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The Best TV Shows on NHK BS Premium

Every NHK BS Premium Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Boasting a rich catalog, NHK BS Premium features more than 20 shows, with broadcasting dates ranging from 1998 to 2022. Cardcaptor Sakura and Shounen Club represent the pinnacle of NHK BS Premium’s programming, launching in 1998 and 2000. Explore our list of the top rated shows up to date from November 2024 that includes over 20 unique series.

  • Hyouge Mono
    Hyouge Mono (2011)9.0

    Sasuke Furuta is a vassal of the great warlord Nobunaga Oda and a man obsessed with tea ceremony and material desires in his pursuit of a fortuitous life. Having learned from Nobunaga and the legendary tea master Soueki Senne, Sasuke walks the way of the Hyouge Mono.

  • Cardcaptor Sakura
    Cardcaptor Sakura (1998)8.6

    Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school student who discovers that she possesses magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards from the book they had been sealed in for years. She is then tasked with retrieving those cards in order to avoid an unknown catastrophe from befalling the world.

  • Ginga e Kickoff!!
    Ginga e Kickoff!! (2012)8.5

    The story follows a boy who was in a soccer team, but it was disbanded due to not enough players. However, after the boy meets a female professional soccer player, he aims to bring his soccer team back.

  • Amachan
    Amachan (2013)8.3

    Amachan is the 88th 2013 NHK asadora written by Kankuro Kudo (Tiger and Dragon, Unobore Deka). It's about Amano Aki (Nounen Rena), a 16 year old girl from Tokyo who goes to her mother's former home in Sodegahama, a fishing village in Kitasanriku, Iwate prefecture for the summer break. She falls in love with the sea and its people, and decides to stay on to become an Ama (women divers who fetch clams and sea urchins for tourists) just like her grandmother, Natsu (Miyamoto Nobuko). Her decision is welcomed wholeheartedly by Natsu and the other locals. However, her mother Haruko (Koizumi Kyoko) does not like the idea at first. She has a strained relationship with Natsu, and her extreme dislike of the sea, diving and the countryside is one of the reasons why she left her hometown 24 years ago. Eventually, she decides to stay in Sodegahama with Aki, considering that she is contemplating on getting a divorce anyway and does not want to go back to her husband in Tokyo. She also notices that it might be good for Aki for she seems livelier and happier in Kitasanriku than in Tokyo. The road towards becoming a full-fledged Ama-san is tough for Aki as she encounters tests and hurdles. One day, a video of her as an Ama gets uploaded in the city's tourism website, transforming an ordinary high school girl into an overnight Internet sensation. Suddenly she is called upon to use this opportunity to attract tourists to a city suffering from depopulation.

  • Carnation
    Carnation (2011)8.2

    Carnation is a Japanese television drama that aired in the Asadora slot on NHK from 3 October 2011 to 31 March 2012. It is the 85th Asadora. It is based on the life of the fashion designer Ayako Koshino in Kishiwada, Osaka. Ayako was the mother of the internationally famous designers Hiroko Koshino, Junko Koshino, and Michiko Koshino.

  • The 13 Lords of the Shogun
    The 13 Lords of the Shogun (2022)8.1

    Following the ascension to power of Taira no Kiyomori, the Minamoto clan is exiled. Minamoto no Yoritomo meets Masako, the sister of Hōjō Yoshitoki and later marries her. Following this marriage, the gears of Yoshitoki's destiny begin to turn.

  • Shin Nihon Fudoki
    Shin Nihon Fudoki (2011)8.0

    A full-scale travel documentary program that portrays the beautiful landscapes, lifestyles, and activities of people across various regions in Japan. Presented in an omnibus format, it allows viewers to immerse themselves in the nostalgic and irreplaceable scenery of Japan.

  • Gochisousan
    Gochisousan (2013)8.0

    Uno Meiko is the daughter of parents who run a western style restaurant in Tokyo. She marries and moves to Osaka with her husband. Meiko experiences cultural differences between Tokyo and Osaka, as she lives as a mother and wife in Osaka.

  • Chimudondon
    Chimudondon (2022)8.0

    Higa Nobuko was born and raised with her four siblings in a farmhouse in the "Yanbaru region" in the northern part of the main island of Okinawa. She aims to become a chef drawing inspiration from Okinawan cuisine. The four siblings follow very different paths, but the memories of their hometown connect their hearts and they're able to overcome their hardships as a family.

