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DOCUMENTARY
I’m Taking a Little Trip to North Korea
2023
2023
2023 World Media Festivals Gold 2023 New York International Film Festival Silver 2023 US International Awards Silver The Repatriation Project saw nearly 93,000 people migrate from Japan to North Korea between 1959 and 1984. While the project was mainly aimed at native-born Koreans looking to return to their homeland, approximately 1800 Japanese wives also opted ...
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The Sake that Bonds – “Unite 311” A Sake of Gratitude
2021 46 minutes
Niizawa Sake Brewery and its long history were on the verge of ending after its facilities were destroyed in the Great Tohoku Earthquake of March 2011. At that time, though, workers from other breweries across Japan rushed to their aid. This documentary follows the owner and workers of Niizawa Sake Brewery as they attempt to ...
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Real Shots of Good – The Legacy of Tetsu Nakamura, M.D.
2020
2020
2021 World Media Festival Intermedia-globe Silver 2021 New York Festival Finalist In December 2019, Dr. Tetsu Nakamura was gunned down and killed in Afghanistan, where he had been providing humanitarian aid. During his 35 years working on-site, Dr. Nakamura did much more than provide medical care. He dug wells, built irrigation canals, and gave life-saving ...
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Colors in Japan
2021 25 min
Japan's landscape overflows with various colors from its four seasons. This array of rich "coloring" is presented in vivid 4K through the stories of traditional arts and crafts that symbolize the regions across the country from which they were born. Episode List (click title to preview): 1. Paint It Black! A Calligrapher's Challenge - Yamaguchi ...
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Rikuzentakata City: 10 Years in the Rebuilding of a Town from Zero
2021 49 mins
The city of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture had a two-kilometer stretch of shoreline covered with 70,000 pine trees that was ranked among the top 100 landscapes of Japan. On March 11, 2011, the city and shoreline were obliterated by the infamous tsunami which struck that day. This documentary follows the people of Rikuzentakata for 10 ...
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Chimugurisa ~Nanohana’s Okinawa Diary ~
2018
2018
Grand Prize at The Age of Regionalism Video Festival 2018 News program award winner at The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association 2018 Nanohana Sakamoto, a 15-year-old girl born and raised in northern Japan, came to the island of Okinawa to attend a free school, Sangosya Score. Through her interactions with elderly residents in the night course, ...
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A New Normal, A New Way — What happens when a theatrical team tries to revive a hot springs inn?
2020 24 mins
The president of an IT company purchased a Japanese hot springs inn that went bankrupt in January 2020. Unfortunately, its reopening was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new owner was also struggling to conceptualize a selling point to promote the inn. He recruited the creative talents of the theater world whose theater jobs ...
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At the Top of the Sky ~The Yarigatake Hut’s 100 Years Story ~
2019 104 min
In April 2017, Daisuke decided to quit his job at a major mobile phone company and become the 4th generation successor of the "Yarigatake Sanso" mountain hut located on one of the most renowned mountains in the Japanese Alps. From an early age, he was brought to Yarigatake by his father and always harbored dreams ...
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Trap Master Kunio Katagiri and His Secrets to the Finest Gibier
2018
2018
Kunio Katagiri is a master trapper and has been the legendary owner-chef of a gibier (wild game) restaurant for 45 years. Katagiri, who hunts all of his game meats by himself, never uses a gun. Instead, he uses homemade traps of his own design to capture wild deer and wild boar alive, risking severe injury ...
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ASEAN DREAM PROJECT 2019
2019 55 mins
Thailand and Malaysia, two countries which have never participated in the Soccer World Cup, are showing their newfound excitement. It has been predicted that the number of Asian players in the Soccer World Cup will increase from 4.5 to 8.5 in the future. In order to find and nurture the next generation of talented Asian ...
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Happiest Meal on the Mountains
2016 30 mins
This program takes a look at the famous anti-aging village in Nagano Prefecture, called Takayama. With its rich scenery and the villagers' methods of coexisting with nature, it has been recognized as one of the Biosphere Reserves (Eco Park) by UNESCO. This documentary follows the ordinary lives of its residents, and reveals the secrets behind ...
