SMAP band member Shingo Katori, whose last TV drama job was playing a monkey, gets to be more than human in the new series "Bara no Nai Hanaya (A Florist Without Roses)" (Fuji, Monday, 9 p.m.). Katori plays Eiji, a young widower with an 8-year-old daughter, Shizuku. He saves his money for years to fulfill his dream, which is to open a flower shop.
In the opening episode, the various characters who will change Eiji's and Shizuku's lives are introduced. A blind woman named Miou (Yuko Takeuchi) waits out a rain shower under the awning in front of Eiji's shop, and he invites her in for a cup of tea. Shizuku's teacher, Yuki (Yumiko Shaku), comes by to tell Eiji that his daughter is very popular in class, which surprises Eiji since Shizuku is very shy and tends to always hide her face. What Eiji doesn't know is that his middle-aged neighbor, Keiko, has told Shizuku the truth of her mother's death. However, the most important new friend that Eiji makes is Kudo, a host at a nightclub where Eiji delivers flowers.
NHK's "Super Shokunin Daishugo (Meeting of Super Craftspeople)" (NHK-G, Monday, 7:30 p.m.) is an annual program in which Japanese contestants in the World Skills Competition, which was held last November in Shizuoka, show off their industrial talents. The competition invites craftsmen from all industries and from all over the world to meet in one place.