The Best TV Shows on NHK G

A story of a man and a woman who meet amid the Great Tokyo Air Raid in 1945.

The 2nd NHK Asadora and the first Asadora to be broadcast in 15-minute episodes Monday through Saturday. Starring Fumiko Watanabe in a drama of a poor family after the war.

The 4th NHK Asadora. Starring Michiko Hayashi as a woman born in poverty who lives a brave life. She lost her husband in war and now must take care of their 5-year-old child alone. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Fumiko Hayashi.

The 5th NHK Asadora. Starring Chishuu Ryuu as an old man who begins to travel after he retires. From a story written for television by Yasunari Kawabata.

The 6th NHK Asadora. Starring Fumie Kashiyama as a woman, born in the Meiji era, who raises a family by herself.

The 7th NHK Asadora. Starring Tadashi Yokouchi in a narrative about an employee of the national railroad living through 50 years of modern history with his wife.

Starring Yōko Minamida as a woman who supported her family during and after World War II. All episodes are missing from the NHK archives, though a brief clip does survive as part of a contemporary news segment documenting the drama's production.

The 12th NHK Asadora. Set in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, at the end of the Pacific War. Maki is the heroine, married to Shuichi who must go to war. She stays home and takes on the role of other war widows, managing business and a Chinese restaurant.

The 13th NHK Asadora. Starring Youko Takahashi in a story about a brother and sister coming of age in Hakodate and Kanazawa.

A woman who lost her memory after experiencing the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

The 17th NHK Asadora. Starring Youko Asaji as a woman who wants to become a pilot.

The 25th NHK Asadora. Nishiki Natsuko is a woman who strives to become a photographer.

Katsuragi Motoko started as an NHK announcer, became a reportage writer after the war, and then an author. This story is about a woman's struggle to find her life's purpose and to survive. The 28th NHK asadora, set in the Showa era and location included Tokyo.

The 40th NHK Asadora starring Fujita Tomoko. It is about a woman who struggles to survive after World War II and starts a magazine.

The 42nd NHK Asadora which is about the Agawa family.

A young woman Chiaki whose family runs an old miso company in Nagano Prefecture, the only daughter of old traditional family. For generations, they were making soybean paste for living. Now she needs to take over this business and rebuild it. She lives through the hardships of postwar Japan.

Set in Hakata, the series is about a young man who wants to play rock music even though his father expects him to follow him in making Hakata ningyou (a traditional Japanese clay doll). One of the few Asadora starring a male character.

Mizuki is a would-be actress who has yet to attain her goal, struggles to keep the dream in her heart alive while dealing with the reality of her normal life, far away from lights, cameras, and action she longs for. Despite words of warnings from her family, which includes her birth and step mothers, intended to keep her from reaching her destiny, she actually makes it onto a set of one of the film companies in Tokyo. She experiences the peaks and valleys of a starting actress, but receives a blow when news of the company collapses and eventually closes. Mizuki returns home, but, the fire once lit, still burns.