Pinko Izumi

Talk of the Town Tora-san

After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.

Tenchu: Ninja of Justice

A politician gives a speech in a shopping district full of shoppers. Suddenly, a man wielding a knife bursts out from among the shoppers and tries to kill those around him. To stop the man, Masako Murata (Pinko Izumi) tries to approach him, but her friends stop her. Meanwhile, a woman, who looks like a homeless person, appears in front of him and tells him "if you want to kill, then kill me." The man is about to stab her, but the woman opens her eyes. At the moment, blood bursts from the man's arm. The woman is about to kill him, but Masako Murata stops her and the woman leaves. Later, Masako Murata finds the woman collapsed on the street. Masako decides to take the woman to her house. There, Masako sees that the woman is injured in her back and also notices heavy despair in her eyes. The woman's name is Sana (Yuriko Ono). Sana is a ninja that has arrived in present day Japan. She now follows Masako Murata as her new boss and attempts to eradicate evil that is rampant in modern society.

Castle of Sand

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).

SMAP×SMAP

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.

I Want to Be a Shellfish

1944, in the depths of World War II. Toyomatsu Shimizu is a completely typical barber from a remote sea-side town who lives frugally but happily with his wife Fusae and their five-year-old son. Eventually, though, the army beckons and he is drafted. One day an officer on the battle-field orders him to kill a captive U.S. soldier. Although Toyomatsu lacks the spirit to kill the man, and only wounds him in the arm, the victorious U.S. soldiers will not accept this, and Toyomatsu is arrested and tried as a war-criminal. And he receives the cruelest sentence possible...

Oshin

Oshin comes from a family of poor rice farmers. Her father and brother must work in the fields and her grandmother and mother, who is expecting another child, barely have enough to eat. In order to make ends meet for her family, 7-year-old Oshin gives up school and decides to become a servant in the household of a wealthy family, where she faces trials and tribulation beyond her worst fears.

Segodon

Saigo Takamori, the hero of the Meiji Restoration, was born to a poor, low-ranking samurai family in the Satsuma domain (present day Kagoshima Prefecture). His simple honesty caught the attention of its charismatic feudal lord of Satsuma, Shimazu Nariakira. Nariakira’s assertion that the love of people is what will enrich and strengthen the nation captivated Saigo who took on Nariakira’s secret mission and eventually became a key person for Satsuma. Not a portrait of him survives today and much of his life is a mystery. He is a man who was twice exiled and thrice married. He overthrew the Tokugawa Shogunate with exceptional bravery and action. Although he accomplished the restoration, he lost his life in a fight with the new Meiji government.

Flower Curtain

Massan

Massan is based on the lives of Masataka Taketsuru and his wife Jessie Roberta "Rita" Cowan, a Scotswoman Taketsuru met while studying abroad.

Haru and Natsu

As Haru emigrates from Japan with her family to the coffee plantations in Brazil, Natsu is left behind in the care of spiteful relatives. Losing all contact, each must make her own way in an unforgiving world. Hardships abound in the struggle to survive in war-torn Japan and in the face of anti-Japanese sentiment in Brazil, financial ruin, familial pressure, abandonment and lost love. However they also experience the precious joy of survival and success. Now, after 70 years, Haru comes back to Japan to find her estranged sister.