Our beloved home, planet Earth, never ceases to amaze us with its many hidden treasures. This variety program takes viewers on an exciting treasure hunt full of incredible must-see wonders, an adventure full of mystery and amazing information to pique your intellectual curiosity! Even the most familiar places and things, when viewed from a scientific perspective, harbor eye-opening discoveries. Come explore the wonders of nature, animal life, science, and history, from the cosmic to the mundane in this foray into the earth’s marvelous wonders!

Yamato and Kakeru are childhood friends. Yamato with his cool demeanor and good looks is a straight A student who is often confronted by girls professing their love.
On the other hand, Kakeru is a typical high school teen with many friends and a cheerful personality.
One day, Kakeru asks Yamato if he likes anybody, to which he mumbles, “Kakeru.” Kakeru responds jokingly that he can’t possibly mean himself, but Yamato has in that moment made his own confession as best as he could in this boyhood youth story about finding direction for unrequited feelings.

Asuka had once realized her goal to become a teacher, but after a gutting failure, she gives up her dream profession and becomes extremely withdrawn. After a series of events, she finds herself becoming a live-in housemother for a dorm... where the boy band septet 8LOOM live together!
At the dorm, she is reunited with her former student Dan—as a teacher, Asuka used to encourage him to go for his dreams. Inspired by Dan’s leadership in the band and his passion for making his dream come true, Asuka, too, regains the passion she had in her teaching days and comes to terms with her own failure.
Don’t miss this adorable story about a woman’s journey to new heights in work, friendship, and romance!

Personalities and complexes collide between a Tokyo University-educated paralegal, Shoko (“Miss Compliance”) and a young lawyer with only a high school degree, Yoshio (“Mr. Bohemian”). Nevertheless, they somehow manage to help clients in a small town through the “Ushio Legal Counseling Office” in this off-color legal drama! With Shoko’s sharp wit and stubbornly single-minded passion, and Yoshio’s penchant for acting cool, the two are more similar than they would admit despite constant bickering as they fight for the rights of their clients.

Yumeko is a hot-shot business woman recently headhunted by a venture capital firm.
Outwardly, she is brash, confident and self-possessed, but at home, she’s a total slob. Emotionally wounded from a recent 18-month romance in which she was dumped, Yumeko still pines after her first high school crush as her ideal partner. When she encounters a mysterious man who looks identical to him, it sends her life spinning out of control in this reverse Cinderella tale for all women with big dreams.

A mystery figure dubbed “Invisible” conspires with criminals as an underworld “crime coordinator.”
Once thought of as just an urban legend, Invisible hijacks the airwaves and warns of a bombing.
Nobody imagined it would be a woman by the name “Kiriko.”
“I’ll give you my information,” she says, “but I want Detective Takafumi back in the First Crime Division.” But why him? One by one, the mysteries peel away in this rollercoaster drama will hold you in captive suspense.

Kyoka is perfectly happy being single as is her father, Rintaro, a forlorn widower who lost his beloved wife, Yoko, to cancer. One day as the two clean house, they stumble upon a divorce form signed by Yoko. Shocked and reflecting on this revelation, Rintaro at age 63 decides it’s time to start over and find himself a life partner. And he challenges Kyoka to do the same. The race for wedding bells is on! In this love story, it is about a modern family growth and rebirth.

Since losing his beloved wife 10 years ago, Keisuke vows to never remarry. He wants happiness for his only daughter, Mai, but struggles to make a good living and their communication suffers. That is until the appearance before them of a mysterious young girl carrying a schoolbag who claims to be Keisuke’s wife. Reincarnation? An offbeat family life ensues comprised of devoted husband Keisuke, his former wife (now a grade schooler) and a daughter who won’t grow up.

Eripiyo is an otaku living in Okayama Prefecture. She devotes her life to supporting Maina, a member of the underground pop idol group “ChamJam”.
Eripiyo always wears her red track suit from high school. Eripiyo always waves her salmon-pink light stick. And Eripiyo loves Maina and Maina only. She spends all her income on Maina, thinks about her 24/7, and screams her name at the top of her lungs. Her devotion has earned her a legendary status among other otakus. She states that “If my favorite pop idol went to the Budokan, I would die.” Come see how pop idols and otakus get caught up in the legendary otaku’s quest for supporting her favorite pop idol!

A satisfyingly heart-warming comedy in support of all people struggling to make their way in an age of revolutionary changes to the workplace. First tackling the issue of overtime work, the drama spotlights not only systemic reforms taking place, but the change in mindset occurring among working people as they re-envision the shape of future society and the balance between life and work. Currently, Japanese society encompasses widening views on overtime including those who regard it as a necessary evil and others who still see it as a virtue. The protagonist in this story, however, does not. As is a new-age working girl with the personal motto: “Go home at the appointed time,” her working life is a constant battle with High-maintenance r colleagues and ethically-questionable superiors. And yet she still manages to discover small miracles every day, imparting pithy yet inspirational messages about Why we work, the importance of self-love and the value of friendship.

