Best movies & TV Shows like Black Leather Notebook

Gang leader Nami (cult film legend Meiko Kaji) kills a member of a yakuza group and goes away to prison. Upon her release three years later, she’s a shamed woman confined to living in the shadowy world of sex clubs and street gangs. She returns to the city to live with her uncle, a billiard-hall owner, and after befriending pimp and ne’er-do-well Ryuji (Tsunehiko Watase), she gets a job working at a hostess club in the chic Ginza neighborhood, where the expensive shops and neon lights conceal a dark world of crime and sexual slavery. But when a rival gang attempts to muscle in on the club, Nami becomes enmeshed in a violent struggle that forces her to wield a skilled pool cue to defend her uncle’s business, and eventually a short sword to wreak bloody vengeance upon her enemies.

This short comedy concerns the extramarital affair of a drugstore owner. It is based on a popular song by the star of the film, Frank Nagai.

It is difficult to stand out at a Ginza club where every hostess wants to be number one. It is competitive. One of them is a virgin and also just eighteen years old. She wants to become the number one hostess to help pay the bills for her family. She advertises herself as 'virginity for sale.' It is an auction and the prize goes to the highest bidder. She doesn't have hostess skills however. The club's manager was the number one hostess in all of Ginza and helps the younger woman.

A story about a talented child actress who wins back her dream after retiring from acting. Keito was once a popular child actress, but she had shut herself away from society for 10 years after a traumatic acting incident. She is now 17 years old and incidentally enrolls to a free school for dropouts where she makes true friends. Together, they build trust and find the meaning of life. --NHK

This story is about four men who work in a confectionary. Tachibana Keiichiro (Shiina Kippei) is the owner; Ono Yusuke (Fujiki Naohito) is the superb baker that has a mysterious and mesmerizing aura; Kobayakawa Chikage (Abe Hiroshi) is the waiter and close bodyguard of Tachibana; and last but not least is Kanda Eiji (Takizawa Hideaki), the ex-boxer who loves cake so much that he becomes a waiter at 'Antique'. This is a refreshing, yet heartfelt comedy about the 4 very unique personalities that work until the wee hours of the night at the small confectionary. The series follows the romance, family life, and most importantly friendship that these 4 men from different generations experience. This is a confectionary with a "flavor" not like most. Located in the middle of an ordinary residential area, "Antique" stays open until 2 a.m. Every single thing in the shop is antique, in fact even the sherry glasses that water comes in look like they would cost 50,000 yen. On top of this, all the sweets that are sold are unbelievably delicious. The thing that is most peculiar about "Antique" though is that all 4 of the men that work here are very handsome, and each has an interesting past. Those that frequent the store also have a story to tell. Edited Excerpt from JDorama.com

Based on the serialised novel by Shinno Takeshi, Apoyan tells the story of the people behind every overseas trip. From the travel agents to the people working at the airport.

A rookie detective assigned to the Ginza Police Station finds himself partnered with his estranged father. Together with the rest of the team, they solve crimes as an old adversary plots to take revenge on father and son.

This drama tells four love stories "Last Love", "Birthday", "Triangle" and "Room Service". Each love story takes place in the "Sweet Room" of a hotel.

Saburo Sugimura works for the PR department of a company which his father-in-law Yoshichika Imada runs. One day, Yoshichika Imada tasks Saburo Sugimura with work regarding a man named Nobuo Kajita. A complicated story unfolds from the request.

A 13-episode series where Maki Yoko plays the lead role in stand alone episodes. She plays a wife, a hostess, a student. Not only does each episode have a different story, but the styles vary widely from comedy to gangster drama.

The story of Kishi Keiichitaro, a dashingly handsome pathologist who is intensely eccentric and brutally honest, but also holds one of the most brilliant minds. A pathologist is a physician whose job is to determine a diagnosis of disease or cause of death based on an assortment of data, including a patient's tissue, bodily fluids, organ samples, blood, etc.

