Are you in the mood for something delicious, something different and something fun to watch tonight? Here, we bring you a list of Japanese dramas to stream and watch on Netflix right now. Binge-watching is totally ok.
It’s that time of year for a quick getaway or even a vacation abroad, but if that’s not in your plans, then huddle inside on a staycation with your Netflix account at your fingertips. Thanks to the growing popularity of Asian dramas, Netflix now offers a wide selection of Japanese dramas to immerse you in the culture without the cost of an airplane ticket to Japan.
Are you ready for some binge-watching, transporting you to the back lanes of Shinjuku, glitzy department stores in Ginza, and an idyllic farm in Hokkaido? Here are some Japanese dramas you can stream on Netflix while curled up on the sofa with a hot bowl of ramen to slurp down.
Notes: The streaming availability comes and goes on Netflix. Even though some of these dramas may no longer available when you get to it, they do come back once they are re-licensed.
Japanese Dramas to Stream and Watch on Netflix
Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (Shinya Shokudo 深夜食堂)
I believe this cult hit does not need any further introduction, especially amongst the devotees of Japanese dramas. An adaptation of a best-selling manga, Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories centers around a small diner tucked in the alleyway of Shinjuku that operates only in the wee hours. The owner, known as The Master, would serve special requested dishes to his patrons, who bring forth both their desirable appetites and a story to tell.
A miscellany of stories on human connections and ruminations of life, Midnight Diner is as soul-comforting as the dishes that each episode presents.
I have to warn you: it’s too easy to ‘work up’ an appetite while watching the tantalizing close-ups of the dishes on each episode. Luckily, we’ve got you covered. If you feel like whipping up some tan-men or ham katsu or hot pot middle of the night after some binge-watching of the show, here is the list of Midnight Diner recipes that will keep you in good company.
Samurai Gourmet (野武士のグルメ)
Japanese is known to take every art to the highest level. In Samurai Gourmet, the art is on eating. For a nation that is obsessed with food, this type of televised entertainment is as Japanese as it can be. The 20-minute show follows Takeshi Kasumi, a retiree who rediscovers his new purpose in life: getting in touch with his inner samurai through his passion for eating. What an enviable way to spend your retirement!
If you have a fixation for any food shows, Samurai Gourmet should be on your watch-list.
Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman (さぼリーマン甘太朗)
Debuted on Netflix in 2017, Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman presents a fantasy land for those who love anything sweet. Played by kabuki actor Matsuya Onoe, Amentani Kantaro takes every opportunity of his out-of-office assignment and secretly follows his quest to sample the best dessert in town. He takes a bite of the dessert, reflects on every little detail, makes an exaggerated manga-ish face, and then transports himself to some out-of-body sphere that illustrates his absolute pleasure. Once he gets home, he writes his sweetest encounters on his blog called “Sweets Knight”.
Nami and I admit that watching these orgasmic facial reactions can sometimes put us slightly uncomfortable. Kantaro can be wacky, offbeat and outlandish, yet it captures the ultimate joy of eating something truly satisfactory which anyone of us can relate to.
The story of Kantaro is fictional, but the shops in Tokyo and the fantastic-looking desserts are all real. There are anmitsu, dorayaki, mitsumame, shaved ice cream, parfait, caramel pudding and so on to make you drool.
More than just the enticing sweets, Kantaro may remind you to take more well-deserved breaks on a busy work day and treasure small indulgences in life.
PS: Now if you’re seriously thinking of a trip to Tokyo after watching all the episodes, you want to check out this incredible list of where to find the real Kantaro desserts on Reddit. And send your thanks to this very brilliant fella.
Silver Spoon (銀の匙)
A successful anime adaptation, Silver Spoon chronicles the story of Hachiken, a high school freshman who escapes his life in the big city and enrolls in an agricultural school deep in the countryside of Hokkaido.
With very little knowledge of farming, he soon realizes that the agricultural world is not easy as he initially imagined. Unlike his peers at the school who already have set goals for their lives, Hachiken struggles with the fact that he has no goal. While he feels lost, he learns to carve his own path as he bonds with the animals and eventually becomes an inspiration to others.
From pig herding to horse racing to dairy milk production to pizza making, Silver Spoon not only makes learning fun, it is an anecdote of growing up, which makes it a wonderful series for the entire family to watch.
Atelier (アトリエ)
In Japan, Atelier has a much catchier & suggestive title, Andāwea, which means Underwear. But there’s nothing too racy or offensive in this 13-episode coming of age Japanese drama.
The story follows a young graduate named Mayuko who starts a job at Emotion, an haute couture designer brand specializing in lingerie in the upscale Ginza neighborhood. She finds herself having to win the heart of her tough like nail boss who is compared to Anna Wintour, an editor of American Vogue. Without a doubt, Atelier will remind you of The Devil Wears Prada, but despite the similar fashion workplace setting, you would notice the stark cultural differences in the Japanese rendition.
Million Yen Women (100万円の女た)
In Million Yen Women, 5 beautiful young women showed up at a struggling writer’s house one day and offered to live with him by paying a generous sum of money. It was an attractive proposition that he could not resist. Total strangers to each other, they all have to abide by some house rules that keep the suspense going.
