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You are currently listening to the
theme song to Japanese TV Cop Show TAIYO NI HOERO. |
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JAPANESE
TELEVISION POLICE DRAMA DATABASE |
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Keiji (Detective) shows
have always been a staple of Japanese Television during the 1970's &
1980's. During this time a wide variety of shows were created, many
obviously influenced in part by American and British sleuth shows.
Shows such as The AVENGERS, MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE and the various Quinn
Martin shows like STREETs of SAN FRANCISCO, IRONSIDE and CANNON spawned
such Japanese equivalents such as KEYHUNTER, TARGET MAN and EYEFUL.
Later, when CHARLIE's ANGELS coined the phrase "Jiggle TV" , Japan
followed suit with their own brand of "T&A" TV with shows
like PLAYGIRL and SUPERGIRL, which in some cases even went further than
Charlie's Angels in emphasizing the sex element. During the
70's and early 80's a new breed of cop shows emerged, one that was more
grittier
and often times over-the-top in action. TARGET MAN, MAD COPS
'80, and GORILLA 7 are examples of these but it was the shows produced by
actor/singer/producer Ishihara Ujiro who introduced audiences to the quintessential
violent cop show SEIBU KEISATSU which made the modern Japanese urban cop show resemble more the
world of Sam
Peckinpaw's Western the WILD BUNCH with its gun battles and
explosive mayhem.
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| The Purpose of this website is to try to
introduce American audiences to this great genre of Japanese
Television. With American audiences becoming very familiar with
Japanese Jikaikeki (Japanese Sword Drama), Anime (Animation), Sci-Fi
Drama, and most recently Tokusatsu (Special Effects Action -Live Action)
shows, the Japanese Detective genre is the logical next choice for
study. The Japanese Cop Show is probably the hardest genre to really
tackle, as these show are literally unseen outside of Japan. There
have been very little books written about the subject, and these shows
have yet to make it to DVD. |
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| In fact, most of the information on this site
is either from information from other fan sites, books and/or first hand
viewing of these shows. While I do not profess to know these shows
intimately, I have sampled some of these shows during various stays in
Japan and while here in Hawaii. TOKUSO SAIZENSEN, in fact was shown
here for quite some time. |
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| I hope this website will help create an
interest in these shows. Hopefully Toei, Ishihara Pro and other
studios will soon start to release these programs to DVD so that future
generations may be able to discover these shows. |
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| THE
SHOWS: |