Gallery Fake - Season 1

A dealer asks $20 million Van Gogh's "Dorfstrasse at Sainte-Maries" from Fujita Reiji who offers only $2000 for the painting, claiming that it is a fake. Later, Fujita travels to New York with Sara Halifa to attend a Sotheby's art auction. At the pre-auction inspection, he encounters Mitamura Sayoko who accuses him of dealing with original art works on the black market.

Mitamura encounters Sara atop the Empire State Building and asks her about the van Gogh's "Sunflowers" painting which Mitamura, as the new director of the Tokyo Takada Museum presented to the museum one year earlier. The damaged phantom "Sunflowers" painting was believed burned and lost during World War II. Later, a woman from a wealthy Arab family asks Fujita to obtain the phantom "Sunflowers" painting on her behalf.

While waiting with Fujita to board an airplane at JFK airport, Sara complains of being harassed. Later, they meet Moretti of the Ufizi Museum, also on his way to the Renaissance exhibition at the Daito Museum with his 12 couriers[a] to transport the paintings, including Raphael's "Virgin and Child".

Fujita is arrested on suspicion of selling a fake Albrecht Dürer painting as real and so Mitamura is called as an expert witness and appraiser by the police. Although initially she believes the painting is a fake, a greeting card from Fujita with a copy of Kouhaku Hasegawa's ink painting "Shourinzu Byoubu" causes her to conduct further investigation and analysis.

Mohorito Chinen, a Head-Inspector of Cultural Assets, visits Fujita inquiring about the theft of a carved wooden Bodhisattva statue from a Buddhist temple in Nara. Intrigued, Fujita visits the temple where they see an old wooden Fudou-Myou-Ou statue carved from a tree. The old owner who believes Fujita and Chinen were sent by his son Akihiko who is after the property and resents his father for how he poorly he treated his mother.

Fei Cui switches the Hope Diamond with a fake while it is on route from the Smithsonian Institute to the Takada Museum. She then invites Fujita to her exclusive new Jade store and threatens to ruin Mitamura's reputation by revealing the fake unless Fujita provides her with his list of contacts in Tokyo.

A representative from the Rembrandt Research Project from Holland, Dr. Lastman, arrives in Tokyo. He pronounces that the Rembrandt painting in the Tokyo Takada Museum is a fake, horrifying the directors. Fujita offers to buy the painting at a discounted price but they refuse.

Schoolgirl, Tomomi Aonuma, is desperate to get into Shirayuki Girls Academy, but embarrassed by her bus-driving father who collects antique watches. She hopes that Fujita, whom she sees on the train daily, would impress the board if he was her father.

Treasure-hunter Ramos invites Fujita on a hunt for treasure along the Amazon river, and they are accompanied by Professor Yoshioka. They eventually find a complete Mayan city underground, but are captured by the villagers who plan to sacrifice Sara to their gods. However Fujita uses a dinosaur-like carving to activate a secret switch which releases the huge Pororoca tidal wave, into the underground cavern. While they are being swept underwater, they see what appears to be a huge pliosaur.

During the process of a robbing an emerald, Fei Cui encounters a young artist Hiroto who paints scenes from The Happy Prince. Later, she shows Fujita a jeweled bracelet owned by Sarah Bernhardt known as the Cleopatra. As Fujita leaves her Jade Shop, Sara angrily throws her cat at him in a fit of jealousy.

Fujita and Sara fly to Vietnam where he meets Ho-San who offers him an old camera, a 1965 Leica M3. It was reputedly owned by the Pulitzer Prize winning war photographer Kyousuke Kawaguchi who apparently died during the Vietnam War.

Sara is scheduled to fly from Mumbai back to Japan, but while Fujita is waiting for her at the airport, it is reported that the airplane exploded and crashed into the sea. He then meets Ali from the Kerabian Embassy who confirms Sara was on the passenger list. A week later, with no news about Sara, Mitamura visits Fujita and finds the apartment a mess and Fujita in a bad mood.

Fujita visits a remote old prison to view a fresco painted on a vaulted ceiling. He recalls many years ago when he was hired to assist the prisoner and tattooist Shimoda Tappei to paint a fresco on the ceiling. Known as Tatsu the Michelangelo, Shimoda immediately gives Fujita the unpleasant job of removing the old plaster in the oppressive heat of summer.

Fujita travels to Paris to purchase art works. Meanwhile Sara finds an unsent letter in a frame at the gallery and travels to Paris to meet up with Fujita and deliver the letter. Sara's investigations overlap with Fujita's business dealings and they discover that the letter was written around Valentine's day 20 years earlier by a man called The Clown, because of a birthmark on his cheek.

Mitamura visits an art collector and finds that he is dying. Dalem, a shady art dealer prepares to privately auction the Vermeer painting "The Concert" for his boss Leone. It was stolen 15 years ago, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Scotland Yard's Inspector Roger Warner disguises himself as the art collector Mr Peters to trap Dalem.

Fujita asks Sarah to collect an outstanding debt from actress Akiyoshi Masako who is about to star as Yang Guifei in her next play. She visits perfumer Jean-Paul Koumoto seeking more body fragrance pills and incense to infuse her clothing. The legendary Imperial Consort Yang Guifei was said to emit an extraordinary pleasant scent from her body.

Fujita visits his family's village and grandmother's grave after a long absence. He is asked to appear at a public hall "Treasure Appraisal Association", and reluctantly agrees.

A map store owner in New York refuses to sell his originals maps, only reproductions. Meanwhile, Fujita's old friend, the treasure hunter Ramos is down on his luck. The owner, while complaining about Ramos, the former lover of his daughter Marian, and rejoicing over framed pieces of an ancient map purchase, he collapses.

