the Ring (radio drama) - 1996. Exact running time unknown.

Yet another spin on the Ring story, this time featuring a popular DJ named Asakawa Toru (played by Furukawa Toshio) as its protagonist. The story begins with Asakawa doing a live broadcast when one of the staff members suddenly drops dead. Asakawa does some investigating and finds out that the staff member had watched a "cursed" video that supposedly kills its victims seven days later. An intrigued Asakawa begins investigating the tape, accompanied by a young assistant named Shimosawa.

Having never heard the drama for myself I'm hardly qualified to critique it, but one Japanese fan page states, "I haven't seen the movie version, but this [drama] was a fairly straightforward story that wasn't the least bit frightening."

The drama supposedly aired from 10:00-10:54pm, though it is unknown how much (if any) commercial airtime this includes. According to the deluxe movie guide The Sadako, the radio drama was released on CD in Japan by Polystar. Other sites, however, refer to it as a "CD Book" comprised of two CDs, and state that it was in fact released by Kadokawa Shoten (the same company that publishes Mr. Suzuki's novels). The ISBN number listed on Kadokawa's official site is 4-04-907038-3.

cast - ASAKAWA TORU: Furukawa Toshio. SHIMOSAWA: Horikawa Ryo