Natchan no shashinkan

Soar High!

July 2025 •Japanese

Iwakura Mai lives with her parents Kota and Megumi and older brother Haruto. Her father Kota runs a small factory in Higashi Osaka, a district that is known for its craftsmen. Mai is shy and withdrawn. But when she visits her grandmother Shoko who lives on Nagasaki’s Goto Islands which has a rich natural environment, she is entranced by the Baramon kites that catch the wind and soar high in the sky. Wanting to fly high in the sky like these kites, Mai’s longing swells into a dream to become a pilot. Even though she works hard, the path to getting there is tougher than she had imagined. As Mai deepens her ties with the people living in her two hometowns of Higashi Osaka and Goto, her dream eventually takes a new form. She gathers enthusiastic friends to build a small electric plane that can fly to and from the islands. Her dream becomes a wing that carries everyone’s dreams and takes off.

Natsuzora

July 2025 •Japanese

Okuhara Natsu was born in Tokyo in 1937. In 1945, she loses both parents to war and becomes an orphan, but her father’s comrade, Shibata Takeo, takes her in and moves to Tokachi in Hokkaido. In an unfamiliar land surrounded by unfamiliar people, Natsu feels lost at first, but surrounded by Tokachi’s vast nature and its strong, yet compassionate people, she grows up to be a strong girl. When Natsu enters elementary school, she meets Yamada Tenyo who draws lovely pictures of horses. Tenyo tells her that in America, animation in which pictures move is becoming popular, Natsu’s curiosity is piqued. Upon graduating high school, Natsu goes to Tokyo to look up her brother, and takes a jump into the world of animation.

Welcome Home, Mone

July 2025 •Japanese

Born in September of 1995, Momone Nagaura lived with her parents, grandfather, and sister in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture. After failing her college entrance exams, she went to live in Tome City with an acquaintance of her grandfather's. Momone's life changes when she meets a popular weather forecaster from Tokyo, who teaches her how weather forecasts can predict the future. She decides to study to become a weather forecaster.

Kita no kazoku

July 2025 •Japanese

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

Ai yori aoku

July 2025 •Japanese

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.

Mayuko hitori

July 2025 •Japanese

Kano is known as a "cocoon child" whose father is an agriculturist. Her mother disappeared when she was little and since then Kano has been wondering why her mother left her thus changing the shape of her life.

Niji

July 2025 •Japanese

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.

Nobuko to Obachan

July 2025 •Japanese

The 9th NHK Asadora. Starring Naoko Otani as a young woman living with her grandmother.

Hatoko no umi

July 2025 •Japanese

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

Honmamon

July 2025 •Japanese

Manten

July 2025 •Japanese

Massan

July 2025 •Japanese

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

Wakaba

July 2025 •English

The story is about a young woman who becomes a landscape gardener following her father's wishes. Wakaba, born and brought up in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, lived happily with her parents and younger brother until the Great Hanshin Earthquake shook and destroyed the city in 1995. In the disaster, Wakaba loses her father, who was an architect and moves with her mother and brother to Obi, old castle town in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, where her grandmother lives with her uncle and aunt. Living in Obi's rich natural environment, Wakaba learns that plants can heal people's hearts. She makes a resolution to return to Kobe and reconstruct the city abundant in greenery.

Amachan

July 2025 •Japanese

Aki Amano, a high-school girl from Tokyo moves to the Sanriku Coast in the Tohoku region to become a female diver. She becomes a local idol, then returns to Tokyo to try to become a real idol, and finally returns to Tohoku to help revitalize the area after the Great East Japan earthquake.

Ashita Koso

July 2025 •Japanese

The 8th NHK Asadora. Starring Yumiko Fujita in a family drama. The first Asadora filmed in color.

Tabiji

July 2025 •Japanese

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.

Ohanahan

July 2025 •Japanese

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

Tamayura

July 2025 •Japanese

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.

Akatsuki

July 2025 •Japanese

The 3rd NHK Asadora. Starring Shin Saburi as a professor who quits the university to become a painter.

Ashita no Kaze

July 2025 •Japanese

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.