While Mohorito Chinen is admiring a Maitreya (Bodhisattva) statue in the Tengakuji temple in Iwate Prefecture, he accidentally breaks off a finger. He desperately calls Fujita to repair it, but before he arrives, the statue is sent to Kyoto for a festival by truck.

Souami, also known as Shinsou, was a watercolor painter during the Muromachi period, and served the 8th shogun of the [Ashikaga shogunate]]. In the present, a space shuttle carrying Japanese astronaut Sekine-Jun is about to be launched and he recalls the time years ago when he and Fujita studied art at college.

Sarah buys a watch from a young man in the street for 3 million Yen. When Fujita sees the wristwatch he makes Sara take him to the shop called Senjudou (Temple of a thousand hands) that created the watch. Fujita discovers an eccentric young watchmaker, Hakaru, who is going broke because of the few sales he makes.

In the past, the provincial city of Kamae flourished in steel-making, but it is now in decline and plans an art exhibition in conjunction with the Russian Hermitage Museum. Ekaterina Kalchnikova, called the "Empress of Hermitage" is dispatched as to curate the exhibition and promote a plan to make the Kamae museum Hermitage's Japanese annex.

Fujita agrees to spend a short vacation with Sarah at Sara's villa in London to escape the Japanese summer heat. While they are shopping in London, Fujita meets an old friend, Charlie, who works for Sotheby's head office. Charlie assumes that Sara is Fujita's wife or girlfriend, and she is hurt when Fujita describes her as "just a secretary".

The next day, as Sara considers Charlie's wedding proposal, Fujita investigates the Darwin herbarium pages. When he shows them to Charlie, Charlie realizes that they came from Jodrell Laboratory where Mary works. That night, they go to a casino which is reportedly uses as a meeting place.

On a rainy night, while sheltering from the rain, Fujita enters the basement Grain Bar. Meanwhile police arrive in a car and wait for backup. In the bar, there is only the owner-barman and a single female customer After sampling an aged Irish whisky, Fujita's eye is taken by a copy of Van Gogh's Chair.

A young girl named Elizabeth appears in Gallery Fake, claiming to be Fujita's daughter. Unsure about the story, Fujita takes Elizabeth back to his apartment, but that night, several thugs break into his apartment and abduct her. Using a key she dropped, Fujita collects packet left by Elizabeth which includes the diary of Antonio de Beatis in a railway locker.

Fujita convinces Carlos to help him rescue Elizabeth on the premise that a second Da Vinci Mona Lisa may exist. They try to rescue her by hot air balloon but fail and Fujita is shot in the arm. D'Avalos announces an exhibition of his paintings on board a boat, including the "Woman with a Pearl" by Carot which Fujita loaned him for his exhibition.

A group of art assessors evaluate a group of paintings reputed to be the work of artist, Saeki Yuuzou, and all but one, Jimi, agree that they are genuine. However the Tenryou City Council accept the works as original and prepare a major exhibition.

Fujita and Sarah are impressed by the performance and the clothing design of Haruyakko at a gay bar. Later, Haruyakko's father, the founder of the Kikushima haute couture design brand dies, and Haruyakko argues with his older brother Aiko about the design of the clothes which have become predictable, causing the brand to be in decline.

A wealthy man asks Fujita to acquire a prehistoric rock painting for a new restaurant. Fujita travels to the Sahara with Ramos but he finds that his local Taureg guide, Iksa, was murdered. However, Iksa's widow Assarama and Iksa's uncle Mohammad agree to guide them and they head for the Tassili n'Ajjer mountain range.

A representative from Kanto Jewels, Tomioka, is impressed by a Japanese painting hanging in Gallery Fake with a deep blue color created with azurite. His company has supplied azurite to the famous artist Sakakibara Nanzan, but can no longer supply it, and he asks Fujita for his source.

Fujita shows Sara a rare revolver music box. Later, Endo Takuto, the CEO of InterWorld receives a delivery of a revolver music box which explodes after he opens it. Suddenly, Fujita is taken in by the police as his fingerprints are found on fragments of the explosive device.

An old man is gunned down by a younger man in an elevator. Later, Fujita gives a lift to a hitchhiker while driving his truck to Akaoka city. Akaoka has the Ekin festival in July when the Kabuki paintings of Hirose Kinzō are shown. Stopping at a roadside diner, Fujita suspects they are being watched by two yakuza.

As the due date for a settlement of a 300 million bill draws near, Fujita is hired by a Brahmin to find a genuine murti of a Hindu god for a new shrine in India. Fujita accepts the job which will more than pay his bill. He travels to a Christie's auction in London to bid on a murti of Shiva and encounters the thief Fei Cui who has a similar intention.

Sara is despondent and angry when Fujita hires a young woman, Tsujido Luna. She wants to train as a painting restorer at Gallery Fake because of Fujita's high reputation. While looking at a repair problem of "art cancer", the formation of white crystals unique to Japan, Fujita discovers that Luna is the daughter of the famous restorer Tsujido Naoyuki who recently passed away.

Fujita and Sara, go on vacation in Hawaii where they meet a friend and famous painter, Stanley Capone. At his house they encounter Mitamura, but Sara becomes jealous of the interaction between Fujita and Mitamura. The next day, they out to play golf, so Sarah drives to Aozora City alone and buys an old kaleidoscope at a market.

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a party is held for sponsors of a Goya exhibition. The same day, Fujita visits Parker, an old colleague, and gave him some special glue for restoring Japanese paintings. In return, Fujita asks to be able to view the European paintings alone.