Kai Inowaki

WOWOW Actors Short Films Season 3

A young boy takes interest in piano while his family begins to disintegrate around him after his father loses his job.

The Fable is a legendary yakuza hitman equal to none—but his boss orders him and his sultry associate to lay low and learn how to live a "normal life" in Osaka.

A couple who are about to divorce argue over who should take custody over their pet cat. The cat flees and disappears due to the human commotions, causing connections and revelations to be revealed.

Devastated at the death of her four-year-old daughter, a grieving middle school teacher is horrified to discover that her students aren't as innocent as she thinks.

Based on webcomic “Musicophilia” by Akira Saso published in 2011, this is a film about Saku Urushibara, a young man with a special ability to understand sounds in nature. His father is a prominent composer, and his younger half-brother is a genius music composer. Due to the success achieved by his father and half-brother, Saku Urushibara has an inferiority complex. He tries to stay away from music because of this, but he ends up enrolling at the University of Arts in Kyoto where his special ability helps him find his own voice in the world of contemporary classical music.

Tsuda Umeko was born in December 31, 1864 and became a pioneer in women's eductation. In 1871, Tsuda Umeko, with her father's recommendation, went to the United States to study at the age of 6. She was the youngest of the group of females to travel there. They were the first Japanese female students to study overseas at their government's expense. 11 years after studying in the United States, Tsuda Umeko returns to Japan. She wants to become a woman who is helpful to her culture, but she is shocked by the low status of women in Japan. (Source: AsianWiki)

After a chain of deaths at a junior high school, new transfer student Koichi Sakakibara turns to a mysterious girl who holds the key to the dark mystery.

Four dramas about brothers and sisters, each of whom lacks a certain emotion.

Baffling serial killings unfold in which the victims are tied up and left to starve. Tone was just released from prison after finishing his sentence for another crime, and he surfaces as a suspect but detective Tomashiro can't nail down conclusive proof.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Japan was under a policy of national isolation. A group of Dutch scholars who wanted to open the country secretly completed a copy of a map of Japan under shogunate control. They sent a young Dutch scholar, Michi-an, as a secret envoy to deliver the copy of the map to the Dutch. Michi-an, hiding himself and making his way through the deserted winter mountains, but the mountain guardians, led by Takayama, had begun hunting in the mountains with a description of Michi-an's appearance arranged by the shogunate.

カモメよ、そこから銀座は見えるか？

Prosecutor Komazuki Nao from the Yokohama District Public Prosecutors Office’s Minato Mirai branch and lawyer Tsutaya Madoka (Matsu Takako) from the law firm Yokohama Gold dated for seven years since the time they were in school. Even after they broke up, they have continued to be hopelessly linked to each other.

Ayano, Miyu, Yuri and Mei are high school students. They learn about a fatal gas accident which occurred at a school in the past. The girls then experience unusual occurrences like hearing breathing from closed classrooms and seeing a person's shadow. Hitomi then sneaks into an abandoned school to shoot a horror video for the internet. Hitomi hears from her colleague Kimio about a fox's window which leads to the spirit world.

Two swim-team members, a hairless boy and a hirsute girl, discover the pangs and tangles of first love.

Kiyosumi is a live in manger of an apartment building. He spends most of his time composing & playing music in his apartment. He doesn’t relate well with people and his life is simple. One day, Ushio who lives upstairs from him, greets him. She tells him that she broke up with her boyfriend and she listens to his music every day. Ushio then posts online a video of Kiyoshumi playing his music. Since then, Kiyosumi faces a big change in his life.

Tamura Yujiro and Hiyori have been married for four years. They look like a happily married couple, but, Hiyori secretly badmouths her husband on social media page "Husband Death Note."

The murder of a young girl leaves the inhabitants of a small Japanese village in shock. The body of Emili is found by four classmates with whom she was playing. The murder is never solved. Emili's mother, Asako, is torn by grief and puts a curse on the four girls when they claim not to remember the killer's face. Each of the girls, in their own way, will do penance for their silence.

In the year 1868, three young men join the elite Shogitai division of the Shogunate. The Shogitai fights to the end and opposes the dismantling of the feudal military dictatorship known as the Bakufu system.

After missing the last train after their best friend’s wedding, Ko, Reiji, and Yasumasa are dropped off at a small train station in the countryside. A teacher, a salaried worker, and an aspiring painter, three people with vague anxieties walk the dark streets at night and pour out their thoughts.

Adapted from the manga series "Black Jack"

Set in 1945 at the end of World War II. Saku arrives on Kakeromajima as the head of navy special forces. He is admired by the children on the island and he is interested in learning the island song as well as drinking with his men. Toe is an elementary school teacher on Kakeromajima and she has feelings for Saku.

Saimon hides his feelings as he and Takashi hit the road in search of love, but the journey leads them somewhere unexpected.

A high school teacher, struggling to keep up with today's youth and estranged from his only son, receives the news about a terrible accident that left his son in a coma. Wanting to know more about his son's life, he finds out that he's been working as a producer for a new underground idol group who are now left without a guiding hand.

Kiyosumi's affection for his schoolmate Hari grows after he saves her from bullying, but a dark secret she's unwilling to share threatens their bond.

On Christmas Eve, a TV broadcasting station receives a phone call. The caller warns "I have set up a bomb at Ebisu in Tokyo." A contract worker for the TV broadcasting station and a housewife are accused by the Ebisu police as being the culprits. During this chaotic situation, a mysterious man silently watches as everything unfolds. A video clip is then uploaded to an online video website. The video contains a demand to talk with the Prime Minister during a live broadcast or a bomb will be detonated at 6 pm in Shibuya, Tokyo. Who is behind the bombings and who will stop them?

Akira is the legendary killer known as the Fable. Following the order of his boss and due to being overworked, he lives peacefully with his partner, Yoko, as ordinary siblings. Akira still works part-time at design company Octopus with CEO Takoda and employee Misaki. CEO Takoda and Misaki are unaware of Akira's background as an assassin. Meanwhile, Utsubo is a representative for an NPO. But, Utsubo works with contract killer Suzuki to set people up for extortion purposes. They target someone at design company Octopus.

Rina is living a nomadic existence when at age 19 she meets her mentor Ema and gets a job doing "BodyWerks," which preserves dead bodies just as they were while alive. Ema's brother Amane uses the technology to make immortality a reality. Rina gets the treatment and will live forever with her 30-year-old body.

Taichi's father is the only family he has, but his father commits suicide by hanging. People suspect Taichi might have killed his father. Because of this, Taichi loses his job and he also loses his place. On the day his father is cremated, Taichi meets Tsukiko who is mentally handicapped. Tsukiko has run away from a facility.

Wasao, an Akita dog in Aomori Prefecture that became famous as an ugly-yet-cute dog from a traveller's blog. Heartwarming drama starring Wasao himself turns part of the life of this former stray into an original story. Setsuko, who runs a grilled-squid shop in a fishing village at the foot of the Shirakami mountains, decides to take in a large dog with a long, unruly fur that has shown up in town. She names the dog Wasao and showers it with affection, but Wasao at that time doesn't take to Setsuko.

Japan, 1944. Trained for intelligence work, Hiroo Onoda, 22 years old, discovers a philosophy contrary to the official line: no suicide; stay alive whatever happens; the mission is more important than anything else. Sent to Lubang, a small island in the Philippines where the Americans are about to land, this role will be to wage a guerrilla war until the return of the Japanese troops. The Empire will surrender soon after; Onoda, 10,000 days later.

Beyond the glass, a night that never dawns. The automatic doors work just fine, yet for some reason, it isn’t possible to leave… Shunsuke awakes to find himself trapped. The building is familiar, as are certain of his fellow “prisoners” – members of his old university theatre club. Despite the irrationality of their plight, the group begins rehearsing a play…

Curry and Rice

Naoya, living in the heart of Tokyo, spent his days caught up in the routines of a work-centered life. It had been a long time since he indulged in his favorite pastime — traveling, something he had loved since his university days. One day, out of the blue, he receives a phone call from Shogo, a senior from his university, inviting him on a trip to Okutama. Though puzzled by the sudden invitation, Naoya heads out to Okutama, where Shogo introduces him to an American traveler named Jackson. The three of them explore the lush natural surroundings — a place so rich in nature it hardly feels like it’s still part of Tokyo. Along the way, they meet warm-hearted locals and fully enjoy the natural beauty of Okutama. This unexpected escape from his ordinary life brings Naoya small yet meaningful realizations and changes. The scenery before his eyes begins to gently shine in a new light.

Koji carries an emotional wound from a missing childhood friend Sayoko, who disappeared when they were junior high school students. He left his hometown to forget about her and now, five years later, he goes to a grad school in Tokyo. One day, he gets a phone call from a former classmate and hears about the death of Sayoko's father. To attend his funeral, Koji returns to his hometown...

Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all—with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Satō and his slightly odd behavior, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.

Depicts how Ryunosuke Kamiki spends his days off during breaks in shooting dramas and movies.

Riders on a commuter train get an earthquake warning on their cellphones. Cars lurch as electric sparks fly, people are thrown about and the lights go out. Train 5 passengers awake to find that they are no longer in a tunnel, and overgrown brush can be seen through the windows. People slide open the doors and find that the train tracks end suddenly ahead and behind the car. People's reactions to losing the modern world vary from confusion to alarm to indifference. Where or when are they? Can they survive in this wilderness?

Masaharu "Masaji" Tachibana was a brilliant programmer who got burnt out and suddenly stopped showing up to work. He now lives at home with his parents and spends his time sleeping and playing video games. He only ventures out of his room to visit the local convenience store for more energy drinks and snacks, until one day he learns that his parents have decided to build a "2.5 family" house with his sister and her family joining them. Masaji is forced to acclimate and with the change of environment begins to venture out of his room and his own head.

Sometime, the only thing that helps people get over a breakup is the taste of their favorite dish... Set in real restaurants in Tokyo, the taste of the food gently embraces the women’s souls and kindly heals their broken hearts. The main character, Miki (Alice Hirose), is a manga artist. She publishes her work, Heartbreak on a Plate, in a free magazine. Each episode presents the stories of the broken hearts who come to the restaurant, and through the food, we are introduced to their “heartbreak on a plate” experiences. Sometimes comical, sometimes human, the series portrays people who are trying to move forward even after heartbreak. Throughout a total of 10 episodes, the relationship between Miki and a man from the flower shop (Kai Inowaki) gradually evolves into something more.

News of "revived people" who should have died humans come back to life was reported all over the world. Meanwhile, Tetsuo Tsuchiya wakes up in the conference room where he works, but his colleague reports that he died of suicide three years ago. However, Tsuchiya, who had a wife and a son and lived a happy life, could not commit suicide, and thought that he was actually killed, lives while pursuing the reason for his death. It depicts how you know the meaning of things, dying, and happiness. 日本語 English

ああ、ラブホテル

アンサング・シンデレラ ANOTHER STORY ～新人薬剤師 相原くるみ～

An aging pro wrestler returns to fight for his inheritance when his father — a respected Noh actor — threatens to leave his fortune to his caregiver.

Three people come from different backgrounds and face their own troubles. Their fate leads them to face each other as their destinies become intertwined.

Mei was a legendary witch and also part of a legendary brave group. The brave group defeated Satan, as it tried to engulf the world with its dark power. Satan was sealed off and the world became peaceful again. Now, Mei is a housewife and she struggles to raise her baby child. Her days are otherwise peaceful and ordinary, but Mei hears that Satan has been unsealed and is revived.

A paralegal who graduated from a big-name school teams up with an offbeat lawyer, taking on oddball little cases out of a small, neighborhood law office.

Rakugo has the image of a humorous story, but it is also a treasure trove of “scary stories”. Among them, this work boldly arranges a performance in which "human fear" stands out, and does it in an omnibus format. There are four rakugo plays that will be drawn as a drama this time: "Kokoro", "Tatsumi's Tsuji Zou", "Konya Takao", and "Miyatogawa (upper / lower)".

The murder of a young girl shocks a small Japanese village, and the victim's mother is distraught when the classmates her daughter was playing with all claim not to remember the identity of the killer. In her anger, she puts a curse on them.

In a time where fraud is an imminent threat, societal issues give rise to a slew of elaborate scams. Kurosaki is a man who lost his family to a "white swindler", which is a professional swindler who scams people out of their money. In order to exact revenge, Kurosaki becomes a "black swindler", a swindler who tricks other swindlers. He swears to scam every white swindler in the world and takes on foe after foe, but can he find his ultimate enemy who robbed him of his family? This riveting revenge drama exposes the very emotions that scams exploit.

There are three friends who have been together since high school, but in 2013, one of them died. The two people who are still alive are slowly trying to forget the death of his best friend and live their lives smoothly. However, in 2018 One of the friends receives an email from his best friend who died five years ago and accuses him of having forgotten it. From there, strange events take place in his entourage and to try to end it, he will seek to discover the truth behind the death of his friend with the help of Shiori who was with them in class in high school.

