, , was a long-running prime-time television detective series in Japan, which ran from 1972 to 1986 for a total of 718 episodes. The lead star was Yujiro Ishihara. It also helped further the career of actors such as Yūsaku Matsuda and Kenichi Hagiwara as well as Hiroshi Katsuno and Masaya Oki. It was a police procedural set mostly in a police station. It was one of the most popular and iconic detective dramas in Japanese television history. A sequel was aired from 1986 to 1987, airing for 12 episodes.
Setting The series takes place in the fictional Nanamagari police station in Shinjuku and portrays the investigations of Nanamagari's detective squad. Headed by Superintendent Shunsuke "Boss" Todo, it initially consists of Inspector Seiichi "Yama-san" Yamamura with Detectives Makoto "Gori-san" Ishizuka, Kimiyuki "Denka (His Highness)" Shima, Taro "Chosan" Nozaki, and Policewoman Shinko "Shinko-san" Uchida. In the first episode they were joined by Detective Jun "Macaroni" Hayami, who dies in Episode 52. Macaroni was replaced by Jun "Jiipan" Shibata, who dies in Episode 111. These episodes started a series tradition of killing off characters when the actors who play them depart from the show. The television drama garnered high viewer ratings, especially for episodes where regular cast members were killed off.
While the metropolis of Tokyo is the Nanamagari squad's usual jurisdiction area, sometimes they are assigned cases that take them to various other locations across Japan, such as Okinawa and Sakurajima. Other cases involve the overseas travel of Nanamagari squad detectives to prosecute fugitives in Hawaii, Paris, Canada, and Australia. 『太陽にほえろ!伝説-疾走15年 私が愛した七曲署』（1996年、日本テレビ） P1-20
Regulars Character Nickname Actor Episodes Shunsuke Todo BossYujiro Ishihara1 - 458, 489 - 699, 718 Seiichi Yamamura Yama-sanShigeru Tsuyuguchi1 - 691 Makoto Ishizuka Gori-san Raita Ryū1 - 525 Kimiyuki Shima Denka ("His Highness") Akira Onodera1 - 414 Taro Nozaki Chō-san ("Pops") Tappei Shimokawa1 - 520 Nobuko Uchida Shinko Keiko Takahashi1 - 111 Jun Hayami Macaroni Kenichi Hagiwara1 - 52 Jun Shibata Jiipan ("Jeans") Yūsaku Matsuda53 - 111 Jun Mikami Texas Hiroshi Katsuno112 - 216 Ryo Taguchi Bonn Jun Miyauchi168 - 363 Ryuichi Taki Scotch Masaya Oki217 - 244, 399 - 493 Hajime Iwaki Rocky Ryo Kinomoto256 - 519 Jun Godai Sneakers Shinji Yamashita364 - 476 Akira Saijo Doc Masaki Kanda415 - 718 Junji Takemoto RuggerToru Watanabe477 - 658Masayuki Hara GypsyKunihiko Mitamura494 - 545Hajime Kasukabe BogeyMasanori Sera521 - 597Toshizo Igawa Toshi-san Takeo Chii526 - 718Reiko Iwaki (née Hayase) Mommy Naomi Hase275 - 520 (semi-regular), 546 - 718 (regular)Makoto Sawamura Blues Seiji Matano 562 - 718Yu Mizuki Microcomputer Yoshizumi Ishihara 618 (debut), 623 - 718 (regular)Koichi Shimazu Duke Kenichi Kaneda 660 - 715Jun Dazai DJ Koji Nishiyama 706 - 718Hyogo Tachibana Keibu ("Inspector") Tetsuya Watari 706 - 718
Semi-regulars Yoko Machida as Takako Yamamura (Wife of Seiichi Yamamura) (1972–78) Kin Sugai as Taki Shibata (Mother of Jun Shibata) (1973–74, 78, 85) Takuya Fujioka as Samejima (1973–86) Akihiko Hirata as Nishiyama (1973–83)
Taiyō ni Hoero! Part 2 Character Nickname Actor Asako Tanamura Kakarichō ("Chief")Tomoko Naraoka Akira Saijo Doc Masaki KandaJun Dazai DJ Koji NishiyamaMakoto Sawamura Blues Seiji MatanoYu Mizuki Microcomputer Yoshizumi IshiharaReiko Iwaki Mommy Naomi Hase Taro Nozaki Cho-san Tappei ShimokawaToshio Igawa Toshi-san Takeo ChiiOsamu Kita Osamu-san Akira Terao
References