The Best TV Shows on NHK Digital Satellite HD

Every NHK Digital Satellite HD Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Our curated list, current as of May 2026, showcases over 9 of NHK Digital Satellite HD’s highest-rated series. With its programming history stretching from 1993 to 2011, NHK Digital Satellite HD offers an impressive lineup of over 9 shows. Among NHK Digital Satellite HD’s finest offerings are Today's Close-Up and Shinjuku Shark, which debuted in 1993 and 1995, respectively.

  • Kaiki Daisakusen - Second File
    Kaiki Daisakusen - Second File (2007)8.0

    Modern remake of the Kaiki Daisakusen / Operation Mystery tv show. A special unit called SRI (Science Research Institute) is investigating mysterious cases.

  • Kaidan Horror Classics
    Kaidan Horror Classics (2010)7.0

    Four renowned Japanese directors each adapt a supernatural short story by Japanese literary masters for the KAIDAN HORROR CLASSICS omnibus series. In his adaptation of Yasunari Kawabata's THE ARM, Masayuki Ochiai reveals the inner world of fetishists in an eerily unsettling tale of a man who convinces a woman to let him borrow her arm for a night. Meanwhile, Shinya Tsukamoto explores death and unrequited love in Osamu Dazai's THE WHISTLER, about a woman who spies on her dying sister's secret love life after her own romance is dashed by her father. After VILLAIN, Lee Sang-Il looks at social outcasts once again in Ryunosuke Akutagawa's THE NOSE. The story follows a priest with a hideous nose who kills a young local boy in a moment of blinding anger. Meanwhile, Hirokazu Kore-eda creates a gentler ghost tale with Saisei Muro's THE DAYS AFTER, about a married couple who thinks the young boy who visits their house daily may be the ghost of their dead infant son.

  • Phoenix
    Phoenix (2004)6.7

    Throughout time, mankind has chased after the dream of immortality. The Phoenix, in the form of a bird of fire, is said to hold the key to eternal life. Great wars are fought in a vain attempt to possess it and, as a result, civilizations rise and fall. Phoenix is a collection of five stories from the past, present and future. Many will perish because of their desires, and they are the lucky ones. True pain comes for those who find immortality and experience the burden of living forever.

  • にっぽん縦断 こころ旅
    にっぽん縦断 こころ旅 (2011)6.5

  • ROMES 空港防御システム
    ROMES 空港防御システム (2009)6.0

  • Today's Close-Up
    Today's Close-Up (1993)N/A

    A current affairs television programme produced by the Japanese public broadcaster NHK provides cutting-edge information and critical analysis on important issues confronting Japanese lives.

  • Shinjuku Shark
    Shinjuku Shark (1995)N/A

    Hard-boiled suspense drama series about a detective feared as the "Shinjuku Shark" who bravely stands up to evil.

  • Welkame
    Welkame (2009)N/A

  • Taro no Tō
    Taro no Tō (2011)N/A

    A life story of Taro Okamoto, one of the most prominent Japanese avant-garde artists of the 20th Century. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2011, the drama depicts his struggle for the completion of his emblematic work "The Tower of Taro," known as the symbol of the Osaka Expo in 1970, and his eccentric relationships with his family.