Japanese dramas, Q1 2024: the quarter in review

NHK's 63rd taiga drama aired 48 episodes on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. from January 7 to December 15. Set in the mid-Heian period, it follows the life of Murasaki Shikibu (Mahiro), who would go on to write The Tale of Genji, centered on her relationship with the powerful Fujiwara no Michinaga. Yuriko Yoshitaka plays Mahiro and Tasuku Emoto plays Michinaga, from an original script by Shizuka Oishi.

Its 12.7% premiere was the series high, but at the time of broadcast it was the lowest ever for a taiga drama premiere. It fell to a low of 9.1% with episode 42 and ended with 11.0% for the final episode and a 10.7% average over its run, the second-lowest average ever for a taiga drama when the series ended. Its views on NHK Plus, however, were the highest of any taiga drama up to that time.

This TBS Friday drama aired 10 episodes on Friday nights at 10 p.m. from January 26 to March 29. In this musical-style comedy, written as an original script by Kankuro Kudo, Ichiro Ogawa (Sadao Abe), an "inappropriate" gym teacher from 1986 in the Showa era, time-slips to 2024 and collides with the age of compliance. Riisa Naka plays Nagisa Inujima, Hayato Isomura plays both Mutsumi Akitsu and Masahiko, and Yumi Kawai plays Junko Ogawa.

It opened at 7.6%, peaked at 8.3% with episodes 5 and 6, and drew 7.9% for the final episode, averaging 7.4%. Its nickname "Futehodo" (ふてほど) was chosen as the annual grand prize at the 2024 New Words and Buzzwords Awards, and the series won six awards at the 119th Television Drama Academy Awards, including Best Drama, as well as a Special Prize in the TV category at the 61st Galaxy Awards and an Award for Excellence in the serial drama category at the Tokyo Drama Awards 2024. For his performance, Sadao Abe received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Award (broadcasting category) at the 75th Art Encouragement Prizes in 2025. A special aired in January 2026 and drew 8.8%.

It aired 10 episodes in TBS's Sunday Theater slot from January 14 to March 17. Shunpei Natsume (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a world-famous conductor who left his family five years earlier, returns to Japan, takes over a provincial amateur orchestra on the verge of disbanding, and faces his daughter Hibiki (Mana Ashida), who has come to hate music. Satomi Oshima wrote the original script, and Hio Miyazawa plays Daiki Mori.

Its 11.4% premiere was the series high; with a low of 10.0% and 11.0% for the final episode, every episode reached 10% or more. It averaged 10.7%.

All eight episodes were released on Netflix on February 15. The Tawaras, a ninja family descended from Hattori Hanzo, have been living ordinary lives since the death of their eldest son six years earlier, but are drawn back into ninja missions. Kento Kaku, who came up with the original concept, plays the lead, Haru Tawara, and Yosuke Eguchi, Tae Kimura and Nobuko Miyamoto appear as members of the Tawara family. It was directed by Dave Boyle, Tomoyuki Takimoto and Yoshiaki Murao.

In its first week of release, the week of February 18, it drew 4.2 million views and ranked No. 2 on the global chart for non-English TV, and in its second week it took No. 1 with 4.5 million. It then ranked No. 4 and No. 8, staying in the global Top 10 for four consecutive weeks, and it spent two weeks at No. 1 in Netflix's Top 10 for TV in Japan. According to Netflix's official charts, House of Ninjas was the only Japanese Netflix original released in 2024 to reach No. 1 worldwide in non-English TV.

This TV Asahi Thursday drama aired nine episodes on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. from January 18 to March 14. In this medical mystery, written as an original script by Tsutomu Kuroiwa, a pathologist at a university hospital discovers "Gift," an unknown killer coccus bacterium, and is drawn into power struggles and serial murders inside the hospital. Takashi Sorimachi plays Tatsuomi Fujimaki, Haru plays Homare Kurume and Kuranosuke Sasaki plays Minoru Shiratori.

Its 9.8% premiere was the series high, with a low of 6.0%, 8.9% for the final episode and a 7.4% average.