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Tracking the Snipe God -Two Stories of the Latham’s Snipe-
2017 55 mins
“Ojishigi” (the Latham Snipe) is a small bird that travels between Hokkaido and Australia. Through many years of study, it was discovered that they mate in Hokkaido during summer in the northern hemisphere and travel all the way to Australia to spend the summer in the southern hemisphere. But their migratory route has remained a ...
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Arita Ware Reborn -Beyond the Tradition of 400 years –
2018 25 minutes
The first porcelain in Japan was made in Arita-cho 400 years ago. The porcelain was named “Aritayaki”. In the late 17th century Arita ware was exported to Europe, and its technicality and beauty were appreciated. The process goes through different phases such as molding the clay and coloring it. the final step is to burn it at a high temperature. The way the Arita ware has been created has not changed during the last 400 years. Enjoy the history and craftsman technique in high definition.
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--> The first porcelain in Japan was made in Arita-cho 400 years ago. The porcelain was named "Aritayaki". In the late 17th century Arita ware was exported to Europe, and its technicality and beauty were appreciated. The process goes through different phases such as molding the clay and coloring it. the final step is to burn ...
Valens’s Return Home – A Rwandan Genocide Offender, 22 Years On
2017 49min
In 1994, the conflict between the Tutsi and Hutu lead to the Rwandan genocide where more than 800,000 people were killed. Now in Rwanda, a country with no capital punishment, offenders that were involved in the genocide have been released one after another after their sentences. Can they coexist with society? Their number has reached ...
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Discover Toyonokuni
2016 15 minutes
"Toyono Kuni" is how the people refer to Oita prefecture in Kyushu. Oita is known for its various food, nature, history, culture, and numerous hot springs. Take a trip around Oita through the lens of our 4K cameras and feel the beauty and rich culture of this region.
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Okinoshima
2017
2017
2018 World Media Festival Intermedia-globe Silver Okinoshima is not only an island of national treasure but also designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its beauty and history. This documentary expresses the beauty of nature on the island and the treasures found there, and also follows the lives of the many people close ...
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ISANA -Taiji Town in Turmoil
2016 46 minutes
Isana is a centuries-old word meaning whale. Our camera follows the Isana Fishery Union, a fishing group in the small town of Taiji, which is being fought by anti-whaling activists. These activists want them to stop the hunt that has provided their livelihood for generations. This documentary takes a look at the fishermen's point of ...
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Reintroducing Arita Ware to the World
2017 49 minutes
‘Aritayaki’ originates from pottery brought back and baked by Toyotomi Hideyoshi from Korea in 1616. This specific style of pottery has been passed down through many generations for over 400 years. This documentary shows the beauty of ‘Aritayaki’ and the history behind it. Check here to preview the program!
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World Cruise
2015 25 minutes
There are many beautiful seas out in the world, and this series will take you to many locations, such as the Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, Caribbean Sea, and many more, all in HD quality. Journey along as we take a cruise to some of the world’s most wonderful off-land locations.
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Deep Planet
2016 30 minutes
This series embarks on a journey around many locations in the world, exploring and discovering the history, culture, nature, and other aspects of certain locations. Join us while we visit places such as Hawaii, Spain, New York, Vietnam, New Zealand, and many more!
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Zuigan-ji (2016)
2016 48 minutes
Majestic Zuigan-ji Temple in northeast Japan is a national cultural treasure. Completed 400 years ago by the feudal lord of the region, Date Masamune, it’s famous as a lavish and glorious example of the culture of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (mid-1500s to 1600). The main hall is decorated with beautiful period-style art created by painters and ...
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Spirits of Spirit
2016 27 minutes
Do you like traveling around the world, seeking interesting drinks? Our documentary ‘Spirits of Spirit’ introduces the opening of a brand-new whisky distillery in Japan, owned by Hombo Shuzo. Their new whisky distillery stands alongside their old shochu distillery in Tsunuki.
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Tasha Tudor
2017 105 minutes
Tasha Tudor is one of America’s best author-illustrators of children’s literature. This documentary film features a humorous lifestyle full of flowers, animals, and heart-warming words for the future. The "mother of the slow life" provides you with a key to fully enjoying your life. Click here to preview the program!
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An Eden for Two
2016
2016
US International Film & Video Festival 2017 Entertainment Category Gold Camera Award After World War 2, Japan experienced an economic boom and became a wealthy society. One couple fought against materialism, choosing otherwise to live deep in the mountains without electricity, a telephone, or plumbing. This program shows how these two lived their lives in ...
