Shiomi Eiji is forced to become a single father when his girlfriend passes away while giving birth to their daughter, Shizuku. Desolate after the loss of the woman he loved, Eiji has little time or desire to even consider remarrying, working part-time jobs just to make ends meet. The one thing that gives meaning and joy to his life is Shizuku, but even that begins to trouble him when Shizuku begins acting strange, hiding her face by putting a cloth over her head when around other people. One day after opening his flower shop, Eiji comes across a blind woman standing by the door, taking shelter from the rain. When he invites her to come inside the shop, she at first refuses, but later gives in to Eiji's kindness. They become intimate friends and she slowly grows to depend on Eiji's sincerity and good heartedness. After rescuing her a following evening when she walks into the street and is nearly struck by traffic, Eiji himself inexplicably discovers the cold of winter that has saddled his heart all these years slowly melting away...

Rumi Kizaki enrols in a nursing program because she failed to enter a university. However, she does not want to become a nurse because she believes that she will not make a good nurse. While Rumi ponders over what to do, she continues her training in nursing. Along the way, Rumi meets new people and discovers new things about herself.

The 17-year-old Yatabe Mineko grew up in a family of seven in a mountain village in northeastern Ibaraki Prefecture. Her father Minoru has gone to Tokyo to work in order to earn extra money. However, her life completely changes when her father does not come back for the New Year. Mineko asks her family to let her go to Tokyo to find him and promises to send money home. In the autumn of 1964, she and two childhood friends Tokiko and Mitsuo are hired to start working at a small factory in Tokyo’s working class neighborhood. After work each day, Mineko searches for her father and gets disheartened at times. Mineko overcomes challenges and starts to lay down roots in Tokyo as she experiences many meetings and farewells amid the laughter and tears with regulars, people of the shopping street, friends, and colleagues. But will she be able to find her father?

Reiko Kuki is single, works in the accounting dept. for toy manufacturer. She lives her life frugally and hardly buys stuff that is not a necessity. A year ago, she found small dishes at a secondhand store and liked them immediately. And Finally, she makes the decision to purchase it for $15. She enters the store, but sees a man and woman buying small dishes at random. The man is Keita Saruwatari. His father runs the toy company where Reiko works. Reiko happens to be the person to advise Keita about money...

Ryōmaden is the 49th NHK Taiga drama. It was shown on NHK from January 3 to November 28, 2010 spanning 48 episodes. The story centers on the life of 19th-century Japanese historical figures Iwasaki Yatarō and Sakamoto Ryōma. It has been announced that the series will be aired in several other countries, for example Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.