Added to inquiry!
DOCUMENTARY

New Life Blossoms in an Old Village:
Seven Years of Struggle and Hope

DOCUMENTARY 2013 48 mins Episode(s): 1 English English
The aging of Japan's population is steadily hollowing out the country's agriculture.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, a struggling farming community in Ishikawa Prefecture called Sugaike began trying to attract young residents. Hiroyuki Yago is one of the people who came. He moved from Osaka to Sugaike in order to grow organic vegetables, but there wasn't enough farmland available to rent and he has trouble making a living. Nevertheless, the locals have accepted Yago as one of their own, and he intends to stay. By 2012, there were three new families in Sugaike; abandoned land began to spring back to life, and a local dance festival that had not been held for 10 years was revived. Yago was there at the center of the dancing, cheered on by joyful longtime residents.

This program chronicles seven years in the life of a young man, who wanted to start a new life in the countryside by joining a community that is trying to adapt to the consequences of Japan's aging, shrinking population.

  •  

    Ode to Joy: A Chorus for Life
    2008

    Gold Winner, Entertainment Category, 11th World Media Festival, 2010. It is summer in the hilly port city of Ootaru. The singing of the Ootaru Ladies Chorus group comes through the dusk from a room of the Minami Ootaru Community Center. They are absorbed in rehearsals for their upcoming 20th anniversary...
    more details
  •  

    Call Me Dad - In Search of a Treatment for Rett Syndrome -
    2020 55 minutes

    This documentary follows Tetsuji Tanioka over a period of 3 years, as he cares for his daughter with Rett Syndrome. A rare neurological refractory disease that occurs almost exclusively in females, the condition leads to regression in physical and linguistic ability. Worldwide, only one in fifteen thousand are afflicted and...
    more details
  •  

    A Glimmer of Hope
    2005

    Award of Excellence at the Media Arts Festival. With the traditional family challenged by growing society pressures in modern Japan, this drama depicts the conflict between a father and his children as each struggle to find their own way in life. The characters in the story come to discover the...
    more details
  •  

    Oshima and Jacques the Baker- Niihama, Ehime Prefecture
    30 mins

    [Beauty of Japan Season 2] Oshima is a small island on the Seto Inland Sea with a population of just 250 people. Swiss native, Jacques moved to the peaceful island with his wife Etsuko. He runs a small bakery and a farm on this remote island, enjoying a peaceful and...
    more details