The Best TV Shows on NHK＋

The 74th NHK Asadora Drama is Junjo Kirari, which means something along the lines of "pure-hearted Kirari." The story is set in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture in the era around the Second World War. When the story opens in 1928, the heroine, Sakurako, is a very active seven-year-old girl. Indeed, even in the first episode she exhibits her confidence and enthusiasm. But above all else, Sakurako is interested in becoming a jazz pianist, and music features extensively in the plot.

Massan is based on the lives of Masataka Taketsuru and his wife Jessie Roberta "Rita" Cowan, a Scotswoman Taketsuru met while studying abroad.

Towards the end of the Edo era, in the town of Kyoto, there lived a wealthy merchant by the name of Imai Tadamasa. He was blessed with 3 children, Hatsu, Asa and Kyutaro. His eldest, Hatsu, was a traditional girl who loved to play the koto and sew. Whilst his second daughter, Asa, was an impish hoyden who loved sumo wrestling. Asa was engaged to be married to the second son of a distinguished family who ran a money changer business in Osaka, Shirooka Shinjiro. Although Asa was furious when she had first heard about the betrothal, when she met up with Shinjiro for the first time, his charisma greatly attracted her and she fell in love with him in no time.

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.

Suzume is a girl born to a family running a small restaurant in Gifu Prefecture. She loses her hearing in one ear from a disease. Encouraged by her loving parents and childhood friend, she lives through an eventful life with a tenacious spirit.

Mare is an elementary school student. She lives with her family in the city, but, right before her father goes bankrupt, they run away and settle down at a fishing village in Noto. The family rents a couple's home who run a salt pond. Mare's father starts a new business, but it also fails. Her mother supports the family by working at the salt pond. 8 years later, Mare, about to graduate from high school, decides to work for the Wajima local government. She wants to have a steady job, unlike her father. Her job is to support people who move to Noto.

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.

A Japanese girl from a poor family named Hanako went on an adventure to study in a girl's Christian school in Tokyo. She found her passion in English and step by step made her dream come true.

At the beginning of the Showa era, there was a girl running through the town of Kochi at an incredible speed. Her name was Asada Nobu, also known as 'Hachikin Onobu'. Meanwhile, Yanai Takashi, who lost his father to illness at a young age, was taken in by his uncle and met Nobu at the school he transferred to. As the footsteps of war approached, Nobu, who was attending a women's normal school, had become a fanatical militarist girl like the others around her. Soon, the war began, and Takashi was sent to war. Taku lost his younger brother, Chihiro, in the war, and Nobu also lost the person she loved. After graduating from a women's school, Nobu's values had all changed during the war, and she decided that she had to figure out for herself what was right, so she got a job as the first female reporter at a newspaper company in Kochi.

After being flushed down a toilet, 15-year-old Yuuri Shibuya is transported to an alternate world called the New Demon Kingdom, and is told that he is to be the new king of the demons.

Oshin is a Japanese serialized morning television drama, which aired on broadcaster NHK from April 4, 1983 to March 31, 1984. The series follows the life of Shin Tanokura during the Meiji period up to the early 1980s. Shin was called "Oshin", which is an archaic Japanese cognomen.

Zenitendo is a mysterious candy store that only lucky people can reach. All the candy recommended by Beniko, the owner of the store, is perfectly suited to the buyer's troubles. However, it depends on whether the candy will be used or eaten correctly that it can bring happiness or misfortune.

A serialized television series, aired in 1979, based on Hasegawa Machiko's "Sazae-san Uchiakebanashi" (Sazae-san Confessions), which depicts the true vibrant energy and strength of the common people, through their laughter and tears, from the pre-war to the post-war period in Japan.

The twin girls Tajima Megumi and Ichijo Nozomi was separated at birth after their parents had divorced. Years later they meet each other. Both of them have a career within the entertainment industry. Megumi who lives in Matsue, Shimane sings in the band Shijimijiru, and Nozomi is a maiko, an apprentice geisha in Kyoto.

The 78th NHK Asadora is Hitomi. The series takes place in the old shitamachi area of Tokyo, and in these most recent episodes, 20-year old heroine Hitomi becomes the force around which her divorced mother, long estranged from her own father, is forced to reconcile and renew a sense of family camaraderie. This is not particularly easy, given the trifling issues and problems of modern day life that beset each of the characters, and the drama unfolds with a light comedic touch. Hitomi's upbringing is the issue that is constantly brought into focus. The family reconciliation is made possible, ironically through the death of Hitomi's grandmother. Hitomi seizes the opportunity to travel to her funeral from Sapporo. Once there, she sets out to realize her dream of becoming a dancer, all the while interfering with and disrupting her grandfather's life.

Curious young boy Shimajiro learns the importance of family and friendship through his many adventures with his pals Mimi-Lynne, Flappie and Nikki.

The 97th NHK asadora is about Ten who becomes the first female comedian.