is a

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thriller ...

mini-series that aired on

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

from 14 November 2009 to 19 December 2009. It is based on the novel of the same name written and released in Japan by Aso Iku. The TV show follow a female police officer who was recruited into the

Tokyo Metropolitan Police The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister. The Tokyo Metro ...

's anti-terrorist

black ops A black operation or black op is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it i ...

unit known "publicly" as the Fourth Foreign Affairs Section, created after the 9/11 events in the United States. Its purpose is to tackle

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...

and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

cases happening in Japan. The franchise consists of the novel, the TV series and the 2012 movie.

Plot

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on American soil, the

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department The serves as the prefectural police department of Tokyo Metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a Superintendent-General, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission, and approved by the Prime Minister. The Tokyo Metro ...

creates a secret anti-terrorist division within the

Public Security Bureau A Public Security Bureau (PSB) () of a city or county, or Public Security Department (PSD) () of a province or autonomous region, in the People's Republic of China refers to a government office essentially acting as a police station or a local ...

in order to tackle crime, espionage and terrorism cases to preserve Japan's national security by doing black ops work to locate and apprehend spies and terrorist suspects. The unit recruits a new officer named Hina Matsuzawa, who wishes to become a full-time detective. Leading the unit is Public Security veteran officer Keiji Sumimoto as the unit is tasked a mysterious terrorist freelancer known with the codename FISH and his cell operating in Tokyo.

Cast

Fourth Foreign Affairs Section *

Atsurō Watabe is a Japanese actor. Career Born in Tokyo, Watabe debuted as an actor on television in 1991 with the drama ''Seishun no mon''. He won awards of excellence in the best actor and new face categories at the 19th Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan A ...

as Kenji Sumimoto **

Takumi Kitamura is a Japanese actor, singer, and model. He is represented by Stardust Promotion's Section 3. He is the leader of Stardust's music collective Ebidan unit Dish. As a member of Dish, he is nicknamed Takumi, stylized as TAKUMI. Biography Kitamur ...

as Kenji Sumimoto (child) *

Machiko Ono is a Japanese actress. Career Born in a rural area of Nara Prefecture, Ono was spotted by the film director Naomi Kawase cleaning out the shoe boxes at her junior high school, and cast in the lead role in Kawase's '' Suzaku'', which earned the f ...

as Hina Matsuzawa *

Reiko Kataoka is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 45th Blue Ribbon Awards for '' Hush!''. Filmography Film *''A Touch of Fever'' (1993) *''New Love in Tokyo'' (1994) *''Kamikaze Taxi'' (1995) *''Two Punks'' (1996) *'' Gonin 2'' ( ...

as Ayane Igarashi *

Toshiyuki Kitami Toshiyuki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toshiyuki can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *敏幸, "agile, happiness" *敏行, "agile, go" *敏之, "agile, of" *敏志, "ag ...

as Ryoga Kanazawa * Kenichi Takito as Shuma Hisano *

Kiyohiko Shibukawa is a Japanese fashion model actor. He debuted as a model under the name Kee, but changed his name to "Kiyohiko Shibukawa" in 2006. He has appeared in more than 60 films since 1998. Selected filmography Film Television Awards See also *Nan ...

as Takuya Morinaga *

Hiroshi Yamamoto (actor) Hiroshi Yamamoto is the name of: * Hiroshi Yamamoto (archer) (born 1962), Japanese Olympic archer * Hiroshi Yamamoto (comedian) (born 1978), Japanese comedian from the comedy trio Robert (owarai) * Hiroshi Yamamoto (politician) (born 1954), Japane ...

as Haruto Otomo Others *

Yuriko Ishida is a Japanese actress and essayist from Nagoya. She was the Japanese voice of the title character San from the 1997 animated film ''Princess Mononoke''. She is the older sister of Hikari Ishida, also an actress. Filmography Films *''Gokudo no On ...

as Aiko Shimomura *

Kimiko Yo is a Japanese actress. She was given Best Supporting Actress awards at the 2004 and the 2009 Yokohama Film Festival ceremonies. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 32nd and at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy ...

as Kumi Muramatsu (

Chief Cabinet Secretary The is a member of the cabinet and is the leader and chief executive of the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. The Chief Cabinet Secretary coordinates the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch, and also serves as the government ...

) *

Ryo Ishibashi is a Japanese people, Japanese actor and lead singer of the Japanese rock band ARB (band), ARB. He is known around the world for his roles in the Japanese horror films ''Suicide Club (film), Suicide Club'' and ''Audition (1999 film), Audition.'' ...

as Shotaro Ariga (Chief of NPA Security bureau) *

Kenichi Endō is a Japanese actor and writer. He also worked as a narrator for many documentaries, both on television and film. He is best known for his roles in '' Visitor Q'' (2001), ''Crows Zero'' (2007), ''Crows Zero 2'' (2009), and '' The Raid 2: Beran ...

as Toshitaka Kurata (Officer of NPA, Chief officer of ZERO section)

References

External links

* 2009 Japanese television series debuts 2009 Japanese television series endings NHK original programming Thriller television series Terrorism in television Japanese drama television series Television shows based on Japanese novels Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in fiction {{Japan-tv-prog-stub ko:외사경찰 ja:外事警察#テレビドラマ