As proved by the Japanese government's successful lobbying efforts to retain the "Sea of Japan" on international maps to signify the body of water that separates the archipelago from the Korean Peninsula (South Korea wanted to change it to the "East Sea"), the Sea of Japan has an important value to all Japanese. However, the western coast of Japan itself has a very dark, depressing image that is influenced by the generally overcast conditions one finds there year-round. Historically, it is also an area that tends to be associated with tragedy (most of the North Korean abductions took place there).

For that reason, the Sea of Japan coast is second only to Kyoto among favorite settings for Japanese murder mysteries, and this week, two new suspense dramas, both written by Takuya Nishioka, will be broadcast on two different TV networks.

This week's "Monday Mystery Theatre" (TBS, 9 p.m.) will present the ninth installment of Nishioka's "Manbiki G-Men Nikaido Yuki," which follows the adventures of a female security guard named Yuki Nikaido (Nana Kinomi). This time, Nikaido is dispatched to the hot-spring resort town of Wakura, Kanazawa Prefecture, where a large food market has been plagued by a rise in shoplifting. While Nikaido is there making a study of the problem, a corpse is found floating in the sea near the town, and her investigation ties the shoplifting incidents to a contentious divorce.