Million Yen Women can be unpredictable, puzzling, charming, sweet, sad and humorous at the same time. There may be elements that can be hard to grasp, it still nails the mystery comedy genre that keeps you coming back for each episode.
Good Morning Call (グッドモーニング・コール)
Let me start off stating that Good Morning Call is a high school romance comedy. It may not be a cup of tea for everyone, but this 17-episode manga adaptation does score high amongst the young adults who are inclined to Japanese pop culture.
The story centers around an ordinary girl Yoshikawa Nao, who discovers her new apartment was also rented to Uehara Hisashi, the most popular heartthrob from her school. When they found out they had to pay more for their apartment due to unforeseen circumstances, Nao and Hisahi decided to move in together as flatmates. We then follow how the two contrasting personalities fall in love with one another in the process.
Despite being a high school love drama, Good Morning Call has a strong characterization which the audience can enjoy. It is also quirky and playful to watch. If you are a fan of the original manga or the shoujo romance genre in general, you will want to check it out on Netflix.
More Recommendations on Japanese Dramas & Movies?
We hope you enjoy the list we’ve put together. If you’ve watched any of these Japanese dramas, what do you like (or not like) about them? Are there any other recommendations that we’ve missed out? We’d love to hear from you.
Check out this list on the best sites to watch Japanese drama, both free and paid.
Very nice write up. I’ve wanted to be able to watch Japanese series and movies most of my life. Not living in the East or West Coasts we can’t get Fuji TV, Asahi TV or NHK (except only one of their channels and only if you have TV JAPAN). The streaming services including Viki TV don’t have near enough. And series generally have one season only and take long amounts of time for subsequent seasons to air.
I would love to have some package deal or some way to watch TV, movies, etc. I’d be watching it probably more than American TV.
Thanks, David. Netflix is probably the best if you wish to watch some of the highly acclaimed Japanese dramas. For movies, you can try searching by the titles online and there are various channels that offer the options.
Hello Ms. Nami ,
my husband and I watched almost all the series of Midnight Diner Stories and then we cooked some of the recipes featured. We are now on season 4. Thank you for sharing.
How fun! We’ll be sharing more recipes for Midnight Diners soon too.
I hope the NHK taiga dramas will be streamed also.
Thank you for posting this. We were running out of things to watch!
I watch Midnight Diner often and have also watched Samurai Gourmet. Love the fantasy in the Gourmet. I haven’t watched any of the others but will check out some of them.
Hope you’ll find some new favorites.
I love all of these but haven’t seen them all. I’ll have to catch up Nami!
This is a good time to catch up. Have fun streaming, Ken.
Ok… I was intrigued and watched 2 episodes of Minight Diner, and 1 each of Samurai Gourmet and Kantaro. They were all appealing in their own way. Midnight Diner made me long for the tiny, out of the way places I used to visit. I could identify with Samurai since I will be in that retirement boat before too long. Kantaro is way over the top… the syrup pours made me laugh out loud. The food shots in each were wonderful and gave me quite the hankering.
Thanks for the recommendations!
Hi Bob! So happy to hear that you watched the shows after our recommendations! They are indeed intended to make us hungry:)
Hi Nami,
I watch quite a lot of Japanese movies and TV series, some of these recommended by you I have already seen and I am very happy to learn new titles from you.
I like very much Midnight Diner and I hope there will be new series.
My favourite director for now is Hirokazu Koreeda, and I have seen most of his films, but I also enjoy some lighter repertoire like detective/investigation films/TV series, taiga dramas and other weekly TV dramas, showing contemporary life in Japan (of course I don’t know how true to reality they are). Unfortunately I don’t speak and understand Japanese language, I only know some amount of words and phrases, so I am always looking for these which are subbed in English.
Here in Poland it is rather difficult to find Japanese films and even reliable information what is worth seeing, therefore I am always thankful for any tips 🙂
Hi Anna – We’re glad to hear that you learned some new titles from our recommendations. We enjoy Hirokazu Koreeda’s work too. If you haven’t seen our other recs, here are more:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/japanese-movies-dramas-shows-to-watch/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/favorite-japanese-movies-to-watch/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/best-japanese-movies/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/best-japanese-movies-to-watch/
I adore Midnight Diner and confess to watching it over and over again. Such good food and poignant stories. I also loved Good Morning Call, especially Nao, whose bubbly personality offset Uehara’s stand-offish, cold personality. I also enjoyed Atelier and wished for a second season.
Second season for Atelier would be a great idea!
I wish they had new seasons for midnight diner and Samouraï gourmet. I love these shows. I also love The Solitary Gourmet with Yutaka Matsushige based on another manga book series.
Thuy
Thanks soooo much for this listing of Japanese foodie movies
Glad you found the list useful!
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Good Morning Call!! Couldn’t stop once I started! I studied Japanese for 5 years and I wanted to use it as listening practise, but the story got to me and it was impossible to stop! It is true that it is silly sometimes, but who doesn’t like silly romances???
Absolutely! We all need some silly romances and rom-com in our lives:)