Bread of Happiness

Dominic works round the clock: nights making biscotti for his family's bakery in a working-class Italian neighborhood in Pittsburgh, then days downtown where he's a specialist in firing people at a company that negotiates mergers. He's thrown for a loop with he learns that Bella, an elderly neighbor who's his family's closest friend, has but a few months to live. All her life, she's saved money in coffee cans for her daughter, Lucca's, wedding, but Lucca is off in foreign lands, initially as a Peace Corps volunteer, and doesn't need a man. Dominic vows to bring Lucca home and convince her to marry him to fulfill Bella's most fervent wish. What will Lucca say?

Revered sushi chef Jiro Ono strives for perfection in his work, while his eldest son, Yoshikazu, has trouble living up to his father's legacy.

On a quiet street in Helsinki, Sachie has opened a diner featuring rice balls. For a month she has no customers. Then, in short order, she has her first customer, meets Midori, a gangly Japanese tourist, and invites her to stay with her, and meets Masako, a formal and ethereal middle-aged woman whose luggage has gone missing. The three women work in the diner, interact, and serve customers. A somewhat brusque man teaches Sachie to make delicious coffee, then he returns under other circumstances. Three neighborhood women inspect the empty diner every day; will anything bring them inside? We learn why Sachie serves rice balls; but why Finland?

An overworked career woman leaves her life in the city for an island vacation only to encounter eccentric local inhabitants.

An illiterate cook at a company cafeteria tries for the attention of a newly widowed woman. As they get to know one another, she discovers his inability to read. When he is fired, she takes on trying to teach him to read in her kitchen each night.

An American woman is stranded in Tokyo after breaking up with her boyfriend. Searching for direction in life, she trains to be a râmen chef under a tyrannical Japanese master.

Competing bakery owners, Faye McKenzie and Lydia Harper have been feuding for years with the Lake Shore County Harvest Festival’s annual pumpkin pie bake-off at the center of it all. The winner not only gets bragging rights and a trophy, but a substantial boost to her business, as well. This year, however, the women are passing the torch to their respective children, Casey and Sam, and when romantic sparks fly between them, this bake-off promises to be one to remember.

A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo.

Small-town baker, Kelly, gets a big surprise when she is invited to compete on a Valentine's Day baking show in New York City - and an even bigger surprise when she runs into her ex-fiance.

Uptight French chef, Sara Westbrook, gets fired up when her upscale café, Chez Varenne, is suddenly overshadowed by a new restaurant moving in next door run by a group of rowdy firemen. Led by handsome former fire fighter Gill Callahan and his friend Danny, The Five Alarm Grill is soon a big success while Sara and Patsy, her pastry chef, struggle to bring in customers. Sara suddenly softens when she meets Gill's ten-year-old daughter Hannah. Ignoring the obvious tension between her dad and Sara, Hannah is soon playing matchmaker. Can Gill and Sara's burgeoning romance survive the temptation to compete with each other, or will the heat of competition drive them apart?

Fleeing heartbreak in the big city, Ichiko returns to Komori, her rural hometown. She battles summer's rain and humidity, bakes her own bread, grows hothouse tomatoes and tills the fields. During autumn, the time for pickling and preserving fish and sweet potatoes, Ichiko begins reaping rice and recalls her departure five years before.

The Master’s late-night diner welcomes a woman troubled by funeral fans, an elderly scam victim, and a noodle delivery man struggling with love.

Takako (Mei Kurokawa) is a beautiful woman in her 30's and she works as a designer. Takako has only had relationships with married men. She decides to change herself with the help of her manga artist friend Keiko (Asami Usuda). Takako signs up at a matchmaking site. Soon. Takako meets two men and she takes an interest in the two men. Meanwhile, Takako has an argument with her friend Keiko. (Asianwiki)

A Zen priest in San Francisco and cookbook author use Zen Buddhism and cooking to relate to everyday life.

When Ayumi Mastuda (Eiko Koike) worked as a freelance writer she met Chinese cameraman Gyoukou (Kingone Wang), who worked at the same publishing company in Tokyo. They married 5 years ago. After his employer's went bankrupt, Gyoukou and Ayumi Matsuda moved to Ishigaki Island. Gyoukou also decided to apply for naturalization as a Japanese citizen. In order to prove they are real married couple they have an interview at a local Bureau of Judicial Affiars branch. As the interview goes along, they find it more difficult than expected ...

