
SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games. These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges with their gourmet cooking. Last is a musical performance by SMAP which may include celebrity guests, as well.


Erika, the princess of the Magic Kingdom has come to Earth in order to find a human girl who looks just like her. That girl turns out to be Himeko Nonohara, a tomboy's tomboy. Erika must give Himeko a magical item she has created in order to prove her worth as a successor to the crown. Himeko must test this item, a hair ribbon that allows her to transform into any other person she sees, to see if it is worthy. The series follows Himeko's adventures and her budding romance with Daichi, the boy who discovers her secret.

Bura Tamori (ブラタモリ, sometimes stylized as "BURATAMORI"))is a Japanese weekly geological TV series broadcast domestically on NHK General Television and internationally on NHK World Premium hosted by Tamori. It was launched in 2008. In the program, Tamori, accompanied by NHK's female broadcaster, strolls Japan's city or area with professional or amateur geologists, local historians or curators, and explores the place's terrain features and geological changes, as well as its history, culture and civil engineering.

Satoru Matsudo moves to Tokyo in hopes of becoming an actor. He has trouble breaking into the industry, but his luck begins to change when he finds an airplane ticket belonging to a talent agency CEO. Time passes, and Satoru makes a name for himself as an actor. He gets a call from America. Hoping it is a Hollywood offer, he instead hears about his estranged older brother.

When panic erupts on a Tokyo-bound bullet train that will explode if it slows below 100 kph, authorities race against time to save everyone on board.

Shibusawa Eiichi was born in 1840 to a farmer’s family. He grew up helping his family with work, which was to manufacture and sell indigo production and also silk farming. He left his hometown at the age of 23 and began working for the government. He later traveled to Paris and learned about banking. Upon his return to Japan, he helped build up the first modern bank in Japan. He eventually became a founder or supporter to about 500 companies and was involved with about 600 public services, including education for women.

Parliamentary secretary Toru Washizu (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) has devoted 20 years of his life to Kosuke Inukai, a member of parliament and cabinet minister. Toru works behind the scenes as Inukai's "shadow," deftly handling the petitions of Inukai's supporters and crushing any hint of scandal. Cool and collected, Toru rarely betrays emotion and would humble himself to anyone to get what Inukai needs. But then a shocking event changes everything. Toru's only son, Taiki, is gravely injured in an accident that leaves him close to death. Toru is stricken with worry and fear for his son, but Inukai orders him to conduct a cover-up. Feeling betrayed, Toru, who once would have done anything for Inukai, begins to question everything.

Hikoichi is the boss of a yakuza family, "Tsubasa-kai". One day he receives a sudden order from the main branch of his family...only to become a helper at a senior care home. Regardless of this unbearable order, he reluctantly obeys to keep his chance of becoming an executive in the future. But he soon finds out that he was not the only yakuza working there. The yakuza helpers soon realize that the senior care home is full of flaws; the yakuzas confront a female president of the care house.

Tomio Shiraishi graduated from a prestigious university and now works for foreign securities company. He has a beautiful fiancée, Kozue Aoike, and no complaints with his life. One day, his father kills himself, leaving behind large debts. Tomio Shiraishi is liable for his father's debts. He pays what he can with his savings account, but it is not enough. He is chased by moneylenders. Tomio loses everything. His job, fiancée and savings. He then becomes homeless. Tomio Shiraishi then decides to work for Daisuke Akamatsu, who runs Akamatsu Finance. Akamatsu Finance is the company that drove Tomio Shiraishi to become homeless. The company looks like a normal finance company, but it actually lends money with high interest. Tomio Shiraishi decides to do anything, including illegal acts, to make money.


An unconscious young man is found inside the closet of a missing billionaire. Amnesiac, he is given the name Yukio and kept close to Naomi—the woman who was supposed to disappear alongside the billionaire, Shibata—in case he ever recovers his memories of the night he was rescued and the whereabouts of Shibata and his fortune.

When Koichi was 9-years-old, Koichi's father was accused of killing his wife and youngest child. He was also accused of committing suicide. In reality, Koichi's father was framed for the murders and Koichi saw the person who killed his family. He told a cop that his father didn't kill anyone and he saw the killer, but nobody believed him. Afterwards, his relatives called him a liar and he grew up with the nickname of Liar. Koichi eventually moved overseas and changed his name. He became a swindler.

Yoshito (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) is transferred to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department from Kyoto. He is assigned to work in a department that doesn't even have a name. A young female detective, Maria (Natsuna Watanabe), begins to work with Yoshito. Maria ’s uncle is the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency and she seems to have another secret.

Ihara Mitsuru , who grew up in the orphanage "Tsukushien," is a cleaner at Miyazono General Foods, a prestigious company. However, Mitsuru has another side to him: he is a fighter in "Food Fight," a competitive eating gambling game hosted by the chairman of Miyazono General Foods and held in the company's basement, where only bigwigs from the political and business world can participate. Mitsuru anonymously donates the prize money he wins from Food Fight to Tsukushien, and his desire to do so allows his talent to blossom, leading him to reign as the unbeatable champion.