Tokyo Swindlers

About this title

Based on a novel by Ko Shinjo, this Netflix Japanese series follows a gang of jimenshi (地面師), swindlers who put up impostors posing as landowners to make off with the money from real estate deals, along with the major real estate company they deceive and the detective who pursues them.

Planned and produced by Netflix, the series was released as a worldwide exclusive on July 25, 2024, with all 7 episodes at once, and in Korea Netflix lists it under the Korean title 도쿄 사기꾼들 (Tokyo Swindlers). The production companies are Nikkatsu and Booster Project. The source is Ko Shinjo's novel of the same title, which began serialization in the January 2019 issue of Shueisha's Shosetsu Subaru and was published in book form in December of the same year. Shinjo took his inspiration from a 2017 jimenshi fraud case involving the site of a former ryokan in Gotanda, Tokyo. In that case, homebuilder Sekisui House suffered losses of about 5.5 billion yen. In the novel, the target land is valued at 10 billion yen, a figure set with reference to a parking lot near Takanawa Gateway Station, which was then in the midst of redevelopment. The music is by Takkyu Ishino of Denki Groove. It was his first drama score; after reading the scripts he made about 10 demos and ultimately produced nearly 40 tracks. The narration is by Takayuki Yamada.

Hitoshi One both directed and wrote the series. He made his name directing late-night TV Tokyo dramas such as Love Strikes! (Moteki) and Tada's Do-It-All House (Mahoro Ekimae Bangaichi), and the 2011 film version of Love Strikes! marked his feature directing debut. He won an Excellent Director award at the Japan Academy Film Prize for Bakuman and the TV Grand Prize at the Galaxy Awards for Elpis (2022), a drama about a wrongful conviction case. Netflix described the novel as a work he had long hoped to adapt. At the completion press event, One said that he writes his scripts with specific actors in mind, and that all of the actors he had named as his first choices came on board. He said that about 2 weeks after the release Netflix offered him an exclusive contract, which he accepted on the spot, and a 5-year exclusive deal with Netflix was announced on September 30, 2024.

Go Ayano plays Takumi Tsujimoto, who handles negotiations, and Etsushi Toyokawa plays Harrison Yamanaka, who leads the gang. Kazuki Kitamura plays Takeshita, who gathers information on land and owners; Eiko Koike plays Reiko, the recruiter (tehaishi) who finds people to play the fake owners; Pierre Taki plays Goto, the legal specialist; and Shota Sometani plays Nagai, a member of the gang. Koji Yamamoto plays Aoyagi, a department head at Sekiyo House, the major developer that becomes their target, and Lily Franky plays Tatsu, a detective nearing retirement. In episode 1, the police begin investigating a real estate fraud case in Shimbashi, while Takumi's gang coaches the fake owner they will put forward in their next deal on how to play the part. In episode 2, Detective Shimomura (Tatsu) takes on the Mike Homes case with newly assigned rookie Kuramochi, and Harrison's gang picks a plot of land next to a temple as its next target.

At the completion press event held in Tokyo on July 4, 2024, Etsushi Toyokawa named the scene in episode 1 in which Harrison draws Takumi in as his favorite, saying it was shot around the second day of filming and that there was tension even among the crew. Go Ayano said that every single character is out of their mind. After seeing the finished series, author Ko Shinjo commented that he stared at the screen from morning until evening, losing all track of time, and that he wanted to watch it once more. According to Netflix, the series spent 5 consecutive weeks in the weekly Global Top 10 (Non-English TV) and held No. 1 in Japan's weekly Top 10 (TV) for 6 consecutive weeks. According to Netflix's shareholder letter, it had recorded 10.5 million views worldwide as of October 14, 2024. Views are total hours viewed divided by the title's runtime. Goto's line "Mou ee deshou" ("That's enough now, isn't it?") made the top 10 of the 2024 U-Can New Words and Buzzwords Awards.

See alsoElpis 2022Bakuman 2015Love Strikes! 2011Love Strikes! 2010Idaten: Tokyo Olympics Story 2019Scoop! 2016

Drama Lineup editors · Fact-checked against: av.watch.impress.co.jp, about.netflix.com, ja.wikipedia.org, nikkei.com, press.moviewalker.jp, ir.netflix.net, netflix.com, realsound.jp, toyokeizai.net · 2026-10-14