Tokyo Salad Bowl:Galaxy Award Monthly Award Winner

It was revealed on March 21 that the NHK drama series "Tokyo Salad Bowl," starring actors Nao and Ryuhei Matsuda, won the February 2025 Monthly Award at the Galaxy Awards, which recognizes programs, individuals, and organizations that have contributed to the advancement of broadcasting culture.

The drama is based on the manga "Tokyo Salad Bowl - International Investigation Case File" by Kuromaru, who is also known for "Kurosagi." Set in Tokyo, where about 700,000 foreign residents live, Nao plays the green-haired international investigation police officer Koda Mari, and together with Matsuda, a Chinese interpreter with a past, Yukino Ryo, the drama is a socially conscious entertainment that picks up the lives of those who are about to fall through the cracks of Japanese society.

The Galaxy Awards were established in 1963 by the Broadcast Critics Association in the hopes of improving the quality of Japan's broadcasting culture. The association commented, "Japanese society would no longer be possible without foreign workers. However, the working conditions they find themselves in are shockingly poor with no sign of improvement. In addition, the current situation is one in which the hands of vicious criminal gangs are steadily reaching out to these harsh conditions. This socially conscious, human interest drama, which depicts this serious situation in a very realistic way, is well worth watching. The excellent performances of Nao, Ryuhei Matsuda and other actors also left an impression."

Other winners of the award included the 39th Minkyokyo Special "The Reality of a 10 Yen Hour Wage - The Vanishing Farmers" (Yamagata Broadcasting), the drama "A Murder I Don't Remember" (NHK), and the NHK Special "Rinkai Sekai - ON THE EDGE - Female Soldiers: A Battlefield of Despair."