Tatsuo Umemiya

Set in an old prestigious ryotei (Japanese-style restaurant) in a small town in the center of Tokyo, a young itamae (cook for Japanese dishes) struggles his life, love and work while the long-lasted ryotei and the beloved old town face the change to survive the time. This heartwarming drama shows the intimate relationship of the community that has been lost nowadays, asks what the most important things in your life is, and tells how difficult it is to make a decision. The story is told in the form of a letter from him to his unknown father with lots of humor and love.

Hitoshi Tadano is an assistant manager of an advertisement company who seems to be nothing but a dull and incapable “nobody”. While most of the employees wonder why such a passive and incompetent person like Hitoshi is yet to be laid off, there is just one person who heavily relies on him as a “savior” to the company, the CEO. In fact, the “Mr. Nobody” is simply a disguise from the real Hitoshi, as he is under various special missions of the CEO to quietly carry on his “extraordinary” task to fight against the corruption of the company.

SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games.  These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges with their gourmet cooking.  Last is a musical performance by SMAP which may include celebrity guests, as well.