A mysterious disease that infects surrounding organisms, nefarious genetic manipulation, an unknown pathogen from overseas. With technology advancing at such a breakneck pace, unanticipated and incomprehensible accidents are bound to occur.
Arriving to confront the many new challenges of modern science and medicine is a brilliant, introverted and eccentric scientist with a robotic prosthetic hand, his empathic assistant fueled by a passion for justice, and a coolly-competent and beautiful bureaucrat.
Outwardly, the trio could hardly be more different in appearance and personality, but together, they employ brilliant methods to solve baffling mysteries in each episode and save many from untold suffering.
Savor the satisfaction of a puzzle-solving drama filled with plenty of life-affirming inspiration, and highlighted by a compelling mystery. It is an incisive foray into the whirlpool of modern desire and ambition combining science, medicine and mystery for a wholly new style of whodunit entertainment.

Suzu Urano is an innocent young woman who loves to draw pictures and lives in the seaside town called Eba district of Hiroshima. At the height of World War II in the Pacific with all the men off at the front, she finds herself as eldest daughter assisting with the family business of seaweed to make ends meet when an offer of marriage arises. The suitor is Shusaku Hojo, a young stenographer at the military court-martial who had fallen in love with her at first sight, but Suzu doesn’t remember ever having met him. Though uncomfortable with the idea of betrothing a man she doesn’t know, she gets swept along by the people and circumstances around her until marriage becomes a foregone conclusion. She finds the task of winning acceptance by Shusaku’s family hard going despite all of her pure and earnest efforts in this touching story of family love and survival amid the crucible of war.

Ritsu Okazaki was abandoned by his mother when a child and has since scraped out a seedy life in the only place that will comfortably accept him: the underworld. But one fateful day, Ritsu incurs a serious-head injury during a scuffle, and is informed by a doctor that he could go at any moment. With time running out, he sets out to find his mother, Reiko Hyuga. What he finds, however, is a happy and wealthy woman who spends her time lavishing love on another son named Satoru. Ritsu is torn between feelings of jealous hatred and yearning for the love of his mother. That’s when he’s reunited with Rinka, a girl he’d helped before. But Rinka has long been in love with Satoru, a childhood friend, but she has kept those feelings to herself. A mother and two sons, a girl and two men: two love triangles that intersect and clash to produce a bittersweet love story.

Mitsu is a 29-year-old woman who married “the number 2 man in her life,” but has been unable to forget her first love, Arishima. When she accidentally encounters him after several years, she feels it is destiny calling, and the two spend one night together in secret from their spouses. Airtime himself has just begun a family of his own, with a newborn child, but he and Mitsu find themselves continuing their affair. While they at first enjoy what seems to be a no-strings at-tached affair, it gradually begets subtle changes in feeling. Mitsu’s husband, Ryota, becomes aware of the affair and ups his devotion to her to keep her. Meanwhile, Arishima’s wife, Reika, is a picture perfect mother and devoted wife, throwing this four-way relationship into an increas-ingly complicated web of mixed emotions.

College junior, Haruka, is invited by her best friend, Maki, to attend Works　Applications (WAP) internship orientation. On her way home, Haruka is nearly hit by a car only to be saved at the last moment by WAP’s CEO Makino, who sacrifices his own life. Makino wakes up in a hospital emergency room to be greeted by a man who introduces himself as “Death”. He shows Makino’s lifeless body on the bed below and explains that Haruka was supposed to have died in the accident, but Makino has traded destinies with her. The only way that both can be saved is if Haruka can change her future. Makino believes that if Haruka can become a star intern and be hired by his company, he will return to life. So he possesses Maki’s mind in order to convince her to support Haruka as an intern.
Haruka, however, lacks confidence and is more concerned with a different passion: a “carta” (card game) club championship that she has scheduled on the last day of her internship. Haruka needs to get the club into competitive shape by then. Makino nevertheless continues to provide Haruka with advice despite the fact that she is just not cutting it as an intern.
Will Haruka be hired by the company at the end of her internship? All hinges on whether or not Makino in the form of Maki can get the carta club strong enough for the tournament.

For generations, the blue-blooded Homonji family has been devoted to a pure and rigorous pursuit of knowledge in all forms, regardless of the powers that be or the fortunes of the aristocracy with whom they sympathize. But now, inheriting the pedagogic mantel of the family as its 89th master is Sharaku Homonji, a super genius with an IQ of 246, and a man with time on his hands. “Ah, I’m so bored. Isn’t there a puzzle I can solve?” Sharaku goes in search of “worthwhile” mysteries to crack, putting his super genetic brain to the test.

