Plot Summary:

Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi enters Shirokin Gakuen Private School to become a math teacher. She's assigned as the homeroom teacher for class 2-4, populated by a gang of delinquents. At first, the class tries everything to rattle her cage, but to no avail. In a short period of time, Yankumi gains the respect of the class. But what the school doesn't know is that she's the heir to the Oedo Group, a powerful Yakuza clan. So while Yankumi struggles to excel in her career as a teacher, she must also keep her Yakuza background a secret.

Synopsis

Faito, oh!
The story of a young, idealistic teacher who enters Shirokin Gakuen with hopes of making a difference in the students' lives. However, Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) is in for a rude awakening when she finds that she will be the homeroom teacher of 3-D, the hardest class to maintain in the school. The students have multi-colored hair, sloppy uniforms, and show absolutely no respect to her. The leader of the class, Sawada Shin (Matsumoto Jun) is lazy but bright and shows some interest in Yamaguchi when he notices that she is very different from other teachers. The students try to bully her to make her quit, but their attempts don't get them very far.
What the class and the rest of the school does not know is that Yamaguchi Kumiko is actually the 4th generation heir to the Ooedo Group, a notorious yakuza clan. Even though her family would like her to take the title of Ojou when her grandfather dies, they have accepted the fact that Yamaguchi would rather be a teacher.
Eventually, the students learn to respect their quirky teacher because of her devotion to them, and even give her a nickname: Yankumi.

Cast

Nakama Yukie as Yamaguchi Kumiko (Yankumi / Ojou / Koumichou) (Math Teacher/Class 3D adviser)
Matsumoto Jun as Sawada Shin
Namase Katsuhisa as Sawatari Goro, Kyoto (School Vice Principal)
Utsui Ken as Kuroda Ryuichiro (Kumiko's grandpa / 3rd Generation Oedo Yakuza Boss)
Anan Kenji as Wakamatsu Hiro
Kaneko Ken as Asakura Tetsu
Uchiyama Shinji as Tatsukawa Minoru
Ryogoku Hiroshi (両國宏) as Sugawara Makoto
Oguri Shun as "Uchi" / Uchiyama Haruhiko
Waki Tomohiro as "Kuma" / Kumai Teruo
Narimiya Hiroki as Noda Takeshi
Ishigaki Yuma as Minami Youichi
Itoh Misaki as Fujiyama Shizuka (English Teacher)
Nakazawa Yuko as Kawashima Kikuno (School Nurse)
Nabe Osami as Ando Osamu (Social Studies Teacher)
Kohmoto Masahiro as Iwamoto Kouhei (P.E. Teacher)
Ookuma Ichirou (大隈いちろう) as Oyama Hajime (Science Teacher)
Tayama Ryosei as Shirakawa Gonzou (Principal)
Saito Satoru as Washio Kanji (Japanese Language Teacher)
Sawamura Ikki as Shinohara Tomoya (Police Officer)
Sakata Tadashi (坂田聡) as Kashiwagi Yutaka (Police Officer)

Class 3D

Kawai Jun (河合潤) as Kechi Jun
Kou Kohei (港耕平) as Imagawa Kohei
Okabe Hiroshi (岡部紘樹) as Uesugi Hiroshi
Kamiji Yusuke as Oishi Yusuke
Izumi Masayuki as Ouchi Masayuki
Kanazawa Koji (金沢浩司) as Oda Koji
Matsuzawa Ren (松沢蓮) as Gamo Ren
Kitamura Eiki as Shimazu Eiki
Sainei Ryuji as Senzoku Ryuji
Tomita Sho as Takeda Sho
Tomita Shigeo (富田樹央) as Chikamatsu Shigeo
Sasaki Hitoshi (佐々木仁) as Hazama Hitoshi
Hatakenaka Masafumi (畠中正文) as Hattori Masafumi
Furuhata Katsutaka (古畑勝隆) as Fujiwara Katsutaka
Nishikawa Yuya (西川祐也) as Houjo Yuya
Nagayama Hiromi (長山浩巳) as Hosokawa Hiromi
Morimoto Ryouji as Horibe Ryouji
Yashiro Shingo (八代真吾) as Maeda Shingo
Onodera Makoto (小野寺尊允) as Matsudaira Makoto
Matsuyama Kenichi as Mori Kenichi
Nishitani Mitsuru (西谷有統) as Yagyuu Mitsuru

Guests

Tanaka Koutaro as Watanabe (student of Ara High School, ep2)
Inoue Keiko (井上佳子) as the thief victim (ep3)
Asaka Mayumi as Uchiyama Sayuri (Uchi's mother, ep3)
Fujima Uchu (藤間宇宙) as Teradomari Yuichi (Class 3A, ep3)
Ooshima Youko as Teradomari's mother (ep3)
Kurita Riko (栗田梨子) as Morisaki Ami (Momoyuri Girls High School, ep5)
Handa Kento as the student from Jinguji High School (ep5)
Wentz Eiji as Yuki Masato (27th student of Class 3D, ep6)
Otsuka Yoshie (大塚良重) as Yuki Masato's mother (ep6)
Ohgo Suzuka as the younger Kumiko (ep6)
Sunaga Senju (須永千重) as Kumai Masako (Kuma's mother, ep7&11)
Nishioka Tokuma as Sawada Shotaro (Shin's father, ep7)
Ichikawa Yui as Sawada Natsumi (Shin's little sister, ep7)
Oki Naomi (沖直未) as Sawada Kyoko (Shin's mother, ep7)
Tawaragi Tota as Noda Takeshi's father (ep7)
Yamaguchi Shishi (山口詩史) as Mori Kenichi's mother (ep7)
Kobori Haruki (小堀陽貴) as Kawashima Yuuta (ep8)
Maeda Masaki (前田昌明) as Kawashima Kikuno's father-in-law (ep8)
Kishiba Ichiko (貴柴いち子) as Kawashima Kikuno's mother-in-law (ep8)
Tsukamoto Takashi as Kurosaki Yuji (Ex-Shirokin student, ep9)
Akiyama Natsuko as Sawatari Sachiko (Sawatari-kyoto's wife, ep10)
Higuchi Koji as Ijuin Toshihiko (teacher in Ei Sho Gakuen, ep10)
Tanaka Kei as Ono (student of Ei Sho Gakuen, ep10)
Musaka Naomasa as Kumai Kazuo (Kuma's father, ep11)
Yoshihara Saki (吉原沙貴) as Kuma's little sister (ep11)
Fukumoto Shinichi as Tachibana (writer of "Shukan Wednesday", ep11,12)
Kimura Yasushi (木村靖司) as Ito (photographer of "Shukan Wednesday, ep11,12)
Hiraizumi Sei as Sawatari Kentaro (Shirokin's director & Sawatari-kyoto's father, ep 12)
Matsumoto Rio as Wakaba (Hot Spring's attendant, SP)
Kaneda Akio as Uchi's future boss (SP)
Nonaka Isao (野仲功) as the store owner (SP)

Awards

33rd Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Actress - Nakama Yukie
33rd Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor - Matsumoto Jun

Trivia

Gokusen is an abrevation of Gokudo no Sensei which means Gangster Teacher.
Teruo Kumai is nicknamed "Kuma" (Bear) not only because it's a derivative of his last name, but also because he tends to look, act and eat like a bear.
In epi. 11, Yankumi confiscated mangas from her students. Two to three of those were Gokusen mangas.
The Graduation Special was aired 9 months later in March 2003 after the series ended in June 2002. All of the original cast were retained.
Season 2 was aired last January-March 2005, 2 years and 6 months after the series and 1 year and 9 months after the special. Some of the original cast were retained.