Sawako Fujima

Misa, battling PMS and stigma, starts anew at Kurita Optics. Amidst work and sweets, she meets Takatoshi. Despite his quiet demeanor and struggle with panic attacks, a deep bond forms.

In the early 1920s, Yasuko, a budding actress, crosses paths with Chūya Nakahara, a young poet destined to be revered as a genius. Drawn to each other by their shared pretentiousness, they begin living together and quickly fall into a complex relationship. Their lives take a dramatic turn when they move to Tokyo and are visited by Hideo Kobayashi, a friend of Chūya’s who would later emerge as one of Japan's foremost literary critics. This seemingly chance encounter not only alters Yasuko's fate but also entwines the three of them in an intense and inescapable destiny.

Saho Takahashi, capable but a disillusioned nurse, has lost all motivation for her job working at Sumidaku Sakuraoka General Hospital. She seeks solace in the company of her bed-ridden patient, former Honorary Head Nurse, Sae Yukino. As she opens up about her despair, a sudden earthquake sends Saho into the depths of a strange, unfamiliar jungle.

Yoriko, an artist living in rural Nagi, is haunted by a former love affair she cannot bear to mourn. When Yuri, a recently separated architect, travels from Tokyo to visit her friend and former sister-in-law, both women find themselves at a crossroad, each searching for ways to let go of the past and define their identities. Yuri's brief escape from the city settles into a quiet confrontation of loss and probing for the two women in bucolic Nagi.

Azusa and Kanami have been best friends since high school. After Kanami dies in an unexpected accident, Azusa despairs yet finds comfort in sending text messages to Kanami’s cellphone. Kanami’s parents wonder about Azusa’s identity, and upon visiting the orphanage that their dead daughter cared about, are moved by her good deeds.

Aiko Satō, who has won many literary awards, retired from her life as a writer and had no guests. She spent a gloomy time, but then a middle-aged editor named Tachibana came with a commission for a story. The story begins with a series of essays that are initially unpleasant, writing out her anger towards society. Aiko's life will undergo significant changes by the time she is 90 years old.

Cha-Cha is the love story between the titular Cha-Cha, a free-spirited artist, and Raku, a boy with increasingly questionable tastes. Cha-Cha is painted with the whimsical colors of a romantic comedy at its surface that belie much, much, much darker hues to be found in its deranged depths. Cha-Cha is silly, sweet, screwball, and completely unexpected.

Serial killer Shinju Shinagawa , called "Shinagawa Pierrot" for her clown makeup at arrest 3 years ago, remained silent during her first trial. Child consultation center worker Arata Natsume suddenly gets a request from Takuto Yamashita, the child of one of the serial killer's victims, who informs him that he's been corresponding with Shinagawa in his name in order to find out what she did with his father's missing head. Arata pretends to be an elite civil servant but finds that the Shinagawa he meets is different from the one he expected. When she realizes he isn't the sender of the letters, she goes to leave. In a panic, Arata, who never planned on getting married, blurts out "Let's get married!"

Kato is an up-and-coming scriptwriter in the middle of a severe slump. He submits ideas for potential movies but makes no headway whatsoever, and spends his days downhearted and distressed. When he heads out to buy "Dog Man," food for his lover's beloved pooch Cerberus, one thing leads to another and he stumbles into "Ideal Mart," a convenience store where he can find everything his heart desires. There, he encounters a mysterious married woman named Keiko, who gets his creative juices flowing again, but...

In 2020, the world is forced into lockdown by the COVID pandemic. As remote work is popularized in order to keep the infection rate under control, a young man employed by a company in Tokyo moves to a country town on the Sanriku Coast in Miyagi Prefecture, where he could enjoy fishing, in search of a new lifestyle. But gradually, we found that there were problems such as "empty houses" in the local area.

At the age of six, Shota was placed by his father, Akira, in the care of a mother and her child. He begins to live with Yui, who is close to his age, and her mother, Ryoko. Time goes by, and Shota and Yui become high school students. Since then, Matsuta's parents have never visited them. Yui and Matsuta are attracted to each other, but a phone call from Matsuta's real mother, Nana, makes his feelings unreachable, and Matsuta leaves home... A story of a boy abandoned by his parents and a girl waiting for such a boy. A story of a boy abandoned by his parents and a girl waiting for him, and the kind strangers around them.

The eighth shogun, Tokugawa Yoshimune, fights against evil rampant in Edo while blending in with the common people as Tokuda Shinnosuke, the third son of a poor samurai retainer, commonly known as "Shin-san". The story depicts Yoshimune, who is shaken by the issue of succession, the drama within Edo Castle, and a difficult case involving a conspiracy that occurs in the castle town, with the addition of new characters and a sense of the era.

At his clinic, sex therapist Ichito Shimotori treats diverse and intimate sexual issues with sincerity. Yet, he secretly hides a struggle of his own.

The heroine Balsa is a skilled bodyguard and a masterful spear-wielder. One day she rescues Prince Chagum who has fallen into a river. The prince is carrying a mysterious spirit egg in his body, and is in danger of being assassinated by his father, the Mikado, who fears this will damage his imperial prestige. Balsa embarks upon a perilous journey when she accepts the queen’s plead to protect her son from her husband.

A sinister game begins when a group of classmates reunites at their high school reunion, only to uncover a time capsule containing a defaced graduation album—and soon, their peers start dying mysteriously. As two former classmates race to unravel the truth behind the deaths, their own hidden secrets threaten to expose a web of lies, turning every classmate into a suspect in a nonstop suspense-driven mystery: who is the true culprit?

Shogo Higuchi is a detective whose wife was murdered by a serial killer. Hikari Tachibana is a voice profiler whose father was murdered. She has a special hearing ability which allows her to hear minutiae sounds that other people do not.

Haruto Narusawa, the president of a video game company, enjoys life in the affluent seaside town of Kamakura with his wife and daughter, who attends an elementary school. However, tragedy befalls this happy family when his daughter is kidnapped. Haruto must now face numerous hardships as he navigates through the complex web of human nature that begins to show its ugliness. The only way to save his beloved daughter is to take matters into his own hands without the police's involvement and, together with his wife, stand against the kidnappers. Can this family's story reach a happy ending? Or will theirs be a tragedy? This non-stop family suspense-thriller tests the bonds of a family facing life's worst nightmare.

Scout Ora Gohara of the 'Yokohama Bay Golds' is widely acknowledged as a highly skilled individual. His aim is to discover hidden talents from all over the country and secure the number one 'Draft King' among the players selected in the draft conference.

Narumi Yamaguchi, a single woman who enjoyed her independent life, suddenly started dating after her admired aunt died alone. After failing to find a partner and being bluntly told by her younger colleague Yuya Nasuda that "marriage security is outdated thinking", she shifted focus from marriage hunting to end-of-life planning.

Born and raised in Hasami, Aoko works as a porcelain painter, taking pride in the quiet rhythm of her craft and the town’s long tradition of pottery. When a solitary ceramic artist from Finland arrives and dismisses painted decoration, Aoko is initially offended, but as she discovers the beauty of his work, she finds herself increasingly drawn to both his art and the man behind it.

Based on essays by the popular author Moegara, here are eight poignant stories—each inspired by a specific flavor—in which people and moments from the past come back to life.