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• It’s Wonderful to be Human! • Chimpanzees Disclose the Secrets of Evolution
2017 48 minutes
‘Ayumu’, a chimpanzee from the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University who has learned words and numbers, is able to memorize a large set of numbers in an instant and correctly choose them in ascending order. People young and old challenge this test, but no one is as good as Ayumu. What could this wonderful ...
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Amami – The Forest and The Sea
2016 28 mins
Amami Oshima Island is situated south of the main Kagoshima Prefecture area. It's in the middle of the Amami Island chain (eight island chain). The sea surrounding the island has clear, deep-blue waters. The brightly-colored coral reefs and tropical fish make for a fantastic diving site. The northern part of the island is a popular ...
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Dad’s War
2016 47min
“Warship-Musashi” is a nonfiction novel that was written based on many testimonies from those involved in the construction as well as those who survived the sinking of Musashi. One of the witnesses is Haruo Nomura. He is my dad. We knew very little about him. Born in 1921, he graduated from the Naval Academy and ...
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Yakuza and Constitution
2016 96 mins
Since the enactment of the Anti-Boryokudan Act and Yakuza exclusion ordinances, the number of Yakuza members has reduced to less than 60,000. In the past 3 years, about 20,000 members have left Yakuza organizations. However, the numbers alone does not explain the reality. What are they thinking? How are they living now? Our camera follows ...
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Melting Switzerland ~Saving the Swiss Glaciers~
2016 49 mins
The program is themed on “Glaciers × Science × Adventure.” We follow the latest research on global warming, as well as technologies utilizing “light” that have the potential of opening up the future of the planet. Switzerland attracts a lot of tourists every year, with its economy largely tourism-dependent. However, the situation is on the ...
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The Fall of Manchuria Began Here
2016
2016
2017 US International Film and Video Festival - Silver Screen 2017 New York Festival - Finalist For 70 years, three enormous Soviet Army bases remained undiscovered on the plains of Mongolia. The discovery of these bases supports speculation of Stalin's intent to invade Japan, completely overturning the Japanese Army's previously held conceptions of the Soviets' ...
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Behind “The Cove”
2015 52 min & 105 min
In 2010, THE COVE, a documentary about dolphin hunting in Taiji, Japan, won an Academy Award. The movie certainly brought attention to the whaling issue as a whole. But was the documentary entirely truthful? Did it portray both sides of the story correctly? Or was it a well-crafted story using sensationalised techniques - including hidden ...
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Finding 1984
2014 50 mins
"Nineteen Eighty-Four" is a masterpiece among science fiction novels that keeps influencing the world, including Haruki Murakami and Michael Moore, and significantly influences films, music, literature fine arts, and more. In 2014, 30 years after 1984, this documentary explores the subject matter as it relates to today's world and how proliferating technologies escalate the 'monitoring ...
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The Tragedy of the Mt. Ontake Eruption ～Living on an Island of Volcanoes ～
2015 49 mins
Midday September 27, 2014 — approximately 250 people at the summit of Mt. Ontake were caught completely off-guard by a sudden and violent eruption that sent volcanic rocks and ash raining down on them. Out of the group, 63 people died or went missing that day in what remains the greatest volcanic disaster in post-war Japanese ...
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The Onagawa Protect the Lives Association ~ A message for the next millennium
2016 25 mins
When the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, waves as high as 14.8 meters ravaged Onagawa Town. 827 lives, nearly 10 percent of the population, were lost and 70 percent of the town buildings were destroyed. However, with reconstruction, memories of the earthquake are slowly fading. The seventh graders of Onagawa Middle School decided to do ...
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Cherkaoui: Saving The World with Dance / The 41-Day Struggle
57 mins
Choreographer and dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is making an impact in the world of theater and dance with his original and innovative choreography and stage direction, becoming an artist whose talent is probably most coveted today. Cherkaoui will take on the challenge of an original stage production which he will be choreographing, and dancing himself ...
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Spin to Win: World Tournament
2015 30mins
This is the sequel to "Spin to Win: Japanese manufacturers spinning their way to the top". The national "Koma Taisen – Japanese spintop tournament”, which was begun by workers at small manufacturing factories, had gained popularity. In its 3rd year in February 2015, a worldwide “Koma Taisen spintop tournament” was held. In this tournament, 11 ...
