Upon receiving a message from an old friend’s daughter, Goro arrives in Paris and learns of the elderly man’s wish to taste a particular soup he had in his childhood before he dies. Deciding to help, Goro sets out on a quest to find this mysterious soup, traveling through Japan, braving a storm, and even ending up in South Korea.
Haruka is a fisherman's daughter, who lost her home and many friends in the Tohoku earthquake. After a year living in a temporary housing, she did not want to return back to her hometown and went to Tokyo where she got captivated by a lighting store. Haruka later works at the store and decides to help the customers to find their own light in life. At the same time, Haruka slowly overcomes her emotional wounds and finds her own light.
18-year-old Urano Suzu marries Hojo Shusaku and moves from Eba City to Kure City in Hiroshima Prefecture in the middle of the Pacific War. As Japan slides into a war it cannot get out of, the townspeople go on with their “ordinary” lives. Supplies are short, and family and friends get sent to the battlefield. Suzu and the Hojo family battle such anxieties as they try to live positively.
A heartwarming romantic drama set in Ofunato City in Iwate Prefecture. The story revolves around Yukari, a city hall employee who hosts a matchmaking-party held on a train running along the beautiful Sanriku Coastal Area. One day, she happens to live with her brother-in-law who resolves to cook an original ramen noodle.
Set in Tenma, Osaka. Matsukichi (Kento Hayashi) is the son of a samurai. His father is killed because of a grudge and Matsukichi is also in danger. At this time, Wasuke (Masahiko Tsugawa), the owner of the store Ikawa, saves Matsukichi's life. He then begins working at the store.
In 1993, the economy is in the doldrums. Fuyuki Aki works in a big electronics manufacturer as the first female in its main career track. But unlike the male employees, she is not even allowed to test her ability and feels frustrated by her current situation. Meanwhile, Aki learns that her colleague and ex-boyfriend Sato Yasushi is marrying Otsubo Arisa, a junior who works in an administrative position, and she feels unsettled. Aki is favoured by Yasushi’s mother Sachiko, but she tells her that they broke up two years ago. She feels a void for not being able to spread her own wings in the male-dominated world, along with an anger at the male species. So she could not accept the feelings of the straightforward Yasushi. On the morning of the wedding ceremony, Aki receives a letter from Sachiko...
Akiko lives with her mother, but suddenly her mother passes away. Since then she quits her editing job and takes over her mother's small restaurant. At the restaurant there's only two items on the menu: sandwich and soup.
Amachan is the 88th 2013 NHK asadora written by Kankuro Kudo (Tiger and Dragon, Unobore Deka). It's about Amano Aki (Nounen Rena), a 16 year old girl from Tokyo who goes to her mother's former home in Sodegahama, a fishing village in Kitasanriku, Iwate prefecture for the summer break. She falls in love with the sea and its people, and decides to stay on to become an Ama (women divers who fetch clams and sea urchins for tourists) just like her grandmother, Natsu (Miyamoto Nobuko). Her decision is welcomed wholeheartedly by Natsu and the other locals. However, her mother Haruko (Koizumi Kyoko) does not like the idea at first. She has a strained relationship with Natsu, and her extreme dislike of the sea, diving and the countryside is one of the reasons why she left her hometown 24 years ago. Eventually, she decides to stay in Sodegahama with Aki, considering that she is contemplating on getting a divorce anyway and does not want to go back to her husband in Tokyo. She also notices that it might be good for Aki for she seems livelier and happier in Kitasanriku than in Tokyo. The road towards becoming a full-fledged Ama-san is tough for Aki as she encounters tests and hurdles. One day, a video of her as an Ama gets uploaded in the city's tourism website, transforming an ordinary high school girl into an overnight Internet sensation. Suddenly she is called upon to use this opportunity to attract tourists to a city suffering from depopulation.
'Tokkan' tells a story of Suzumiya Miki, a newbie tax collector who learns the strictness and difficulties of working through her job. Miki is called ‘Guuko’ because she often freezes up in front of her cold-hearted boss.