Drama series depicts the lives of three men born in 1987 and oppose irrational things of the world through work, love, and friendship. The men are from the "yutori generation", when the Japanese government reformed the education system, emphasizing a pressure-free environment referred to as yutori education.

Tachibana Miyabi is 39-years-old and she hasn't had a boyfriend in 5 years. She enjoys her life as a single woman. She is a doctor and runs her own beauty dermatology clinic. Miyabi is pretty and confident, but at her school reunion, she finds herself being pitied by others for still being single. After the school reunion, she attends a gourmet meeting at a restaurant. There, she talks about her school reunion. At that time, Seiji, the owner of the restaurant, makes a biting remark that she isn't the type popular with men. She becomes upset by the remark, but she accepts his advice.

Hoshino Mitsuko is the talented three-star chef of famous French restaurant, La Cuisine de La reine, in Ginza, Tokyo. She has drawn attention not just from Japan but also the world for the new recipes she continuously conceives with her delicate palate and unrivalled creativity. Gourmands around the world visit the restaurant for her cuisine and there is a three-year wait for reservations. One day, trouble occurs between Mitsuko and the restaurant owner Shinoda Shogo and she is fired. She has difficulty finding a new restaurant due to Shinoda’s interference and her over-inflated pride, and ends up creating school lunches for a popular variety programme by a hotshot producer. It was believed to be something easy for Mitsuko, but she meets many obstacles and keeps failing. Moreover, this is aired on TV and made known to the world. Even so, Mitsuko does not give up and starts to create school lunches in order to hear children say her food is delicious and also regain her lost stars.

In an otherwise mundane diner open from midnight to 7 a.m., there is no menu – but the chef cooks anything his customers want. Each episode is about different a different customer, as they find simple yet profound connections with one another based on their shared love of a particular dish.

“Ten Dark Women” was written by Natto Wada and directed by Kon Ichikawa in 1961. It’s a dark humor story about a married television producer who has a wife and nine mistresses. Ten of them band together and plan to kill him.

Tomozo Sudo is a detective. Due to an incident, he is excluded from investigative work. He is then assigned to work in a division responsible for taking care of animals whose owners are suspects or missing. Keiko Usuki is a police constable and works in the same division. She loves animals more than humans. Keiko develops inferences from clues from animals left behind at crime scenes. Tomozo and Keiko work together to solve cases.

To solve the country's low birthrate problem, the Japanese government set up Otona Kōkō (Adult High School). Adults over 30 with no sexual experience are forcibly enrolled into Otona Kōkō by the government. Eito Arakawa is a 30-year-old single man. He graduated from a prestigious university and works at a bank. He has received recognition for his work there. He is also physically attractive, but he has never had sex. One day, he receives an entrance guide to Otona Kōkō.

A popular manga about a corporate auditor of a major bank is adapted for the screen starring Yuji Oda, one of Japan's favorite actors. With a strong sense of justice and trusted personality, the antagonist takes on the vast darkness of a mega bank to fully expose bank fraud.

Sakura runs a secondhand bookstore in Tokyo. Customers of various age ranges visit her secondhand bookstore. Deep inside this bookshop is a room called the “meeting place.” People who do not have a place to go, gather in the room. She gives them oyakodon for free. In the room, people talk about themselves, while Sakura listens to them. She sometimes encourages them with her smile and sometimes sheds tears with them. Azami and Rie are leading a lifestyle full of delinquent behavior. One night, after being chased by mobs, Rie points out at the bookstore, a good place to get free food.

Jun'ichi is a young man without job or home who seems to have a great power of fascination over woman. He crosses the paths of different women who are unsatisfied with their lives and find comfort in his presence. It is a subtle love story between Jun'ichi's drifting life and six different woman from 16 to 65 years old.

Noda Ryusuke is a popular scriptwriter specialising in stories about the perfect married couple but is shocked when his wife of 23 years suddenly wants to get a divorce.