Overcoming a tragic accident at a young age that confined her to a wheelchair and caused frequent memory loss, Tsukasa has an inspiring lust for life and energy. She plays sports and meets, then falls in love with, a young basketball-playing taxi driver named Masami. Soon, the two find themselves having to face a variety of challenges and difficulties form the world around them on their way to marriage and the dreams of building a blissful life together. This film is based on a miraculous story about an actual couple in Abashiri, Hokkaido. Tsukasa has been paralyzed on her left side since a traffic accident as a young girl, which also caused some brain damage, making her forget things easily.

1944, in the depths of World War II. Toyomatsu Shimizu is a completely typical barber from a remote seaside town who lives frugally but happily with his wife Fusae and their 5 year-old son. Eventually, though, the army beckons and he is drafted. One day an officer on the battlefield orders him to kill a captured American soldier. Although Toyomatsu lacks the spirit to kill the man, and only wounds him in the arm, the victorious Americans will not accept this, and Toyomatsu is arrested and tried as a war criminal. And he receives the cruelest sentence possible...

A place, somewhere, that bears a strong resemblance in history and environment to Japan. There is the ‘Special Law for the Maintenance of National Prosperity’. 24 hours before this capsule is to bring about death, an official of the Ministry of Health and Welfare brings a letter announcing impending death, an ‘ikigami’. Those who receive this ‘ikigami’ letter have 24 hours of absolute freedom to do anything and everything they want.
Kengo Fujimoto has made his way through university and taken a job with the Ministry. His work now is delivering these ‘ikigami’ letters.
Fujimoto, delivering these letters and seeing the absurdity of death being forced upon these young people, gradually begins to have doubts about his job...

Housewife Midori married her college sweetheart when she was 25. They were blessed with a son and daughter, and she has been very happy.
However, ten years after their marriage, her husband Takashi decides to quit his job in order to follow his dream. They are forced to move in with Takashi’s mother Chiyoko, who runs a used-book shop. Midori is given the job of managing the family’s budget, which she finds very stressful.
Takashi finally finds another job, but when he comes home one day, he discovers that, after trying too hard to balance the budget, Midori’s body has been taken over by the spirit of novelist Soseki Natsume!

Desperately in need of money, Hikari drops out of high school to pay her father’s debts and starts working at a television station as a cleaning lady. There she meets Masako, a television producer suffering from her drama’s low viewer ratings.
Masako soon realizes that Hikari has potential, and decides to hire her as one of her staff members. But things don’t go as planned. Working in the male-dominated corporate culture of the TV station, the two women find themselves alternatively clashing and cooperating to achieve their goals. Despite their ups and downs, one common desire always brings them together and guides them… they just want to be happy!

Kozue Ogawa is a housewife and has been married to Hideo for seven years. They don’t have any children but as they live with her parents at their flower shop, everyday is still lively. She is happy with her life and her husband but she wonders if it is enough. From time to time she is gripped by this doubt that she cannot raise with anyone. One rainy day, Kozue meets a young man named Takuma Fukazawa who is a high school student and a dance instructor at the dance studio where she is taking lessons. He seems somehow shrouded in sadness. One day, when it is just the two of them, Takuma curls his hands around Kozue’s body and his dance instruction begins. Their unexpected closeness causes Kozue to hesitate. With her heart pounding, she pushes Takuma’s hands away and runs home. But the throbbing in her chest continues. It can’t be. But what is this feeling?

Usagi is just an ordinary housewife. Katsura, her junior college classmate, asks her to join her in a business venture. Katsura wants to open a flower shop. Usagi has never given any thought to working, but she is swept along by Katsura’s enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Usagi’s father, who’s the third-generation owner of a shop called Ginza Ugetsudo, is planning to make Usagi his successor. Which path will Usagi take? Or, will she settle on a completely different road? Usagi matures with each vexing problem she faces. Her struggles are presented with a comic touch. This is a drama with excitement, suspense and humor.

Ever wonder what would it be like to hear other people’s thoughts? Yusaku, an ordinary guy in an ordinary job finds out, when doctors revive him after a nasty fall down a flight of stairs. He soon realizes that he has this amazing power to read minds, but that it comes with an unusual limitation: he can only access them for 57 minutes after knocking his head tumbling down stairs! This is no problem for Yusaku though, who has always been a klutz. Soon he has turned himself into a peculiar modern day hero in an endless cycle of throwing himself down stairs to help those around him. This hilarious comedy shows just how far an ordinary guy will go to become the hero he has always wished to be and save the earth!