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Railway Story: Travelling through the Revival of Tohoku
2014 50 mins
Do you think the whole area of Tohoku is still a stricken region after the catastrophic tsunami, and still a forbidden place due to the nuclear plant disaster? The answer is slightly “yes”…but mostly “no”! Although there are many problems to be faced, people of Tohoku are continuing their efforts to revive their beautiful land. ...
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Secrets of Kyoto Unveiled
2012 25 mins
Kyoto was the capital of Japan for 1100 years. Because of this, it is said to be the birthplace of Japanese tradition and culture. For both Japanese and foreign visitors, Kyoto holds a special allure. Although there are already dozens of magazines and TV programs introducing this ancient city, "Secrets of Kyoto Unveiled" will give ...
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Unmentionable Heroes -40 Years After the Vietnam War, the Truth is Revealed-
2015 47 mins
It’s been 40 years since the end of the Vietnam War, which was said to be the worse case of the quagmire of a war in the 20th century. Now, surprising facts are revealed. The footage of a tank crashing into the office of South Vietnam President was delivered all over the world to symbolize ...
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Just an Ordinary Family: 22 years of a married couple with disabilities
2014
2014
ABU Prizes 2015 TV Winner for Documentary Coverage that follows a severely disabled married couple from their marriage, giving birth, and raising their children, for 22 years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Akimoto have cerebral palsy. They got married in 1992 as they sought independence from their parents. Before long, the couple had two children. Child ...
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Field Mustard In the Sky ~Cycle of life in unique nature~
2012 48 mins
Tibetan Plateau is located in Qing Hai, an inland province in China. Beyond the altitude of 4000 meters, there is a vast land covered by field mustard. The area is so large that the distance from the northern edge to the southern edge is 40 kilometers long, and the distance from the western edge from ...
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The Message of the Ice Island: From the Frontlines of Global Warming, Greenland
2013 47 mins
In recent years, the thick ice on the world's largest island, Greenland, has been decreasing at tremendous speed and scale. The impact of global warming is suspected to be the cause. The Arctic is a region where the effects of climate change are most noticeable on the planet. The crew of HTB Hokkaido Television Broadcasting ...
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Patagonia
2015 55 mins
The sea is waiting to attack us. In the human working world, greenhouse gas emissions are increasing the average global temperature, causing the sea level to rise, thus threatening the land. When it comes to our future and global warming, time is running out. Most vulnerable to global warming, are “glaciers”. Last year, a crew ...
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Daring Attempt of Oystermen to Overcome Earthquake Adversity
2014 24mins
The oystermen on the Sanriku Coast of Japan suffered great losses in the tsunami caused by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. A good 90% of the oyster cultivation facilities in Miyagi Prefecture, nearly 12,000 of them, were lost. This program tells of men who are attempting to bounce back from this adversity through a new venture. The ...
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New Life Blossoms in an Old Village: Seven Years of Struggle and Hope
2013
2013
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 ...
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Memory of the World: Message from Sakubei Yamamoto ~A miner-painter’s link to the future~
2013 48 mins
At the age of seven, Sakubei Yamamoto entered a coal mine with his parents, and continued working at the Chikuho mines in Fukuoka Prefecture for the next 50 years. The mines were pitch black and humid, and the risk of collapse or flooding was never far behind the miners. After retiring, Sakubei found work as ...
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Zuiganji Temple, a National Treasure
2011 47 mins
Zuiganji Temple, a national treasure established by local lord Masamune Date, marked its 400th anniversary in 2009. Masamune was 37 when he began its construction. Masamune was so passionate about erecting the temple that he staked out the building site himself, and specially ordered lumber from the Kishu district. As we examined its history, some ...
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A Veterinarian’s Struggle in the Wetlands
2011 60 mins
Steller’s Sea Eagles in the far East are the largest migratory birds in the world. Every year, they travel from Sakhalin to Hokkaido to pass the winter. However, many of these birds face cruelty, even death, when confronted with different obstacles, such as wind turbines that spin at 300km/hour or electric polls that shock the ...
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The World Heritage Shirakawago
2003 55 mins
Tourists from all over the world visit Shirakawago, which was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The ancient dwelling places remain in Shirakawago despite the heavy snowfall, and people still live in the houses today. The program focuses on the beautiful four seasons of Shirakawago and the villagers' daily life.