It aired 11 episodes in Fuji TV's Monday 9 p.m. "Getsuku" slot from January 8 to March 18. Set in Nagasaki, this fantasy love story follows Ame Aihara (Mei Nagano), who must give up her five senses one by one in exchange for saving the life of her first love, Taiyo Asano (Yuki Yamada). Keisuke Uyama wrote the original script, and Takumi Saitoh plays Kusaka.

Its 7.2% premiere was the series high, with a low of 5.1%, 6.6% for the final episode and a 5.8% average.

Part of NHK's "Premium Drama" lineup on NHK BS Premium 4K and NHK BS, it aired 10 episodes on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. from February 18 to April 21 and was later rebroadcast on NHK General TV. Midori Kishibe (Elaiza Ikeda), transferred from a fashion magazine's editorial team to the dictionary editorial department, throws herself into compiling Daitokai, a mid-sized Japanese dictionary. It is based on Shion Miura's novel, with Yojiro Noda as Mitsuya Majime and a script by Naomi Hiruta.

It won the Galaxy Award's monthly prize for April 2024, an Award for Excellence in the serial drama category at the Tokyo Drama Awards 2024 and a Gold Award at the World Media Festivals 2025.

This TBS Tuesday drama aired 10 episodes on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. from January 23 to March 26. In this fantasy romance, Yuri Motomiya (Fumi Nikaido), the president of a chocolate company who can hear the inner thoughts of anyone she makes eye contact with, falls in love with Yoon Tae-oh (Chae Jong-hyeop), a younger Korean international student whose thoughts she hears in Korean and cannot understand. It was the first time a Korean actor played the heroine's romantic lead in a serial drama in the golden or prime-time slots of a Japanese commercial broadcaster. Kisa Miura and Subaru Yamashita wrote the script; Taishi Nakagawa plays Akito Hanaoka, and Mizuki Yamashita plays Mahiro Ikemoto.

It opened at 5.5%, peaked at 6.6% with episode 9, and drew a series-low 5.3% for the final episode, averaging 5.9%. It entered Netflix's Top 10 for TV in Japan at No. 1 in the week of January 28 and stayed on the chart for 10 consecutive weeks through the week of March 31; it also spent nine weeks in Netflix's Top 10 for TV in South Korea, peaking at No. 4 in the week of February 4.

A series produced by the U.S. network FX, it premiered with episodes 1 and 2 on February 27 on FX and FX on Hulu in the United States and was then released weekly through April 23, ending its first season at 10 episodes. Outside the U.S., including in Japan and South Korea, it was released on Disney+. Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks adapted James Clavell's 1975 novel, the second screen adaptation after the 1980 miniseries. The story centers on John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), an English navigator shipwrecked in Japan; Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), a daimyo standing up to his political rivals; and Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), who serves as interpreter between the two. It is an American production rather than a Japanese drama, but most of the main roles are played by Japanese actors and most of the dialogue is in Japanese. Hiroyuki Sanada also served as a producer, and it was filmed in Vancouver, Canada.

Disney announced that the premiere drew 9 million views worldwide in its first six days. At the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards it won 18 awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor (Hiroyuki Sanada), Lead Actress (Anna Sawai) and Directing, setting the record for the most Emmys won by a single season in the awards' history, and it became the first Japanese-language series to win Outstanding Drama Series. At the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in January 2025, it also won all four categories it was nominated in: Best Television Series – Drama, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor (Tadanobu Asano).

It aired four episodes in NHK General TV's Saturday Drama slot on Saturday nights at 10 p.m. from February 3 to 24. Set on the long-term care ward of Misaki General Hospital, where terminally ill patients stay, it follows nurse Ayumi Henmi (Yukino Kishii) as she faces patients nearing death and their families, and it is based on the manga by Bakka Okita. Kenichi Matsuyama plays part-time doctor Seiji Hirono, and Naoko Adachi wrote the script.

It was Yukino Kishii's first solo lead in a serial drama in the golden or prime-time slots. In spring 2026, a sequel aired in two parts on NHK BS Premium 4K (March 22 and 29) and NHK General TV (April 4 and 11).