Wednesday, April 21, 2004

>> Churasan 3 Coming in October

One of the top rated (or rather the most requested) shows for NHK’s morning drama serial series (asadora) is “Churasan” (64th in the continuing asadora series). The drama aired in Japan from April 2, 2001 to September 29, 2001, and garnered enough fan support to spark a 6-part sequel in March of 2003. Part 3 will be much like the shorter sequel and run for five episodes beginning in October 2004. More information can be found on the NHK drama site (in Japanese).

Thursday, January 01, 2004

>> Churasan 2 to Air on NGN

Fans of “Churasan” rejoice! English-subtitled episodes of “Churasan 2” (six episodes) will begin airing on NGN (Nippon Golden Network) every Saturday at 8:30 pm. The first episode will air on Saturday, January 3rd and the cast is the same we’ve grown to love from the first series — look out for Nana (MAX) who is the waitress in the Okinawan diner. The theme song for the drama is by Ryouko Kuninaka (who plays the heroine Eri in this drama) and called “Ryûkyû Moon” (the song is written by O-pop artist Mamoru Miyagi).

Saturday, September 27, 2003

>> Uehara Takako to star in NHK’s new asadora

Uehara Takako (SPEED) will play the role of Natsuko in NHK’s latest morning drama serial “Teru Teru Kazoku” (takes the place of “Kokoro”). The story is set in Osaka where the Kishida family runs a bakery. They are blessed with four daughters who are named after the four seasons. The heroine of this asadora is Ishihara Satomi (16) who plays the youngest of the four sisters, Fuyuko. This segment of NHK’s asadora series (the 69th) looks to be a very fun one to watch with the producers of the drama liking it to a musical. Will we see Takako singing and dancing? You betcha! Although it’s a supporting role, she may have a lot of air time as Natsuko’s (her character) dream is to be a top singer in Japan. The show will begin airing in Japan on Monday, September 29th.

Sunday, June 29, 2003

>> Yukie Nakama’s Kao

NGN (Nippon Golden Network) will begin airing Yukie Nakama’s drama, “Kao” (Fuji TV), from Saturday, July 19th. The first episode is a special one hour episode and the entire series is made up of 11 episodes. Yukie plays the role of Mizuho Hirano, a talented police sketch artist. This police drama which began airing in Japan from April 15th, also stars Joe Odagiri (as her love interest), Kimiko Yo (of “Churasan” 1 & 2 and “Ogya”), Ritsuko Tanaka, and Kotomi Kyouno. The theme song entitled “Kimi ga Anata ga” is sung by Nao (Avex).

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

>> What’s on in May/June?

With only a few days left in May, you can still catch the rerun of “NIght Hospital” (TV Japan, Episode 8 of 10), starring Yukie Nakama in the lead role on Wednesday, May 29th at 7:17 pm HST. The new episode airs on Saturday, May 31st at 4:10 pm HST. You can also catch her on the English-subtitled rebroadcast of NHK Taiga Drama’s “Musashi” before that (also on TV Japan) at 11:15 am HST (the show airs every Saturday).

In June we can see even more of Yukie in “Musashi” every Sunday at 2:00 pm HST on TV Japan (the show is rebroadcasted later in the evening at 7:15 pm). “Musashi” also airs on KIKU TV (Hawaii) every Tuesday at 8:00 pm HST and is rebroadcasted Sundays at 7:00 pm (note: the KIKU TV shows are English-subtitled but about three months behind the TV Japan broadcast schedule). TV Japan will also be airing the final episode of “Night Hospital” on Saturday, June 7th at 4:10 pm.

Other shows to look forward to on TV Japan are:

• “Kinyou Show Time: Okinawa no Ongaku wa Suteki sa!” which airs on Friday the 13th (yikes!) at 4:00 pm HST with a rerun airing at 10:15 pm.
• “BS Junior Nodo JIman” which airs on Sunday, June 29th at 11:00 am HST. The J-pop guest for this show from Saitama Prefecture is Takako Uehara.

That’s it for now!

>> Rina Chinen in “Kochira Hon-Ikegami-Sho”

J-pop singer and actress, Rina Chinen can be seen in the drama “Kochira Hon-Ikegami-Sho” on NGN TV every Tuesday nights at 8:30. Rina stars as a police office clerk (OL or Office Lady) in this lighthearted drama.


The drama began airing in Japan from April 14th on TBS and other cast members include: Yuriko Hoshi, Masanobu Takashima, Maki Mizuno, Ken Kaneko, and Ai Kago (from the J-pop group Morning Musume).

Sunday, April 27, 2003

>> Fan of karaoke?

Love karaoke? NHK’s “Nodo Jiman” is the show for you. It’s been made into a movie, and has broadcast shows from San Francisco and Hawaii. What is it really? It’s a karaoke contest that’s also a traveling show and a mini-concert since there are two big name guest singers who co-host the show with the ageless announcer Miyakawa-san. Today’s show will take place in Ishigaki City, Okinawa, and the guest singer you’ll want to pay attention to is Natsukawa Rimi — perhaps the most searched (Okinawa born) singer on the web today. Also appearing in the show is folk singer Minami Kousetsu. The show will air in the US via TV Japan — don’t miss it!

Friday, March 28, 2003

>> What’s on in April?

April 1 (Tue.) KIKU TV (Hawaii) will begin airing NHK Taiga Drama’s “Musashi” which stars Nakama Yukie, in a dual role. This very exciting drama series (complete with English subtitles) will be shown every Tuesday from 8 pm to 9 pm. There will also be a rebroadcast of the show every Sunday from 7 pm to 7:55 pm. This samurai drama is scheduled to run for about a year. The drama also airs on TV Japan every Sunday at 3:15 pm to 4 pm (with a rerun later in the evening) and is on par with the show’s schedule in Japan which began airing it from January 5.

April 5 (Sat.) TV Japan will begin airing Nakama Yukie’s drama “Night Hospital - Byouki wa Nemuranai” every Saturday (show time unavailable at this time). Ten episodes with no English subtitles.

April 7 (Mon.) TV Japan will also be airing “Churasan 2” (NHK’s Getsuyoubi [Monday] Drama Series) every Monday (show time unavailable at this time). Six episodes with no English subtitles. It’s worth checking out NHK’s site where you can download (1024 x 768 only) two different desktops of Goyâ Man with Goyâ Girl (?). No word yet if NGN (Nippon Golden Network) will pick this one up but it’s almost a sure bet with their “Okinawan Primetime” segment of shows.

April 12 (Sat.) KIKU TV will rebroadcast the “Okinawa Minyou Kouhaku” from 7 pm to 9:30 pm.

>> What’s on in March?

KIKU TV (Hawaii) will be airing the Okinawa Minyou Kouhaku on March 29th from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm.