Winners of the Tokyo Drama Award 2018

Drama Series Category
Grand Prix: Ossans Love (TV Asahi)

Excellence Awards:
Hiyokko (NHK)
Kahogo no Kahoko (NTV)
Unnatural (TBS)
Confidence Man JP (FujiTV)
Ishitsubute ~ Gaimusho kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi ~ (WOWOW)

Drama SP Category
Grand Prix: Kurara ~ Hokusai no Musume ~ (NHK)

Excellence Awards:
Aniimouto (TBS)
Kohaku (TV Tokyo)
Kuroidogoroshi (FujiTV)

Satellite / Streaming Drama Category
Excellence Awards:
Chiisana hashi de (Sky Perfect JSAT)
Miss Sherlock (Hulu)

Local Drama Category
You May Dream (NHK Fukuoka)
Mothers 2017 Nojuku no Ninpu (Chukyo TV)

Individual Awards
Best Leading Actor: Tanaka Kei - Ossans Love

Best Leading Actress: Ishihara Satomi - Unnatural

Best Supporting Actor: Yoshida Kotaro - Ossans Love

Best Supporting Actress: Agawa Sawako - Rikuou

Best Scriptwriter: Nogi Akiko - Unnatural

Best Director: Tsukahara Ayuko - Unnatural

Special Award: The production team of "Unnatural"

Best Theme Song: "Lemon" by Yonezu Kenshi (Unnatural)

Source: Natalie

Preview of "Ishitsubute - Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi -" - Autumn 2017

Title: Ishitsubute - Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi - / 石つぶて - 外務省機密費を暴いた捜査二課の男たち - (Slingshot ~ The men of the second investigation unit who expose the secret funds in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Official website: here
O.A. Start Date: 5 November 2017
Timeslot: Sundays 10pm
Broadcast by: WOWOW
Total number of episodes: 8
Original book by: Kiyotake Hidetoshi
Theme Song: "Let it shine" by moumoon
Cast: Sato Koichi, Eguchi Yosuke, Kitamura Kazuki, Hagiwara Masato, Iitoyo Marie, Matobu Sei, Sugata Shun, Yajima Kenichi, Ono Ryo, Hosoda Yoshihiko, Miura Masaki, Ishizaki Natsumi, Okayama Hajime, Shimizu Shin, Sato Ginpei, Yamada Meikyo, Watanabe Makiko, Haba Yuichi, Tanaka Ken, Sasano Takashi, Tsukayama Masane, Sano Shiro

Completion screening event of new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubute ~ Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi ~"

The completion screening event of new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubte ~ Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi" was held at GRAND HALL in Shinagawa on 26 October which was attended by cast members Sato Koichi, Eguchi Yosuke, Kitamura Kazuki, Hagiwara Masato, Iitoyo Marie and the director Wakamatsu Setsuro. The drama which consists of 8 episodes, will begin its run from 5 November in the Sundays 10pm timeslot.

Iitoyo Marie to be the heroine in new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubute Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi"

Iitoyo Marie will be the heroine in new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubute Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi" starring Sato Koichi and Eguchi Yosuke which will begin its run from 5 November in the Sundays 10pm timeslot. The drama which consists of 8 episodes,  is based on a true case which was uncovered in 2001 and involved the defrauding of secret funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The investigation officers faced an uphill task of venturing into the sacred territory of the country and had to fight the forces within the organisation to uncover the truth in this case caused by the "three evil men" i.e. high-ranking officers in the ministry. Sato will be playing Kizaki Mutsuhito who is involved in the investigation while his superior Saimi Teruaki will be played by Eguchi.

Iitoyo will be playing Yakura Kasumi who is a corporal working in the second investigation section which is taking up the case. Being freshly transferred from a local police station, Yakura knows practically nothing and ends up being dismissed by her colleagues due to her lack of knowledge. However, Kizaki helps her to get better at her work and be accepted by her colleagues as the investigation progresses.

With regard to her character, Iitoyo said that Yakura is a very strong-minded woman who believes in working hard. As such, she will try her best to show Yakura's traits with her acting although she admitted that she was not used to the fashion style of Yakura that required her to leave the top two buttons on her blouse undone which resembled Buruzon Chiemi's mature woman style. She then negotiated with the staff to have only the first button undone. As she was born just one year before the case happened in 1989 and got exposed in 2001, she was shocked when she heard about this case after she took on this role and hoped that more people in her generation would come to understand what happened through this drama.

Sources: Eiga.com / Sponichi / Oricon

Supporting cast line-up of new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubute ~ Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi ~" announced

The supporting cast line-up of new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubute ~ Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi ~" had been announced. The drama will begin its run from 5 November in the Sundays 10pm timeslot and stars Sato Koichi and Eguchi Yosuke.

The story is based on a true case which happened in 2001 and involved the defrauding of secret funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The investigation officers faced an uphill task of venturing into the sacred territory of the country and had to fight the forces within the organisation to uncover the truth in this case caused by the "three evil men" i.e. high-ranking officers in the ministry. Sato will be playing Kizaki Mutsuhito who is involved in the investigation while his superior Saimi Teruaki will be played by Eguchi.

Kitamura Kazuki will be playing Mase Kazunori who is from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the target of the police investigation while Hagiwara Masato plays the chief of the second section Higashida Masayuki who supports the investigation by his officers. Mase's lover Sugitani Akane will be played by Matobu Sei and Sugata Shun will play Hasama Katsuo who is on bad terms with Kizaki and a veteran police officer. Yajima Kenichi will play Kunitomo Hisanori who is the director of the police investigation department which exerts pressure on the second section while Sano Shiro plays a top-level official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Source: My Navi News

Sato Koichi & Eguchi Yosuke to star in new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubute ~ Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otoko tachi ~"

Sato Koichi and Eguchi Yosuke will be starring in the new WOWOW drama "Ishitsubute ~ Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otoko tachi ~" which will begin its run from November in the Sundays 10pm timeslot. The drama which consists of 8 episodes, is based on the non-fiction book by Kiyotake Hidetoshi. This will be the first direct collaboration between both actors even though they have been friends for about 30 years and had appeared in various works together in the past.

The story is based on a true case which happened in 2001 and involved the defrauding of secret funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The investigation officers faced an uphill task of venturing into the sacred territory of the country and had to fight the forces within the organisation to uncover the truth in this case caused by the "three evil men" i.e. high-ranking officers in the ministry. Sato will be playing Kizaki Mutsuhito who is involved in the investigation while his superior Saimi Teruaki will be played by Eguchi.

Sato said that he will try his best in this drama so as to match up to the aspirations and passion of the production crew who had chosen to take on such a difficult project. He also commented that the Japanese tend to forget major incidents after some time which shouldn't be the case because important lessons are forgotten at the same time. As such, it is timely to refresh people's memories of this case which did take place in Japan and stir public conversation and interest in this topic through the drama. On the other hand, Eguchi said that he felt that it was meaningful for them to take on such taboo topics in this drama and that he hoped that everyone could see how the police detectives had thrown a stone towards the dark side of this country and exposed what the public should know about.

Sources: Oricon / Sanspo / Eiga.com

WOWOW to make real-life adaptation drama of Kiyotake Hidetoshi's non-fiction book "Ishitsubute"

WOWOW will be making the real-life adaptation drama of Kiyotake Hidetoshi's non-fiction book "Ishitsubute" which will consist of 8 episodes and be shown from November this year in the Sundays 10pm timeslot. The book will be released by Kodansha from 25 July while the drama's director and scriptwriter will be Wakamatsu Setsuro and Todayama Masashi.

The drama titled "Ishitsubute ~ Gaimushou kimitsuhi wo abaita sousa nika no otokotachi ~" (Slingshot ~ The men of the second investigation unit who expose the secret funds in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is based on a true case which happened in 2001 and involved the defrauding of secret funds from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The investigation officers faced an uphill task of venturing into the sacred territory of the country and had to fight the forces within the organisation to uncover the truth in this case caused by the "three evil men" i.e. high-ranking officers in the ministry.

Kiyotake commented that the book is not meant to be about the police officers' conducting an arrest only but rather how they fight against the temptations dangled by the organisation in order to derail the investigation and how these ordinary police officers initially thought that they were dealing with a small case but ended up with a landslide which shook the country. These officers did not have the intention of seeking any reward for their work nor recognition in history so he wanted to show how they went about their duties in the most upright manner.

Sources: Oricon / Eiga.com