Konna Koi no Hanashi (こんな恋のはなし, A Story of Love) is a Japanese television drama starring Hiroyuki Sanada and Nanako Matsushima.
A Story of Love dealt with social issues including poverty in first world countries and class barriers in Tokyo.
Shuichiro Harashima (Hiroyuki Sanada), an upper-class and work-driven businessman, falls in love with Kaori Fujimura (Nanako Matsushima), a lower-class downtown sweetheart, and fights to save the doomed building in which she lives.
Rumored to be cold-hearted and cruel, his love for Kaori and his growing friendship with her brother-in-law, Konosuke Shimodaira (Koji Tamaki), change him into a kind and caring person.
Shuichiro Harashima is a cold-hearted businessman, whose only goal in life is to work hard and make money.
After his father died when he was a child, he inherited the Harashima Conglomerate, a large company with new plans to knock down homes in the poorer parts of Tokyo to build new ones for richer people.
He is powerful, cruel, merciless, and corrupted in his dealings at work, leaving him extremely lonely in his personal life.
His plans for the future are cut short when he discovers he has an advanced case of stomach cancer and will be dead within six months.
While at the doctor's office, he meets Konosuke Shimodaira, a local do-gooder whose big heart normally causes more trouble than it helps.
He takes him to a bar where Harashima meets Konosuke's friends Nakahata, who has a habit of lying and gambling, "Sensei", who is trying to get into law school, and Yosaku, who has very bad manners.
He carries on with his daily routine, including visiting the main Harashima store, where his father had started out.
By a strange twist of fate, he bumps into Kaori Fujimura, a poor, loving young woman who lives and works in the world ruled by Harashima.
His father died telling him that love was just in the mind, leaving Harashima cruel, cold-hearted and selfish.
Though he agreed to marry Mayako, daughter of a powerful politician, he wishes for it to improve his company's standing not for love.
Harashima finds out he is going to die in just six months and wishes to finish his work and seal the company safely before his death.
Kaori falls deeply in love with Harashima, as he does with her but they find it hard to be accepted by their friends and families as they belong to different classes in society.
Unlike Domoto who is greedy, merciless and thirst of power, Igarashi still have his humanitarian feeling in him and more prefer in emphasizing a Harashima Enterprises project which would give more benefit to the society.
This can be seen by Igarashi proposal of the new town project that will be built in an area where Konosuke and Kaori Apartment are located, but will also suited with the existing society who already live in the area and gave more benefit to them, without using any cruel method such as demolizing and ousted the existing society who already live there which Domoto more prefer method.
However Igarashi later-on work along together with Harashima and Hirano to oust Domoto and unveil his dirty business practice.
As his debts rose he was forced the ask illegal dealers for a loan, who later came back to haunt him and blamed Konosuke who had agreed to be the guarantor.
When Yusaku insults and has hostile feelings toward Kaori over her relationship with Harashima, he throws him out for not knowing how to treat a friend.
Later, Harashima returns to Konosuke in search of his watch only to discover that Nakahata has run away taking all the wages from the factory.
Much to their surprise, Nakahata then apologized and ask for forgiveness to The Stranger for stealing his watch and thanks him for paying off his debt.
Later-on while in the factory, Norihiko admit to Konosuke that his mother is terminally ill and that was the reason he is in a hugh debt.
Under the advice of Konosuke, Norihiko then left Tokyo to go back to his hometown in-order to accompany his terminally ill mother.
There Mayako admit that it was actually her father who send the servant to give Kaori the silence money and not Harashima.
Shinpei who's now confuse whether he should stay with his Father or go with his Mother, later-on ask both Kaori and Harashima for advice.
Kaori learns after overhearing Konosuke and Misao conversation that Harashima is terminally ill and only had three months to live.
Saddened by what she overheard, Kaori then went to Harashima House and told him that she is indeed love him very much no matter what happened, even if he's only had three months to live.
However Harashima was released early after agree to cooperate with the authority in-order to expose the corruption scheme.