Japanese dramas (テレビドラマ, terebi dorama?, lit. televi(sion) drama) are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of dramas including romance, comedies, detective stories, horror, and many others.
Japanese dramas are broadcast in three-month long seasons, with new dramas airing each season. The majority of dramas are aired weekdays in the evenings around 9:00pm, 10:00pm, or even 11:00pm. Dramas shown in the morning or afternoon are generally broadcast on a daily basis, and episodes of the same drama can be aired every day for several months, such as NHK's asadora, or morning dramas. The evening dramas, however, air weekly, and are usually 9 to 12 episodes long, though sometimes there will be an epilogue special made after the final episode if the drama has been a huge success.
Japanese television seasons are: Winter (January–March), Spring (April–June), Summer (July–September), and Autumn or Fall (October–December).
One characteristic of Japanese drama that differentiates it from others is that each episode is usually shot only a few (2–3) weeks before it is actually aired. Many fans have been able to visit their idols' shooting scenes at the same time the show goes on air.
