The popular TV Asahi drama “The Travel Nurse” (ザ・トラベルナース) is set to return for a new season starting October 17, after a two-year hiatus. Starring Okada Masaki and Nakai Kiichi, the series will air weekly on Thursdays at 9:00 PM.

In the sequel to “The Travel Nurse“, Okada and Nakai reprise their roles. (C) TV Asahi

The original series, created by Nakazono Miho, the mastermind behind “Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon” (ドクターX〜外科医・大門未知子〜), first aired in 2022. It featured the dramatic lives of freelance travel nurses, who are not bound by traditional medical institutions or groups. These unnamed travel nurses travel across various cities, providing care to patients and their families, as well as support to other healthcare professionals. The show garnered impressive ratings, with an average household rating of 12.1% in the Kanto region (according to Video Research).

In this new season, the duo of Nasuda Ayumi (Okada) and Kuki Shizuka (Nakai) confronts the challenges of Japan’s increasingly chaotic healthcare system, exacerbated by a wave of “work style reforms.” With chronic doctor shortages and strict limits on overtime for both doctors and nurses, the healthcare scene is shrinking, and the team faces new battles.

Ayumi and Shizuka are now hired by Nishitokyo General Hospital (西東京総合病院), a core institution in regional healthcare that has long served the community. Following a scandal involving the former hospital director, a “clean and charismatic new director” is appointed, pledging to promote “correct medical practices and correct work styles.” This new director initiates organizational changes focused on work style reforms, including thorough task sharing, work management, and making medical practices more transparent. However, this new director emerges as “the greatest adversary of the season.” Eventually, Ayumi and Shizuka find themselves in conflict with the new leader.