Sumiko Hidaka

Kyoko lives with Yuji, an aspiring poet. A detective visits Kyoko's workplace and tells her that a man living in Yuji's hometown of Aomori has been murdered and that Yuji is the suspect.

A made man during the height of Hiroshima's yakuza turf war must maneuver through the violence and betrayal inside the criminal underworld.

Junko's only son dies in an accident. Junko is exhausted by despair and grief, and her husband, who should be there to support her, instead blames her. But her father-in-law, Tsuneo, finds her dear.

Yukio is an ex-farmer working as a dump-truck driver in Kashima. Haunted by the drowning of his two young sons, whose names he has had tattooed on his back in penance, and locked in a sibling rivalry with his traditional but urbane younger brother who lives in Tokyo, Yukio has become an amphetamine-addicted loner at odds with his family, friends and colleagues.

Successful and married with children, paper-mill owner Jihei knows better than to contradict the strict social and moral codes of 18th-century Japan. But when he meets the lovely courtesan Koharu, he becomes a man obsessed. Koharu returns his love, even foregoing other customers while Jihei schemes to somehow buy her freedom. His efforts yield ruinous consequences for his business and his family life, and Koharu is meanwhile purchased by another client.

A Japanese soldier deserts his position and travels to a small town on the Sea of Japan to start over. When a young maid falls for him, he talks her into sleeping with an older man for money.

The sequel of "Flower and Dragon". Kingoro Tamai founded a family in the port of Wakamatsu. He unites people with his courage, and revolts against the entrepreneur Oki Nakashi, who is teeming with vices. Kingoro and his family are also forced to fight against the Ezaki-Gumi group, which is opposed by Tomoda Kizo, who is trying to control the port of Wakamatsu.

The fifth and final installment with the build up of the epic battle between Sasaki Kojiro and Miyamoto Musashi. With all the familiar characters making appearances: Otsu (Musashi's great love), Akemi, Matahachi (his former fellow soldier), old lady Osugi (still doggedly trying to defeat Musashi), and even the return of Priest Takuan (the man responsible for his journey towards enlightenment). But most of all, the boastful, long-haired and long-sworded Sasaki Kojiro.

A story of manly life and the beauty of conjugal love. A story about a man and a woman establishing a family of longshoreman, centering on their love and struggle.

Just after WW2, a romance between an innkeeper and a man with tuberculosis unravels near a thermal spring.