The nominees for ‘The 39th International Emmy Awards‘ have been released today, with NHK’s epic special drama “Saka no Ue no Kumo” (“Cloud Above the Slope”) being in the run for ‘Best Drama‘ for the second consecutive year.

Three more Japanese can be spotted among the nominees, including…

• TV Tokyo’s “Shoe-Shine Boy“, starring Nishida Toshiyuki, for ‘Best TV Movie/Mini-Series‘,
• Fuji TV’s “The Nonfiction: Pure ni Dance IV ~ Tanaka-ke no 7 Nen”
  (“The Nonfiction: Family Meeting – 7 Years in the Tanaka Family”) for ‘Best Documentary‘, and
• WOWOW’s “Hajimari no Kioku ~ Gendai Bijutsu Sakka: Sugimoto Hiroshi”
  (“Memories of Origin – Hiroshi Sugimoto the Contemporary Artist”) for ‘Best Arts Programming‘.

NHK started broadcasting the first batch of episodes of “Saka no Ue no Kumo” in 2009, followed by a second batch in 2010. The long-anticipated final batch is scheduled to go on-air on December 4th, this year.

The drama portrays the life of the Meiji era, following the three protagonists, general Akiyama Yoshifuru, his younger brother and navy officer Akiyama Saneyuki, and the poet Masaoka Shiki. Those characters are being played by Abe Hiroshi, Motoki Masahiro, and Kagawa Teruyuki respectively.

You can check out the full list of nominees at the official site of the International Emmy’s.

The winners will be announced at the award ceremony in New York on November 21st.

Source: Cinema Today