Aki Nishihara

Police investigators of cases involving two or more prefectures.

First business trip away from Tokyo in a while

Why is it a crime for two people to be together? In the silence so profound that you could even hear the sound of falling snow, the man buried his wife alone. That was what his wife had wished for. When a loved one is dying, what can one do for them? 272 days, 6000 km—this is the true story of a couple's extraordinary love. December 2, 1999. A small article about the arrest of a man appeared on the social page of the newspaper. The charge was "abandonment resulting in death"—the crime of abandoning someone who needed assistance due to old age, childhood, physical disability, or illness, and causing their death. The man had been wandering around Japan for nine months with his wife, who had terminal cancer, in a van. In the fall of 2000, the monthly magazine "Shincho 45" published the memoir of the arrested man, Hisanori Shimizu, in two issues, which caused a great sensation.

In a story told straight and with restraint we watch Naoko Hanami. She quit her job to look after her dementia-stricken mother Kiyo while the health of her father, Eiji, worsens with age. Struggling alone, she presents a stoic face to the world, too quiet and maybe too scared to speak up for herself. Finally, she turns to the city office to apply for welfare which is where caseworker Munemura, a genuine and sympathetic person, starts to investigate Naoko to see if she qualifies for help.

Takako's high school has a unique tradition. Every year, the school's 1000 students walk 80 kilometers in 24 hours. As this is her final year of high school, Takako decides to work up the courage to talk to classmate You, whom she has never spoken to before. Classmates who are unaware of their relationship read something more into their awkward overtures.

Masaki is about to move to the U.S. with his parents, much to the dismay of five girls who all like him in different ways. Tomboyish Takako always gives him a hard time; Haruna is a childhood friend; Alisa has fancied him since a shopping trip in nearby Shibuya; Naoko is still readjusting after a long spell in the U.K.; and Yumi ikes practicing basketball with him at night. All wonder who his "special girl" is, but Masaki isn't saying.

Genki Ogasawara enrolls in an all boys high school. He then sets out to become popular with girls and looks for a club to join at school. Genki then comes across a performance of "Romeo and Juliet" performed by the school's drama club. Genki falls for the lead playing Juliet and decides to join the drama club. Genki isn't aware that the drama club is about to be shut down and that the person playing Juliet is actually a senior male student in drag.

A 21-year-old university student lost her boyfriend in a sudden accident and she can't get over him, but she begins to change thanks to her family and her friend Takumi, who shares a very similar past with her.

Four years have passed since that emotional marriage proposal at Tsukushi Makino's high-school prom, and Tsukasa Dōmyōji announced his engagement to Tsukushi to the entire world. At an engagement dinner between their families, Dōmyōji's mother, who has been strongly against their relationship before, presents Tsukushi a tiara, which is estimated to be worth roughly 10 billion yen, as a token of their engagement. But that night, the tiara is stolen by somebody! Then, Dōmyōji and Tsukushi travel around the globe to Las Vegas, Hong Kong, and even a deserted island to get the tiara back—the legendary tiara that has been believed to "bring eternal love." In the meantime, where and what are the "F4" fellows, who have just gone separate ways, doing now?

Kenshin has settled into his new life with Kaoru and his other friends when he is approached with a request from the Meiji government. Makoto Shishio, a former assassin like Kenshin, was betrayed, set on fire and left for dead. He survived, and is now in Kyoto, plotting with his gathered warriors to overthrow the new government. Against Kaoru's wishes, Kenshin reluctantly agrees to go to Kyoto and help keep his country from falling back into civil war.

The Akazas are a blue-collar family living in a working-class neighborhood of Tokyo. Older brother Inosuke is a carpenter who works for his father Shinobu's construction business. Younger sister Momoko is a truckdriver. Passions run high in the Akaza household and the two siblings are constantly bickering. One day, Momoko reveals she had a miscarriage but refuses to say who the father is.

A collection of shorts spun off from the movie "Night Time Picnic" that take place on the day before the movie's events. On the last day of high school, ten young people explore their feelings while participating in a "walking festival" in which 1000 people walk 80 km over the course of the day. This collection includes 9 episodes by 6 directors, including "Murishi" starring Mikako Tabe and "Unrequited Length" starring Rosa Kato.

Tatsuya Ukyo gets caught up in trouble and is threatened by Kuki, the boss of the Kuki group, and is forced to fight at "Dragon Heat (DH)", a gambling fighting arena located in an underground facility in the city.

Set at a famous high school for the super-wealthy, this is a puppy love story centered on Tsukushi Makino, a poor girl, and the F4 gang of rich kids headed by the rough and fearless Prince Charming, Tsukasa Domyoji.

Sanada plays a salariman who just lost his job. Yonekura, his wife, is a dancer who gave up her career when they got married. In the middle of family crisis, Yonekura leaves to pursue her dream. Sanada is stuck with their only son. Suzuki, his old flame -turn jet set career woman- is forced to take care of them. Will the romance spark again, now that Sanada already has family, and Suzuki has a younger man, Makoto, beside her?

Iori Igarashi is a talented radiographer who believes the “truth” is definitely captured in CT and MRI images. He and radiologist An Amakasu work at a hospital’s radiology department where they determine the causes of patients’ illnesses and injuries.

Mizuki plays a 35-year-old woman named Kurumi, who suddenly loses everything in her life when her fiance runs off with all of her assets. Left with a mere 15,000 yen and some boxes of ohagi (a type of rice ball), the despairing Kurumi happens upon a construction site, and she begins handing out the ohagi to the men working there. Using the theme of food, "Tenshi no Wakemae" depicts Kurumi's journey as she turns her life around.