The Best TV Shows on NHK G

Every NHK G Show Ranked From Best To Worst

NHK G’s extensive portfolio includes more than 20 shows, spanning the years from 1965 to 2026. Leading the pack on NHK G are Tamayura and Kita no kazoku, with their initial broadcasts in 1965 and 1973. Check out the most acclaimed shows on NHK G, with a catalog of over 20 series updated for September 2026.

  • Chiisana Tabi
    Chiisana Tabi (1983)9.0

  • Kumokiri Nizaemon
    Kumokiri Nizaemon (2013)9.0

    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.

  • MAO
    MAO (2026)9.0

    Eight years ago, Nanoka Kiba was saved from the wreckage of a fatal accident at Gogyō Town Shopping Center. Drawn to the abandoned passage of storefronts on her walk home from school in present day, she becomes inexplicably transported to Japan's Taishō period where she meets the mysterious Mao, a fellow traveler whose arrival at a ghost-inhabited village is simultaneous with hers. Together, they investigate the bizarre events that begin to occur around them, and Nanoka soon pieces together her broken memories of the accident and how she and Mao may have something more sinister in common.

  • Hirayasumi
    Hirayasumi (2025)8.8

    At 29 years old, carefree Hiroto Ikuta doesn't have a girlfriend, a full-time job, or a plan for the future—and he couldn't be happier. Hiroto's breezy attitude isn't easy for everyone to understand, though. In a world filled with anxiety, confusion, and grief, Hiroto and the people around him are all just doing their best to figure out this thing called life.

  • Attack on Titan
    Attack on Titan (2013)8.7

    100 years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating Titans that roamed the land outside their fortress. Only the members of the Scouting Legion dared to stray beyond the safety of the walls – but even those brave warriors seldom returned alive. Those within the city clung to the illusion of a peaceful existence until the day that dream was shattered, and their slim chance at survival was reduced to one horrifying choice: kill – or be devoured!

  • Document 72 Hours
    Document 72 Hours (2006)8.5

    An unusual documentary series that delves into human dramas through chance encounters with ordinary people at selected spots. Filmed over 72 hours in a single location, the show captures glimpses into people's lives as they open up and share their stories.

  • To Your Eternity
    To Your Eternity (2021)8.2

    An immortal being takes on the form of a human boy, wandering the earth and experiencing the pains and joys of life throughout his story without end.

  • Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
    Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (2024)8.1

    After learning heretical teachings about the Earth and the Sun, a child prodigy searches for his master's hidden research while evading the Inquisition.

  • March Comes In Like a Lion
    March Comes In Like a Lion (2016)8.0

    This is a gentle tale about people trying to regain something. And it is a tale of battle. Rei Kiriyama had lost his family in an accident when he was young. Now he is a 17-year-old pro shogi player who is burdened with deep loneliness. Rei lives alone in an old town in Tokyo, but after becoming acquainted with three sisters, Akari, Hinata and Momo, he begins to change little by little...

  • 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.

  • Kingdom
    Kingdom (2012)7.7

    In the Warring States period, young orphan Xin vows to aid King Zheng of Qin in his quest to unify China by becoming a general himself.

  • Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
    Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990)7.4

    In mankind's grasp for the future, a sinister foe known only as Gargoyle begins his plans to take over the world. Nadia, with the help of a young inventor, Jean Ratlique, and Captain Nemo of the submarine Nautilus, must fight to save the world from Gargoyle and Neo-Atlantis.

  • Yowamushi Pedal
    Yowamushi Pedal (2013)7.2

    A timid, anime-loving teen gets drawn into a school cycling club, where his new friends help him face tough challenges to develop his racing talent.

  • Themis's Uncertain Court
    Themis's Uncertain Court (2026)6.5

    A judge with hidden ASD and ADHD struggles to maintain a 'normal' facade at a new court while his neurodivergent perspective ironically helps him uncover the concealed truths in complex and challenging cases.

  • Tamayura
    Tamayura (1965)N/A

    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.

  • Kita no kazoku
    Kita no kazoku (1973)N/A

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

  • Niji wo Oru
    Niji wo Oru (1980)N/A

    The 26th NHK Asadora. Shimazaki Kayo is a woman from Hagi, Yamaguchi, who joins the Takarazuka Revue, a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyougo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shoujo manga and Japanese folktales.

  • Jūkyūsai
    Jūkyūsai (1989)N/A

    Daisuke dropped out of high school, and his motorcycle was the only thing that helped him cope with his loneliness. His parents find a new high school where he can ride his motorcycle to school, but he is forced to live in a dormitory. The students in the dormitory are all young people with bitter memories of dropping out of high school. The prefect of the dormitory is a teacher who is passionate about their physical education. The drama depicts the fierce clash between a nineteen-year-old rebellious high school student, who is torn between being an adult and a child, and the adults around him. This is Oda Yuji's first lead role in a TV drama.

  • Amakarashan
    Amakarashan (1997)N/A

    The 57th NHK Asadora Renzoku Drama. Story's settings include Kobe and Sasayama. It is a story about the conflicts between generations and the relationships within families. A strong mother-daughter theme and a sister-brother theme exist.

  • Ten urara
    Ten urara (1998)N/A

    This drama is the tale of one high spirited, strong-willed young woman and her struggle to fulfill her lifelong ambition of becoming a carpenter and building homes. The story takes place from the later part of the Showa era to present day Heisei rule. The heroine of the story, Kawashima Urara, lost her father at the tender age of seven and this drama depicts her life as she grows from a young school girl, through puberty and adolescence and on into her adult years as an independent woman who owns her own carpentry business. As Urara grows into a beautiful and strong woman and a talented carpenter, her family around her goes through many difficult and trying times. This story of becoming an independent businesswoman in the male-dominated world of carpentry accurately reflects the lives and struggles of the young women in present day Japan who are trying to make a career for themselves in addition to balancing the demands of family obligations, friends, and lovers.