Yuka Itaya

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.

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.

In one long Friday evening, Takeshi Miyata, a straight-arrow businessman, will encounter a number of people (some only fleetingly) who have intertwining fates.

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.

Six women attempt to make it in current day Tokyo, living their everyday lives the best and worst they can. For them, every little moment becomes a ritual of the ordinary and the exciting, a balancing act for their dreams and hopes as the days perpetually tug on their heartstrings.

Set two years after after "Hotaru no Hikari" drama series, Hotaru Amemiya learns that her boss and now husband Seichi Takano has dreamed of vacationing in Rome, Italy like in the movie "Roman Holiday". Hotaru then makes plans to go to Rome for their honeymoon. Rome, Italy prepare ... Hotaru Amemiy and Seichi Takano are coming!

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.

Yoko, who gets a job at a nursing home, witnesses the elderly and disabled people there having their human dignity threatened.

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.

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."

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.

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.

Kiwako Nonomiya is devastated after Takehiro Akiyama, the married man she has been having an affair with, manipulates her into getting an abortion by promising to marry her and then refusing to divorce his wife. Kiwako then learns of Takehiro's wife's pregnancy. One morning, while Takehiro and his wife Etsuko are away, Kiwako sneaks into their home to get a look at their six-month-old child. Without a thought for the consequences, she carries the baby away. Kiwako then raises the child as her own, while being a fugitive from the law.

Sayoko is a tough, 19-year-old with ambition, energy and nowhere to direct it. Her father clearly favors her blind 16-year-old sister. Junior college is unstimulating. She is fired from her part-time job in a dress shop because she is too diligent at catching shoplifters and slaps them around a bit when she does. Even her boyfriend opts out for a more docile girl, but Sayoko doesn't think she is tough enough.

Natsuha Mai is a 17-year-old high school student. She begins to work part-time, during her summer vacation, at her uncle's batting cage center. There, she meets a mysterious man named Ito Tomohiro. He is a former professional baseball player and he claims that he can discern a person's worries by looking at their batting swing. Ito Tomohiro comes to the batting center every night that Natsuha Mai works and watches female customers take batting practice. He tries to solve their worries by using baseball theory.

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