MAGI 天正遣欧少年使節

Hiroshi Kataoka works at a bank. He receives a promotion to manager of the Kamata branch. He is also informed that the Kamata branch will be shut down and he does not have to work hard. After the branch's shutdown, he will work again at the bank's headquarters. Hiroshi Kataoka is embarrassed by the situation. He sees the branch employees work hard and they do not know the branch will close. Hiroshi Kataoka is conflicted between his job and his employees.

A woman’s teens, 20s and 30s - each decade brings its own level of expectations and anxieties. These watershed life moments tend to highlight issues of employment, love, marriage, childbirth, and parenting, with the added pressure of perceived time limits. Three so-called “9-border” sisters - aged 19, 29, and 39 - gather under one roof after their father's sudden disappearance struggle with love, life, and time issues in this melodrama about finding happiness and moving forward in life.

Hayame's happily married life comes to an abrupt end and she is left alone, penniless and homeless! Things couldn't get any worse, until she runs into rich high-school brat Issei, whom she had previously humiliated! Sparks fly as two worlds collide in this unlikely Cinderella story!

Kimichika Kazama is an instructor at a police academy. He is keenly observant and watches over his students. He is calm as an instructor and has charisma, but strict. Students with various backgrounds attend the police academy with their own reasons of becoming police officers. They feel pressure having to follow the strict rules and have anxiety about getting kicked out of the academy. How many students will graduate among the 90 students? What is the real purpose of Kimichika Kazama giving hardship to the students?

With his two friends, a video-game-obsessed young man finds himself in a strange version of Tokyo where they must compete in dangerous games to win.

Sometime, the only thing that helps people get over a breakup is the taste of their favorite dish... Set in real restaurants in Tokyo, the taste of the food gently embraces the women’s souls and kindly heals their broken hearts. The main character, Miki (Alice Hirose), is a manga artist. She publishes her work, Heartbreak on a Plate, in a free magazine. Each episode presents the stories of the broken hearts who come to the restaurant, and through the food, we are introduced to their “heartbreak on a plate” experiences. Sometimes comical, sometimes human, the series portrays people who are trying to move forward even after heartbreak. Throughout a total of 10 episodes, the relationship between Miki and a man from the flower shop (Kai Inowaki) gradually evolves into something more.

Aoi Midori is a pharmacist and in the 8-year span of her career, she has worked according to her strong belief that "One must know the patient well in order to prescribe the correct medication as medicine is the bond that connects the patient's today to his/her daily life henceforth". Due to that, Aoi usually takes a long time in her consultations with the patients, and this causes her to be complained by her colleagues for being too inefficient in her work. Aoi shrugs off the complaints as her goal is to help the patients regain the daily life that they once took for granted.

A paranormal researcher searches obsessively for a cursed home where something terrible happened to a mother and her child long ago.

Haru is an otaku girl who has no interest in food or clothes—she'd rather spend her money on her own hobbies. This changes when she meets a genderless boy, Ao. Their story begins with them creating delicious bento boxes together.

Yuri Ishikawa and her team try to crack unresolved cold cases in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Eight-year-old Miyuki lost her mother several years ago and has since lived with just her father, Ryoichi. One day, she is suddenly introduced to Akiko, who is to be her new mother. Akiko uses her stellar business skills to try to win the little girl over, only to fail miserably. Ryoichi tries to reason with Miyuki, but to no avail. Akiko changes tactics and tries to get Shimoyama, a woman in the neighborhood who knows Miyuki well, on her side.

Eight-year-old Miyuki lost her mother several years ago and has since lived with just her father, Ryoichi. One day, she is suddenly introduced to Akiko, who is to be her new mother. Akiko uses her stellar business skills to try to win the little girl over, only to fail miserably. Ryoichi tries to reason with Miyuki, but to no avail. Akiko changes tactics and tries to get Shimoyama, a woman in the neighborhood who knows Miyuki well, on her side.

Yuta Takubo, a drama director consumed by his demanding job, and Kosuke Sato, a former chef now living as a recluse, reconnect after the divorce of their high school friend, Aoi Makita. The two begin to heal through regular dinners, rediscover their passions, and regain a sense of self.

Promoted to lead anchor of a struggling news program, a journalist pushes the boundaries to investigate and expose truths others want buried.

A clumsy romantic, an aloof teacher and a troubled teen cross paths, forming an unlikely household in this offbeat comedy about love and belonging.

シリーズ・横溝正史短編集