This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) .mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;padding:5px;border:none;font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .hidden-title{font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .hidden-content{text-align:left}@media all and (max-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .hidden-begin{width:auto!important;clear:none!important;float:none!important))You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (May 2019) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:フックブックロー]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template ((Translated|ja|フックブックロー)) to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Hook Book Row" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The talk page may contain suggestions. (December 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Hook Book Row
GenreKids
Variety show
Puppetry
Music
Opening theme"Aozora Shinkokyū"
Ending theme"Omoide Shoten"
"Monogatari wa Tszuiteru"
"Mashiro Page ni Nani Egakō"
"Akogare Azukuruma"
"Sora Iro I Love You"
"Hyōshi no Mukou wa Wonderland"
ComposersKeisuke Yamakawa
Takayuki Hattori
Country of originJapan
Original languageJapanese
Production
Running time10 minutes
Production companiesNHK Enterprises
Sony Pictures Television
Original release
NetworkNHK Educational
NHK World Premium
TV Japan (North America)
Syndication (United States)
ReleaseMarch 28, 2011 (2011-03-28) –
April 1, 2016 (2016-04-01)

Hook Book Row (フックブックロー, Fukku Bukku Rō) is a Japanese children's television program broadcast by NHK Educational TV. It is the 3rd NHK musical puppet variety show overall, the first one being Hotch Potch Station, and the second being Quintet.

Introduction

The show is centered around the ''Hibi Hanseido''. An old bookstore that resides around the outskirts of Tokyo. However, no one comes to the worn bookstore anymore, and visits are quite rare.

The show includes both puppets and humans and has a range of different genres of music, including original and covers of popular songs.

Program

Hook Book Row: Mini

A shorter 5 minute version of the original 10 minute show.

Characters

Kessaku Hirazumi (Kenichiro Tanimoto)
The only human in the show. His age is unknown. Kessaku works as a part time clerk at the bookstore, 'Hibi Hanseido'.
He has a kind-hearted soul but can be very indecisive at times. He is mainly friends with Shiori. He loves music and he dreams of publishing his own CD. he can play the guitar, the ukulele, and the bass. He's not very good at skating.
Shiori Novel (Fumiko Orikasa)
Shiori is the main female protagonist and is Mokuji's granddaughter. She is 21 years old and is in her 3rd college year. She always wears a red bow on her head at all times. She helps her grandfather's business by running the Hibi Hanseido online bookstore.
She wants to inherit her grandfather's business and turn the old, worn-down bookstore into a fashion complex, much to her grandfather's dismay. Even though she is usually sweet, she can be self-centered. She can play the flute and keyboard. She used to dislike Lyric, as she is more of a dog person, but does warm up to her and accepts her.
Noberu Novel (Ryūsei Nakao)
Noberu(Mokuji) is the owner of the Hibi Hanseido He is 70 years old. In the show, he is constantly called ''Mokuji'', as it is his nickname. He truly loves his store and tries his best at everything he does with it.
Even through he's very old, he's very energetic, flashy, and has a witty personality. He's a big fan of Western styled and rock movies. He's very good at playing hide-and-seek. He can play the accordion and electric guitar. He can also tap dance.
Goji and Datsuji (Hiroyuki Amano)
Goji and Datsuji are identical twins. They are both 23, currently taking their college exams, and visit the Hibi Hanseido every day in their free time. They both live in a large mansion, since they come from a rich family. They are both big fans of Shiori and operate a fan club for her.
So far, they are the only members. Even though they are both taking their exams, they both hate studying and Shiori has to encourage them both to study. Goji can play the sax and bass, and Datsuji can play percussion. Just like Mokuji, they can both tap dance.
Lyric (Rinko Urashima)
Lyric is an old gray cat that resides in the Hibi Hanseido. Her age is unknown, but it is implied that she is older than Shiori. She is loved by everyone in the store, except Shiori. She has the ability to talk, but only Kessaku understands her. She was once a stray, but Kessaku took her in. She longed to see the ocean for herself, so Kessaku took her while riding on his bicycle, but they had to delay it since they got a flat tire.
In a later episode, it is revealed that Lyric had a younger sister, but they were separated before Kessaku found her. She goes to the cats' meeting late at night.

Original Songs

The show features many original songs, written by Takayuki Hattori and composed by Keisuke Yamakawa.

Cover Songs

Along with the original songs, there were also covers of popular Japanese songs.

CDs and DVDs

CDs

DVDs

Production