Furuhata Ninzaburo
Furuhata Ninzaburō is a Japanese television series that ran periodically on Fuji Television from 1994 until its final episodes in 2006. It was written by Japanese playwright Kōki Mitani and is often referred to as the Japanese version of Columbo. The series is a police detective drama starring actor Masakazu Tamura as Furuhata Ninzaburo and Masahiko Nishimura as his stereotypically bumbling sidekick, Shintaro Imaizumi. The program aired weekly and featured a guest villain each time, usually a famous talent in Japan. Pop-stars like SMAP, television hosts like Sanma Akashiya and even sports figures like Ichiro Suzuki have been featured on this program. It was one of the most popular television dramas in the history of Japanese television, having spawned several seasons and TV specials.
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Seasons & Episodes
1. Message from the Dead
On a dark and stormy night, Chinami kills her business partner in her remote manor house in the hills. Then the doorbell rings. As luck would have it, it's none other than Inspector Furuhata seeking refuge from the rain.
2. The Moving Corpse
After killing a woman in a hit and run, a famous Kabuki actor decides to kill the only witness, a theatre security guard, and stage it to look like an accidental fall. Only Furuhata Ninazburo is not convinced.
3. The Laughing Corpse
Furuhata is called to a scene where a woman has just killed a burglar but a chicken in the oven and a cigarette in the bin make the wily inspector suspicious.
4. The Killing Fax
An action-packed night is in store for the police department after a famous writer's wife is kidnapped and he is tasked with delivering the money by the fax-using kidnapper. However, a grammatical question niggles at Furuhata.
5. The Dirty King
Shogi 8-dan Yonezawa is no match for Furuhata Ninzaburo after murdering the overseer at the Ryujin Tournament.
6. The Piano Lesson
Furuhata Ninzaburô gets involved in the drama surrounding an elite musical academy when he begins suspecting a fierce piano teacher of murdering the school's headmaster.
7. Rehearsal for Murder
During a rehearsal, a beloved samurai movie star kills the despised studio executive. Was it an accident or murder? Furuhata Ninzaburo investigates.
8. Murder Express
A trip should be enjoyable but Dr Nakagawa's trip was ruined when he realized he was being tailed by his wife's private eye. He decides to kill the nosy gumshoe on the train home but unfortunately for him, Furuhata Ninzaburo is on board.
9. Broadcast Murder
During a live broadcast, a TV psychic desperately in need of validation pretends to find a corpse of a man he himself had killed earlier. The only person in the audience not convinced is Inspector Furuhata.
10. The Contradictory Corpse
A politician's secretary murders his boss and the boss' mistress staging the scene to look like a murder-suicide. However, one of his victims survives and is taken to the hospital for recovery.
11. Sayonara DJ
Furuhata and Shintaro are assigned to bodyguard a radio DJ who's been receiving threatening messages. However, the DJ turns out to be the killer with a devious plan and a watertight alibi.
12. The Final Greeting
What happens when the killer you are hunting is your superior? Furuhata is about to find out after he begins suspecting the legendary Superintendent Kogure of murdering the man who killed his daughter.
