# The best Japanese detective dramas

From Showa-era Taiyō ni Hoero! to MIU404: classic Japanese police dramas, based on All About's 2025 survey and goo Ranking's Showa and Heisei votes.

- 15 votes · 14 items
- Oct 30, 2025 · Misaki Okada
- https://even.best/en/l/4094/the-best-japanese-detective-dramas

## Top 10

1. **AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo (2000-)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Ukyo Sugishita and his successive partners: a long-running hit.
2. **Bayside Shakedown (1997)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Detective Aoshima of Wangan precinct against police bureaucracy.
3. **Abunai Deka (1986)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Taka and Yuji in Yokohama: a breezy buddy-cop show.
4. **Shinzanmono (2010)** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — From Keigo Higashino: Kyoichiro Kaga walks the streets of Nihonbashi.
5. **Furuhata Ninzaburō (1994-2006)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Masakazu Tamura's lieutenant in Columbo-style inverted mysteries.
6. **Taiyō ni Hoero! (1972-1986)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Nanamagari precinct's first division: the Showa-era police classic.
7. **MIU404 (2020)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Ibuki and Shima of the mobile investigation unit, in 24-hour first response.
8. **Keizoku (1999)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The unit that handles unsolved cold cases.
9. **Jikou Keisatsu (2006)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — A laid-back comedy about investigating expired cases as a hobby.
10. **Tokusō Saizensen (1977-1987)** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — A weighty human drama about a special investigations unit.
11. **Seibu Keisatsu (1979-1984)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Ishihara Production's cop action with spectacular explosions.
12. **Unfair (2006)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Ryoko Shinohara as Natsumi Yukihira investigating serial killings.
13. **Rinjō (2009)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Coroner Yoshio Kuraishi, who leaves nothing unexamined.
14. **SPEC (2010)** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — A special unit chasing people with paranormal powers.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.