  • Hoshi Shinichi no Fushigina Fushigina Tanpen Dorama
    Hoshi Shinichi no Fushigina Fushigina Tanpen Dorama (2022)8.0

    Hoshi Shinichi is the "God of Short Stories" who published more than 1001 short stories during his lifetime, some of which are included in textbooks and continue to be read today. His stories often feature mystery, science fiction, or fantasy elements. A sometimes "humorous" and sometimes "cynic" look at society and mankind. Always short, but always surprising and unpredictable. Is it a poisonous allegory or a wake-up call? See some of his greatest gems come to life in this 2022 live-action adaptation

  • Lost Man Found
    Lost Man Found (2022)7.8

    Satoru Matsudo moves to Tokyo in hopes of becoming an actor. He has trouble breaking into the industry, but his luck begins to change when he finds an airplane ticket belonging to a talent agency CEO. Time passes, and Satoru makes a name for himself as an actor. He gets a call from America. Hoping it is a Hollywood offer, he instead hears about his estranged older brother.

  • Kingdom
    Kingdom (2012)7.6

    In the Warring States Period of ancient China (475–221 BCE), Shin and Hyou are war-orphans in the kingdom of Qin. They dream of one day proving themselves on the battlefield. One day, however, Hyou is taken to the palace by a minister. Winding up on the losing side of a power-struggle, Hyou manages to return to the village, barely alive. Shin then meets a boy who closely resembles Hyou, Ei Sei. For now he is the king of Qin; later he will become the emperor Shi Huangdi.

  • Kumokiri Nizaemon
    Kumokiri Nizaemon (2013)7.3

    During the Kyoho period in the reign of Tokugawa Yoshimune, there is a gang of thieves active not just in Edo but also the Tokaido and the Nakasendo, and all across the Kansai region, stealing large sums of money with skillful techniques. They only target the very wealthy and never kill or injure people. They appear with the clouds and disappear like the mist. On the night that the beautiful Ochiyo is to become the bride of a dry goods dealer, a large amount of money hidden inside the shop is stolen. The gang disappears without injuring anyone. It was a two-year plan to marry Ochiyo off so that she could bring them in. The leader of this gang is Kumokiri Nizaemon, the greatest bandit of all time. He keeps a rein on his highly-skilled and notorious followers Nanabake no Ochiyo, Kinezumi no Kichigoro, Subashiri no Kumagoro, Ingakozo Rokunosuke and others.

  • Reach Beyond the Blue Sky
    Reach Beyond the Blue Sky (2021)7.2

    Shibusawa Eiichi was born in 1840 to a farmer’s family. He grew up helping his family with work, which was to manufacture and sell indigo production and also silk farming. He left his hometown at the age of 23 and began working for the government. He later traveled to Paris and learned about banking. Upon his return to Japan, he helped build up the first modern bank in Japan. He eventually became a founder or supporter to about 500 companies and was involved with about 600 public services, including education for women.

  • Ooka Echizen
    Ooka Echizen (2013)7.0

    The reign of the eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune in the Edo period, was notable for the “Ooka Sabaki” which supported the Kyoho Reforms that Yoshimune advanced. Yoshimune goes beyond status and the position he has been thrust in, to join with Edo magistrate Ooka Tadasuke and the Western medicine doctor Sakakibara Iori in order to promote the creation of a world for the common people of Edo. These three men deepen exchanges with the magistrate’s office and the townsfolk, uphold justice and struggle to keep order in Edo…

  • Millionaire Samurai Constable
    Millionaire Samurai Constable (2019)7.0

    Unokichi , the grandchild of Edo’s wealthiest merchant Mikuniya Tokuemon, becomes a constable in an unexpected turn of events. His immense wealth and detached manner amazes his colleagues. However, Unokichi does not care at all. He is hopeless with the sword, cannot run and is afraid of the dark. Although he is totally unsuitable for the job, he keeps causing misunderstandings with the people around him as he solves many cases that occur in Edo with their help.

  • Ronja the Robber's Daughter
    Ronja the Robber's Daughter (2014)6.4

    Ronja is the only daughter of Mattis, a bandit leader who lives in a castle in the middle of a large forest. When Ronja grows old enough, she ventures into the forest to interact the strange and magical creatures that live there. She learns to live in the forest through her own strength, with the occasional rescue from her parents. Ronja's life begins to change, however, when she happens upon a boy her own age named Birk.

  • Shounen Club
    Shounen Club (2000)N/A

    Pre-recorded bi-monthly variety show exclusively for the juniors of Johnny's Jimusho. The show airs on the first two Sundays of each month on the NHK BS2 channel, with a different theme and producer(s) for each episode.

  • カスミン
    カスミン (2003)N/A

  • Botanical Life of Varendar
    Botanical Life of Varendar (2014)N/A