24 seasons of solving crimes with your dad's most insufferable coworker? Absolutely.
Season 24 • Episode 19
LatestDetective Ukyo Sugishita confronts crime on the basis of his own convictions. He has a partner that works for him in the Special Task Unit. For the first 7 seasons, Ukyo’s first partner is Kaoru Kameyama. He is a good-natured, hot-tempered, straightforward and somewhat scattered detective. Beginning in Season 8, Takeru Kanbe replaces Kameyama. Contrary to his predecessor, Takeru is a lanky, cool, conceited and confident detective. From Season 11 to Season 13, Ukyo’s partner is a young detective Toru Kai. Toru is a son of Deputy Director-General of The National Police Agency. But he became a detective by his own effort. And starting with Season 14, Ukyo’s current partner is Wataru Kaburagi, an elite bureaucrat who came to the Metropolitan Police Department on temporary assignment. As the first partner without any career of a police officer, he will face challenging cases together with Ukyo.
Acting
Yutaka Mizutani's 20+ year embodiment of Ukyo
Writing
Case-of-the-week mastery with slow-burn partner chemistry
Production
Evolution from 2002 TV drama to polished institution
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
AIBOU is Japanese television's longest-running detective drama, essentially becoming public broadcasting infrastructure—airing on TV Asahi since 2000 with only Mizutani remaining from the original cast.
The rotating partners mirror Japan's changing workforce: Kameyama (bubble economy optimism), Kanbe (lost decade cool), Kai (reform era nepotism anxiety), Kaburagi (gig economy precarity).
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