Ryosuke’s bride-to-be ran out on him one week before the wedding. Ai is self-centered and never knows what she wants. Shy and introverted, Mikan longs to find her true love. All three meet late at night in a diner and are never the same again. Having been given the wedding gift for Ryosuke’s former bride-to-be and finding that it contained shoes she was wishing for, Mikan figures fate is trying to tell her something. But Ryosuke seems vexed by Ai’s mysterious beauty, and Mikan must convince him of their fate together before Ai’s charm carries him away.

When an alien race consumes all their natural resources and departs on a long journey to colonize Earth by force, a separate political faction sympathetic to the human cause sends ahead three robots programmed to lie dormant for 300 years until the alien's arrival. When they awake, Akira Kami and his family find themselves destined to pilot one of the great robots called Trizenon and racing against time to join with the other two robots in order to save mankind.

Living in an area known for its juvenile crime, 21 year-old Makoto has become a member of a youth gang called the G-Boys. Known for his cool head and ability to get things done, Makoto becomes a key trouble-shooter for the gang by diffusing tense situations and keeping his friends out of harm’s way. However, the death of his girlfriend and an escalating turf war with a rival gang threaten to be more than Makoto can handle.

Rushing through heavy rain without an umbrella, a lonely and depressed young man, Masuo, is having a very bad day. Just as he slips and falls to the pavement, scattering his papers everywhere, Nagisa, a lovely vision of a woman, gently hands her umbrella and handkerchief to him. From this fateful beginning, Masuo vows to find a way to win the heart of the beautiful Nagisa despite his shy and clumsy nature.

A happily married woman is suddenly confronted with a painful past when her old boyfriend moves next door. Blinded by the pursuit of power and status, he had abandoned her to marry the daughter of a company president. Now she must once again journey through a minefield of love and hate to guard her marriage and her own integrity.

Ten years after their amicable separation, the couple meets again. Only now, Miwa is about to marry, and the man also has cultivated a relationship with another woman. This complex romance focuses on Miwa’s search for genuine happiness after enduring the stigma of a failed marriage.

Asia’s prettiest, pickiest, shopping-loving Princess and her maid make a surprise visit to Japan!
This hilarious travelogue follows the unexpected spins and turns of the Princess and her maid on their journey to find Japan’s most fabulous gourmet foods, fashion, art and scenic spots!
The coolest places to shop! Savory and sweet gourmet food!! Awesome scenic spots that you want to visit RIGHT NOW! …Here’s the trip to JAPAN every Princess DREAMS for!!!

1. TOKYO
Dress up in a kimono, and start off your journey with purple potato ice cream, dorayaki, melon bread and okonomiyaki… with hot and crispy croissant taiyaki for dessert!

2. YAMANASHI
Enjoy breathtaking views of Mt. Fuji while sampling… matcha tea, rice dumplings, mochi waffles and parfaits, fresh grape juice, raisin sandwiches and Hoto noodles!

3. SENDAI
Learn about the history of Sendai at Aoba Castle ruins and the Lord Date statue… then make your tummy happy with ox tongue grill, edamade parfait, takoyaki and fresh fish!

4. MATSUSHIMA
Take a sightseeing boat, enjoy scenic shrines and visit the matchmaking bridge. Munch on rice crackers before… fresh sushi at the fish market, and steamed oysters!

5. OKUMIKAWA
Appreciate relaxing country life, and indulge in… Dando beef steak, legendary rice, rice bread, curry rice, and eggs and vegetables straight from the farm!

6. ISESHIMA
Visit Ise Shrine, the shrine to the sun goddess Amaterasu, and dine extravagantly on Iseshima shrimp, special charshew ramen, mikan juice and red bean zenzai!

7. HUIS TEN BOSCH
Bask in the illumination of 13-million lightbulbs, tour Earl Chocolat’s mansion, the flower ice café and the cheese market… and don’t miss the cheese fondue!

8. NAGASAKI
Drop by Dejima wharf… then feast on Chinese snacks, bubble tea, stewed pork buns, chanpon noodles, red snapper and a jumbo parfait at Nagasaki Shinichi Chinatown!!!

Foreign workers are on the rise in Japan. Naturally, they have families far away in their native countries who are worried about them. This program shines a spot light on foreign worker s earning a living in Japan and on the parents concerned for the welfare of their expatriated children. The staff of “Is my child okay in Japan?” zooms in on places of employment for foreign workers and gives their worried parents a rare glimpse into how their children are faring, producing many surprising discoveries for Japanese as well!
How wi l l parents react to seeing the struggles of their children overseas? Watch this documentary-variety hybrid cross national boundaries to highlight something universal: parental love.