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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.
Seasons
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1. Message from the Dead
Air Date: 1994-04-13
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.
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2. The Moving Corpse
Air Date: 1994-04-20
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.
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3. The Laughing Corpse
Air Date: 1994-04-27
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.
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4. The Killing Fax
Air Date: 1994-05-04
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.
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5. The Dirty King
Air Date: 1994-05-11
Shogi 8-dan Yonezawa is no match for Furuhata Ninzaburo after murdering the overseer at the Ryujin Tournament.
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6. The Piano Lesson
Air Date: 1994-05-18
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.
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7. Rehearsal for Murder
Air Date: 1994-05-25
During a rehearsal, a beloved samurai movie star kills the despised studio executive. Was it an accident or murder? Furuhata Ninzaburo investigates.
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8. Murder Express
Air Date: 1994-06-01
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.
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9. Broadcast Murder
Air Date: 1994-06-08
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.
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10. The Contradictory Corpse
Air Date: 1994-06-15
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.
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11. Sayonara DJ
Air Date: 1994-06-22
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.
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12. The Final Greeting
Air Date: 1994-06-29
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.
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1. The Man Who Talks Too Much
Air Date: 1996-01-10
A successful lawyer kills his mistress and frames Shintaro Imaizumi for the murder. When the lawyer convinces Shintaro to plead guilty, Furuhata becomes suspicious.
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2. The Woman Who Doesn't Smile
Air Date: 1996-01-17
A hated, strict headmistress of an all-girls priory school murders a liberal teacher beloved by all the students. In order to catch her, Furuhata will have to play by her rules.
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3. Master of the Game
Air Date: 1996-01-24
A devious doctor manipulates a mystery writer into staging his own murder to look like a suicide. The doctor is surprisingly good at all kinds of games (darts, pool, chess etc.) but he is no match for Furuhata when it comes to mind games.
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4. Red or Blue
Air Date: 1996-01-31
Shintaro is trapped on a Ferris wheel with a bomb on board and if the amusement park doesn't pay the bomber until noon, it will go off. His only other hope is a young explosives expert whom Furuhata suspects is the bomber.
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5. Reward for Hypocrisy
Air Date: 1996-02-07
Furuhata's favorite screenwriter murders her domineering sister with an unknown murder weapon. In order to find the weapon and prove her guilt, Furuhata makes Shintaro become the old woman's servant.
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6. Furuhata Ninzaburô vs. the Quiz King
Air Date: 1996-02-14
While competing on a TV game show, Furuhata investigates the murder of a costumer found dead in a locked room. He begins suspecting that the killer is none other than the undefeated quiz show champion.
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7. Appraisal: Murder
Air Date: 1996-02-21
A scheming antique dealer murders an old potter who was blackmailing him but his accomplice's thoughtless actions jeopardize his plan.
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8. Magician's Choice
Air Date: 1996-02-28
A highly respected magician falls in love with his much younger assistant and murders her boyfriend in front of a captive audience which just so happens to include Furuhata and Shintaro.
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9. The Wrong Man
Air Date: 1996-03-06
A magazine editor concocts and executes the perfect murder in the snowy hills around Tokyo only to then encounter an acquaintance. He kills him too but his streak of bad luck has only just begun.
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10. What Happened in New York
Air Date: 1996-03-13
During a long bus trip to New York, a Japanese woman sitting next to Furuhata challenges him to a game. She will tell him about the perfect murder she committed and see if he is able to figure out how she got away.
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1. The Rakugo Murder
Air Date: 1999-04-13
A rakugo comedian kills a fellow student and makes it look like a suicide by faking two alibis. Both take each other's places at different points of the day, leaving a complicated mystery for Furuhata to solve.
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2. The Hotel Murder
Air Date: 1999-04-20
A perpetually busy media director murders a politician in his hotel room while engaging in a phone call he would later use as his alibi. His meticulously planned schedule soon meets an obstacle in Furuhata Ninzaburo.
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3. The Murder in a Small Village
Air Date: 1999-04-27
Furuhata catches a cold and stops in a small village to recover with his colleagues, getting caught up in the entire community's attempt to cover up a murder.
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4. The Dentist Murder
Air Date: 1999-05-04
A dentist murders her ex-boyfriend and attempts to use Furuhata as his alibi, tricking him and another witness into thinking she was cleaning his teeth at the time of the crime.
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5. The Yoko-chin Anzai Incident
Air Date: 1999-05-11
Furuhata receives a mysterious invitation to an old friend's house. Beginning to suspect his friend plans to murder his cheating wife, Furuhata realizes this may be his chance to prevent a murder instead of solving one.
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6. The Conductor Murder
Air Date: 1999-05-18
A conductor murders a violist he was having an affair with an seeks to frame her new boyfriend. Strangely, he also kills all of the victim's fish, which Furuhata used to deduce the killer's identity.
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7. The Housewife Murder
Air Date: 1999-05-25
A presenter of a Go-based TV program kills her manipulative husband who wanted her to remain a housewife forever. The behavior of their cat proves to be a clue to the crime.
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8. The Scientist Murder
Air Date: 1999-06-01
A wheelchair-bound scientist kills his colleague and old friend using a deadly gift and some well-timed phone calls. Saionji quickly suspects the scientist's ex-girlfriend of the crime, but Furuhata remains unconvinced.
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9. The Airplane Murder
Air Date: 1999-06-08
An archaeologist's affair partner accidentally dies during a fight in an airplane bathroom and flees, desperate to hide his secret from his wife. While covering up the crime, he's forced to masquerade as the co-pilot and avoid the child who witnessed his escape. Imaizumi's witnessing of a gremlin on the wing of the plane becomes a dangerous clue.
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10. The Train Hijacking Murder: Part 1
Air Date: 1999-06-15
A shady group kills a young man but fails to recover the bag he stole. To get it back from a subway lost and found, they hack into its control room and stage a train hijacking. Furuhata happens to be on the scene, but the plot proves too complex for him to unravel in one episode.
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11. The Train Hijacking Murder: Part 2
Air Date: 1999-06-22
Furuhata leaves the station with the suspect, intent on dropping off the ransom money. How will he prove the culprits true identity, and what is his opponent planning?
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1. The Resurrection of Death
Air Date: 2006-01-03
Furuhata investigates a series of bizarre, seemingly random accidental deaths. He zeroes in on the suspected murderer, but loses faith in his instincts when the suspect is himself killed. However, in the end, he ends up solving three murders and catching the real suspect.
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2. A Fair Murder
Air Date: 2006-01-04
Ichiro Suzuki, a baseball player obsessed with fair play, murders a man who was blackmailing his brother who is none other than Furuhata's faithful friend Mukojima.
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3. Final Dance
Air Date: 2006-01-05
Kyoko Kagami is a pen name for a pair of twin writers. After one sister kills the other, their technical advisor Furuhata investigates. His investigation is complicated by his feelings for the surviving sister.
Select an episode to start watching
Rating
8.9/10
Release Date
1994-04-13
Episodes
36 (4 seasons)
Status
Ended
Cast
Production Companies
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Fuji Television Network