Hi Viki! I have been getting hooked up with Japanese shows lately and I noticed that in VIKI we only have few of them and no new ones lately… Just throwing this general idea out there maybe a little birdie is listening and can make things happen.
I think the general reason is that Japanese dramas are not quite popular like e.g. Korean dramas. I don’t think Japanese dramas and movies are as popular as they have been and hence Viki does not want to use/waste time to get the license when only a few people are interested in the show. There could be many reasons, but I think this is the most likely.
If there are specific shows you want to be able to watch, you can fill out the Title Request Form and hope for license.
If you need “inspiration” or whatever I should call it, I recommend AsianWiki where it shows upcoming movies and dramas on the main page (even which month they will start airing - something which I think helps getting a better overview).
8 months ago, I asked for " 5→9 From Five to Nine" and here is the answer I got:
Currently, we aren’t involved in any content licensing for Japanese shows. 
However, we’re always trying to diversity our content!
If we are able to secure content licensing for Japanese shows in the future, we will let you know.
This is so sad!
From 5 to 9 is such an awesome J-drama and there are quite few others that came out in between 2014 and 2016 that are as pleasant to watch as that one. 
I wander why the aren’t able “to secure content licensing for Japanese shows”. I don’t think it’s only because of popularity. Is it possible that there are too little Japanese contributors on Viki? I wonder… Or is it that Japanese distributors do not want to have an online distribution?
I really don’t know how this things work and I’m just throwing in some supposition without any kind of back up, so don’t take them into much consideration.
We will have to wait. 
Recently, two Japanese channels have been licensed: “Jin” (first season) and “Jin Final”(second season). The two have complete English subtitles so I don’t think it’s a problem about a lack of Japanese contributors.
I find this very strange. Viki belongs to Rakuten that is Japanese. Logically, it should be easier to have Japanese content. Right?
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Perhaps the interest just isn’t there among Viki watchers/subscribers? I wouldn’t be against licensing Japanese shows but I’ll admit - of the 3 major producers (China-Japan-Korea)… Japanese shows have been the least enjoyable overall to me. I pretty much stay in the comedy section for Japanese stuff because any other style of show just leads to confusion and/or frustration.
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If you like Chinese and Korean dramas, I don’t see why you wouldn’t like the Japanese ones.
Especially when a lot of Japanese dramas have their Korean remakes. I am curious to know which J-drama you didn’t like.
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I also thought that with rakuten, we would see Increase of Japanese content… It’s sad cause there is a lot of good Japanese dramas. It’s really hard to find a legal site that has streaming rights for Japanese dramas. Viki would definitely have the edge if they can boast their Japanese content.
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I really wished that Viki could post more Japanese drama, especially I wish that viki could upload something with Gackt in it ^^ … ah so bad…
Im also not interested in getting a Pass if there is not more Japanese content on this page.
So please, VIKI, do something about it.
Even me, I am great fan of Japanese dramas. Yes there are some lame content out there, annoying leads and irritating production. There are some reasons why they aren’t very popular. but there are many interesting, cool out of the box dramas there. They need recognition. I have requested almost 10 Japanese dramas but I am not expecting anything. I am big fan of Asadora, Taiga based manga based dramas and even some murder psychological based stories. I know compared to Korean, Taiwanese, Chinese and Thai they aren’t popular.
But there is lot of potential to old Japanese dramas. People are craving for those contents which is rare to find but VIKI is uploading all simple and not the best ones. Please @VIKI if you upload them there is a high chance people search through them. I am waiting and trying best that you get them here on this platform. Don’t just run the hype of all drama platform. Unique content needs attention too. Please upload Asadoras it inspires lots of women out there to do their best. I overcame my minor depression due to it.
Please take this slightly seriously. I am expecting Japanese stories to reach out to many. Netflix Japan ain’t that great. I liked switched but I am seeing high potential in Asadoras and vintage dramas. I love 'CURSED IN LOVE. Please get it uploaded @vikicommunity
LIST OF DRAMAS I have requested for / would like to request for: (Not sure if they are unavailable or not on Viki)
Mare https://mydramalist.com/10919-mare
Cursed in Love https://mydramalist.com/58565-watashitachi-wa-douka-shiteiru
and the list of best dramas goes on(LINK LIMIT)… But this much work is enough for me expecting from Viki. At least these can do me way too good. Please Viki @vikicommunity
To my knowledge, there’s been only one Asadora licensed by Viki, but it was a classic, and one of my favorites. That was Sunshine (Ohisama). As you know, Asadora episodes are only 15 minutes in length, but the 156 episodes were packaged into 52 45-minute episodes. There are so many other great ones, but I assume that it’s not easy, or perhaps economical, to license these dramas from NHK. Anyway, I agree that it would be nice to see more and higher-quality dramas from Japan made available.
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why can’t Viki get more J dramas??