Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV) proudly announces that NTV-produced drama "AISHITERU-KAIYO-" (starring Izumi Inamori and broadcast April - June 2009) has been awarded the "MIPCOM BUYER AWARD for Japanese Drama" on October 6, 2009 at the world's largest international contents trade show MIPCOM held in Cannes, France. The winning drama, received superb marks in the three criteria categories of storyline, actors and music.

This year, through a collaborative project between MIPCOM and International Drama Festival in TOKYO, buyers from around the world were asked to select, from seven nominated Japanese dramas, a drama series that would do well globally. It is the first time that MIPCOM has created this award to judge the contents of a specific country.

"AISHITERU-KAIYO-" also won the Grand Prix in the Drama Series category of the Tokyo Drama Award on October 19th and NTV producer, Mr. Hisashi Tsugiya, earned the Producer Award for the above drama. As acknowledgment of Japan's high quality dramas and strong entertainment value is vital to distributing Japanese contents overseas, the Tokyo Drama Award, part of the International Drama Festival in TOKYO, provides that impetus of aiming to improve the commercial potential of Japanese contents in the international marketplace.

Positive evaluations for NTV-produced dramas, both internationally and domestically, will propel our efforts to continue creating dramas that will win acceptance around the world.

Drama Division
Nippon Television Network Corporation