Foiled by a hero when he’s inches away from conquering the world, the devil finds himself in modern-day Tokyo. With no real-world skills to speak of, the devil is forced to make ends meet flipping burgers at a fast food joint! To stall any further plans of world domination, the hero tracks the devil’s trail and takes on the lowly tasks of a telemarketer.

Set in a small restaurant in the corner of a shopping district. The unusual eatery is only open after midnight, and its standard menu consists of just a single choice. However, the customers still come for the amusing chatter and the proprietor's willingness to cook any dish that they request. This drama depicts the lives of the restaurant's patrons, including a yakuza, an unsuccessful actor, a group of office ladies, a newspaper delivery boy, and a stripper.

Set in a family restaurant in Hokkaido, the northern prefecture of Japan, 16-year-old high school student Sōta Takanashi works part-time along with his strange co-workers: Popura Taneshima, a high school girl who—despite being a year older than Sōta—is easily mistaken for a elementary/middle schooler, and Kyoko Shirafuji, the 28-year-old store manager who does not bother to do any work at all.

Handa Sen is the "okami" (proprietress) of a long-standing restaurant in one of the lower parts of Tokyo. Though she is normally airheaded and loves to drink, she has an impressive mastery of a wide range skills, from cooking to ceramics to calligraphy. While the drama follows various events surrounding the restaurant, one of the series' highlights is its illustration of Japanese food and culture.

Akiko (Satomi Kobayashi) lives with her mother, but suddenly her mother passes away. Since then she quits her editing job and takes over her mother's small restaurant. At the restaurant there's only two items on the menu: sandwich and soup.

The lead, Dr. Sadami Shiratori worked in the operating room at a famous Tokyo hospital was around death on a daily basis. His own father, Teizo Shiratori is also a doctor, called Grandfather as he raised the estranged children of his wayward son, he practiced medicine in a small town on Hokkaido, Japan’s most northern island. His practice was limited only to terminal patients…in their own homes. He cared for them and helped both them and their families prepare for the ‘final journey’.

The "cute and soft bread four-panel manga" centers around Minami, an air-headed girl who is starting high school and who loves eating bread for breakfast. Baked goods bring happiness everyday to her and her classmates the reliable Yuu, the pastry-baking Fuyumi, and the independent Noa.

"Trails to Tsukiji" is a show that focuses on Japanese food available at Tokyo's iconic Tsukiji Market where every kind of fresh food is gathered from around the country.

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.

The 69th NHK Asadora Drama, based on Rei Nakanishi's novel, is about the Iwata family living in Ikeda, Osaka City between 1950s and 1960s. The story is told through the eyes of the youngest daughter, Fuyuko. The family runs a bakery. The mother, Teruko, is a very energetic woman who is determined to make her dreams come true. Responding to Teruko's expectations, the eldest daughter becomes a figure skater and the second daughter becomes a very famous professional singer. In contrast, Fuyuko finds her joy in bread making.

Delicious food from Tokyo's markets! Learn about the amazing ingredients which are sourced from across Japan and sold at Tokyo's fresh food markets.

Yuigaoka Girls High School is a newly established school that lies between the Omotesando, Harajuku, and Aoyama neighborhoods of Tokyo. The story centers on its first batch of students. With no history, no upperclassmen or alumni, and no reputation, it is a school full of unknowns. Five girls, among them Kanon Shibuya, have a fateful encounter with school idols. Kanon decides, "I love singing. I want to make something come true with song!" Many feelings converge upon a star that has only started to grow. The future is blank and full of possibility for these girls, and their story that everyone will make possible has only just begun. Soar with your wings, our Love Live!

Higa Nobuko was born and raised with her four siblings in a farmhouse in the "Yanbaru region" in the northern part of the main island of Okinawa. She aims to become a chef drawing inspiration from Okinawan cuisine. The four siblings follow very different paths, but the memories of their hometown connect their hearts and they're able to overcome their hardships as a family.

Ramen is a savory combination of umami-packed broth and perfectly cooked noodles. This program offers an encyclopedic view of this delectable dish, taking you on a journey across Japan to discover ever-evolving local variations. Join us as we explore a tapestry of local customs and food culture through the lens of ramen.