life?

Second modern remake of the Kaiki Daisakusen tv show.

During the Kyoho period in the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, there is a gang of thieves active not just in Edo but also the Tokaido and the Nakasendo, and all across the Kansai region, stealing large sums of money with skillful techniques. They only target the very wealthy and never kill or injure people. They appear with the clouds and disappear like the mist. On the night that the beautiful Ochiyo is to become the bride of a dry goods dealer, a large amount of money hidden inside the shop is stolen. The gang disappears without injuring anyone. It was a two-year plan to marry Ochiyo off so that she could bring them in. The leader of this gang is Kumokiri Nizaemon, the greatest bandit of all time. He keeps a rein on his highly-skilled and notorious followers Nanabake no Ochiyo, Kinezumi no Kichigoro, Subashiri no Kumagoro, Ingakozo Rokunosuke and others.

A middle-aged salarman Hajime Yoshimoto was a workholic leaving all of the household burdens to his wife, Tamayo. As a result neither of them talked to each other. One day, Yoshimoto collapsed and passed away. His ghost, worried, appears at the house. In shock, his wife seems unruffled by his sudden death. He soon suspects she could be having an affair with the owner of the cafe. Fuwa, another individual, suspects if her father's intention truly lies as a family suicide as they sink further into debt.