The Political Game

The 39th NHK Taiga Drama is Aoi Tokugawa Sandai. It is James Miki's dynamic and colorful tale of three generations of the Tokugawa dynasty--from its founder Ieyasu to Iemitsu, the third Shogun who solidified the Tokugawa power base.

In the early Showa era, the town of Choshi in Chiba Prefecture was divided by the conflicts between the worlds of "land" and "sea". Born to Kyubei Bando, the owner of a long-established soy sauce brewery, and his mistress Rui, Kaworu was taken in by her father and raised as a prim and proper lady. As she grew up, she fell in love with Sokichi, the eldest son of an established fisherman; alas, their two families were in conflict. This is a story of pure love between two people that grew beyond the boundaries of the old customs that they were brought up with. It is a drama that depicts their turbulent journey of love and the bonds of the people from an old and established family working tirelessly to protect their naturally brewed soy sauce business through the ups and downs.

In the 16th Year of Keityo (1611), the lord of Ogura Castle in Kyushu admitted Sasaki Kojiro's because of his great sword techniques. However, a group within the feudal clan which supported to use guns considered Kojiro an obstacle in their goals and has the well-known ronin, Miyamoto Musashi, fight him. Now because of political gain and greed, two honorable men are to fight to the death on Ganryu Island.

Tange Tenzen is made a vassal to the shogun. He is a master of the single long sword fighting style. But in order to defend the honour of his wife, Nagao Chiharu, he loses an arm and his family is also wiped out.

Buddhist priest Tripitaka and his three disciples Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy, travel from China to India to fetch the Buddhist scriptures. They have been sent by Buddha, and getting these scriptures will bring peace to the people of the world.

Kyoko met Tetsu during her trip to San Francisco. Soon they fell in love but getting married was not in his mind. They were to meet again back in Tokyo but Tetsu didn't turn up. She went to look for him in San Francisco but all she found was him with his new girlfriend. Kyoko went back to Tokyo and eventually married a big corporate CEO.

In a fishing town by the Seto Sea, a student discovers a woman motionless on the beach and takes her back to his family's inn to nurse her, but he soon discovers than she is an extremist on the run from the police.

Hiroshi Nanjo is an active and tactful youth devoting more of his energies to his part time job than to studying for a college entrance exam. On the other hand, Bunpei Noro is an awkward fellow who once failed in a college entrance exam and is now studying hard for a second try. ‘Light and Shade of Youth’ depicts the friendship between these two young men of opposite characters, interlacing a cute waitress along the way.

A Toho film featuring the comedy duo Konto 55, (コント55号), comprised of comedians Kinichi Hagimoto and Jiro Sakagami.

Based on a true story about a Japanese woman, seeking her true love, who lived in Korea before, during, and after World War II but is forced to move back to Japan.

Hiromi Go plays a high school student who needs a role model in his life badly. He's raised by his older sister played by Keiko Matsuzaka who is a hostess at a night club. She meets a man who becomes her boyfriend. He races in a off-road car rally professionally. The same man becomes Go's role model and teaches him sophisticated car driving techniques. One of the techniques taught is 'double clutch' ( Thus the movie's title Double Kuracchi ) to make gear transition smoothly between shifts. Hiromi Go was a big pop idol in Japan when this movie was created. Both Go and Matsuzaka still enjoys high celebrity status in Japan.

Japanese film based on the song by Harumi Miyako.

Based on the comic by Mitsutoshi Furuya

The Japanese pop music duo Pink Lady are circus performers who show kindness toward a captured "monster," a sad, furry being (played by a man in a bulky, over-sized pink acrylic costume) who suffers acts of unusual cruelty by the keeper and ringmaster before the girls escape with the creature in a circus trailer.

A young outlaw can’t escape his rebellious past despite connections to a well-to-do family.