Kora, Ikeuchi, and Uchimura Round Out the Organized Crime Division
Kengo Kōra (高良健吾), best known internationally for his role in Hirokazu Kore-eda's Palme d'Or-winning Shoplifters, plays Gojō Takafumi — an assistant inspector at the Shinjuku Minami Police Station's Organized Crime Division. Gojō works alongside Eiko across precinct lines, and while the two stations don't always see eye to eye, he harbors unresolved feelings about Eiko's past and actively cooperates with her.
Kōra said in an Eiga Natalie report that the script made him want to take on the challenge. "My first impression was 'I should play the role this way,' but I thought it might be interesting to break that approach in places," he said.
Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (池内博之), who Western audiences may recognize as General Miura in Donnie Yen's Ip Man, plays Inspector Kawakami Shūhei — Eiko's superior at the Ueno Central Organized Crime Division. Kawakami is no ally: frustrated by Eiko's repeated solo operations and rule-breaking, he petitions the station chief to have her transferred. The source material reveals a deeper tension — Kawakami knows about the case in which Eiko's husband Masaya and their child died, and he was the one who ruled Masaya's death a suicide and shut down the investigation. Ikeuchi, who holds a real-life judo black belt, described his approach to the role as prioritizing "the cool, composed, and enigmatic qualities Kawakami projects."
Sōta Uchimura (内村颯太) rounds out the new additions as Izawa Satoru, Eiko's junior detective. Izawa is described as a lighthearted, modern-sensibility character who gives the show's tense atmosphere some breathing room — though he's no lightweight, having been elite enough to join the Organized Crime Division in his twenties. Uchimura, whose background is primarily in stage work, called the role a dream come true: "I'd always told my fans I wanted to appear in a screen production, so it feels like a dream has been fulfilled."
What Is Yagami Eiko About?
The series adapts Akio Fukamachi's (深町秋生) novel series Soshiki Hanzai Taisakuka Yagami Eiko, published by Gentosha Bunko. The premise is blunt: Yagami Eiko is a detective in the Ueno Central Police Station's Organized Crime Division who doesn't hesitate to use violence against criminals and forges alliances with yakuza and Chinese mafia to pursue a deeply personal objective in the criminal underworld.
Meisa Kuroki stars as Eiko, with Ken Kojima of Aぇ! group playing Graniso, a Filipino hitman with exceptional physical abilities who clashes with her. Director Ryūichi Hiroki (廣木隆一) leads the project alongside co-directors Kōhei Kinomoto and Yūki Saitō, with Ureha Shimada on screenplay. Ikeuchi noted in his comments to Eiga Natalie that it had been 25 years since he last worked with Hiroki — and that the director still made him nervous.
The score comes from Wild Law Orchestra, a unit featuring Nobuaki Kaneko alongside Emma and Senri Tai.
Looking Ahead
All five episodes of Yagami Eiko -Ueno Chūōsho Soshiki Hanzai Taisakuka- stream exclusively on Hulu Japan starting July 24, 2026. Episodes 1 and 2 drop together on premiere day, with new episodes following every Friday.
International availability is the big question mark. Hulu Japan operates independently from Hulu in the United States — the two services split in 2014 when Nippon Television acquired the Japanese operation through subsidiary HJ Holdings. Content on one platform does not automatically appear on the other, and Hulu Japan is geo-restricted to Japan. No international streaming partner has been announced for the series. Whether the show eventually lands on a global platform remains to be seen.