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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.
A love triangle turns deadly during an awards ceremony in Australia. Unfortunately for the killers, however, Furuhata and Shintaro are on a well-deserved holiday in the same hotel.
The head of a flower arrangement clan murders her overbearing teacher and rival during a flamenco recital. The one thing Furuhata, who was in the audience, can't quite figure out is how the killer found her victim in the dark auditorium.
Famous detective Furuhata Ninzaburo has disappeared, so a TV crew decide to make a documentary about his career interviewing his associates and the killers he caught.
Furuhata is called in to investigate a murder committed by the well-known Japanese boy band SMAP.
Furuhata comes out of retirement to investigate a series of bizarre serial killings which would look like deaths by natural causes except for the notes found inside the victims' anuses.
An employee at a Japanese embassy in a South American country is kidnapped but Furuhata, who is there on holiday, begins suspecting that the man was killed by none other than the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary himself.
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.
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.
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.
Young Furuhata, a 3rd-year junior high student from Tokyo, transferred to a school in the countryside due to family circumstances. He doesn't fit in at first, but he eventually gains a reputation as a detective and opens his own detective agency. One day, he hears about the town's legend of buried treasure, and he immediately begins unraveling the mystery.