Four former classmates share an apartment in Daikanyama, Tokyo and pursue their own happiness. Arisugawa Fuu works for a design production company and spends most of her salary on fashion, Hada Mizuhois a budding manga artist, Sakuragawa Rio practices psychosomatic medicine, and Enjoji Sayuri works for a Ginza art gallery.

A love story between Snow Women sisters and a male high school student.

A young man has college and a failed business behind him. Unemployed and planning his next steps he is lodging with is mother, a small business owner. His sister and her family also move in with the two, albeit temporarily. She sees him as a loser and a lush and wants him out. She also whispers in their mother's ear to ask him to leave the house in order to find his own way and begin the rest of his life. She probably has noble intentions, but is she right and will she succeed?

The drama is based on a blog written by Bakarhythm between 2006 and 2009 where he posed as a OL nicknamed Masuno Kakū, who supposedly worked in a bank and wrote stories about the daily feelings of a OL from her perspective and the people around her.

Yuri goes to a female novelist and tells her that she and two of her friends committed three murders. Yuri asks the novelist to write a story about them.

Miyabe Arata, owner of the Roppongi Nidaime Miyabe bar, fights against those who have absolute power. His goal is to take revenge on Nagaya Holdings, a giant in the Japanese food industry. The owner of the holding companies, as well as his son, had a destructive influence on Miyabe Arata's life in the past.

The "heartwarming story" of the manga follows the interaction between dietary support robots and their owners. At the ○×Food Company chain store, a customer can exchange points for a 25-centimeter tall robot who will assist with their dietary needs.

Story about a detective who takes on a request for what he is looking for while wandering in a camper

Asai Michiko is a 28-year old housewife. Her husband is 38-year old Yoshio, who works at an advertisement agency. Five years into their marriage, Michiko finds out that Yoshio has been having an affair. Michiko visits the woman and begs her to break up with Yoshio. "Yoshio mentioned that he doesn't see his wife as a woman," she says, bringing Michiko to tears. Nogami Machiko is a 31-year old woman who works at a luxurious nightclub in Ginza. She is told by her lover whose child she bears, "Get an abortion." She too, is brought to tears. Three years later... Since her husband's affair, Michiko, now 31, has put every effort forward to become the adorable wife by studying the latest trends and fashion. Machiko, now 34, is an employed owner of a Ginza nightclub. One day, Okinaka Kazuko moves in across from the Asai family. She is there to take care of the house while her sister and her family are living in Osaka. Alone and lonely, she hopes to become close friends with Michiko. Koyanagi Shingo, Yoshio's client and president of a middle-sized company, takes Shingo to a luxurious Ginza nightclub after dinner. It's Machiko's club. Machiko has had feelings for Yoshio since he started visiting her establishment. When Shingo rises from his seat to leave, Yoshio does the same. But Machiko holds him back. "There's an annoying customer at another table. Can you stay a little longer for me?" After leaving the club, Shingo heads downtown to visit 18-year old Ito Mayumi who sings and plays the guitar. Although Shingo has a wife and a nearly adult-age son, all he can think about is his young lover. After finishing work, Machiko takes a taxi home with Yoshio. Machiko's apartment is just a station away from Yoshio's. In the taxi, Machiko spills coffee on Yoshio's suit. "We should clean this up immediately" she says and invites Yoshio in. Yoshio can't hold back his feelings as Machiko seduces him. Meanwhile, Michiko has reunited with Kondo Kei, a 26-year old calligrapher who was formerly a student of Michiko's father, a master in calligraphy...

Shu Tajimage happens to meet Fumiyo Bessho, a former high school senior, by chance. He is a popular guy with many girlfriends. But he has to end these relationships out of necessity. After hearing his story, Fumiyo unintentionally mutters that this situation is exactly like Osamu Dazai's unfinished novel 'Goodbye'. Shu is moved by the queer coincidence.