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Tales of Hokkaido Heritage
2002 46 mins
The “Hokkaido Heritage” designation is given to tangible cultural properties and intangible assets selected by Hokkaido citizens as heritages that should be passed on to succeeding generations. This program focuses on 13 heritages, filmed over the course of a year. Rather than giving the same focus to each heritage, we consider how well each one ...
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Violated Sanctuary
2004 46 mins
Global Environment Film Festival Award. Listed in the World Conservation Union’s International Red Data Book, Steller’s Sea Eagles are protected by the Japan-Russia Migratory Bird Act. Although Steller’s Sea Eagles are also designated as a special natural treasure of Japan, they are now on the brink of extinction. The eagles’ breeding grounds are being destroyed ...
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Shiretoko Peninsula
2002
2002
2002 New York Festival Awards. Nature and Wildlife Documentary: Silver Medal Into the Sea of Okhotsk, off the northern Japan’s island of Hokkaido, protrudes the Shiretoko Peninsula. The severe nature of the peninsula deters human intrusion and development. With no roads reaching the edge of the peninsula, it seems more like a small island floating ...
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Shiretoko Peninsula’s Kingdom of Brown Bears
2003
2003
“Era of Local” TV Festival 2010 Grand Prize. Shiretoko Peninsula, Japan’s final frontier, is the last kingdom of brown bears where their life in the wild can be observed. Surrounded by the ocean, the Shiretoko Peninsula is densely inhabited by brown bears, which is proof that Shiretoko is blessed with abundant nature that can support ...
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Shiretoko’s Ice Floes
30 min
Perhaps it is the ice floes that have protected the natural environment of Shiretoko, Japan’s last frontier. This program features drift ice, mid-winter’s white wanderer that brings bounties to Hokkaido’s seas. Exploring beneath the ice, the mysterious lives of winter’s rare sea creatures have been captured here.
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Ms. Chii’s Little Band: Bringing Songs and Smiles to the Children of Cambodia
2012
2012
2013 New York Festivals Silver Award. In this program, a female teacher from Hokkaido travels to Cambodia alone to teach music at the country’s largest elementary school in Siem Reap. She reveals the struggles she encounters in her efforts to help her students. Chigusa Tanaka (33) is a volunteer for JICA’s Overseas Cooperation program, and ...
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Message from the Disappearing Drift Ice
2010 48 mins
Nominee of New Documentary Category in News Competitions at Monte-Carlo TV Festival 2011. Drift ice is a valuable natural phenomenon that arrives annually off Hokkaido's east coast. It delivers nutrients that create a rich ecosystem in the Sea of Okhotsk, and attracts many tourists to the region. However, global warming has caused drastic decreases in ...
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Love Letter to Japan: Those loved by Fosco
2004 52 min
Semi-Finalist at International Emmy Awards. Fosco Maraini, a cultural anthropologist, photographer, and world-class alpinist, first visited Japan in 1948. Despite the bitter experience of forced confinement in a war relocation camp, he revisited Japan after the war, hoping to discover the real Japan. Why did he love Japan? What part of the Japanese way of ...
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Laugh It Away and Say Goodbye
2010
2010
Winner of Best News Documentary at Monte-Carlo TV Festival 2011 Grand Prize at The Age of Regionalism Video Festival 2011 Grand Prize at “Era of Local” TV Festival 2010 Small and medium-sized businesses are the back bones of Japan that support the economy from the bottom-up. However, as work decreased sharply after the Lehman Shock, ...
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Into the Wasteland: A year in the disaster zone through the eyes of a Korean journalist
2012 53 mins
In this program, a Korean journalist reveals the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and the year following the disaster. He wants to know how the disaster area is being shown, and whether the South Korean media coverage is revealing the truth behind the recovery. Sung Yean Hwang (43), a journalist from South Korea, travelled to ...
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Tsunami Disaster: Heartache and Hope Through the Viewfinder – 49 Days of Life and Death –
2011
2011
2012 New York Festivals United Nations DPI Bronze Award. On March 11th, 2011, the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake of magnitude 9.0 leveled northeastern Japan. Kesennuma City of Miyagi Prefecture was torn apart. The subsequent tsunami and fires that broke out from fuel leakage led to 1,500 people dead or missing from this town. Shinichi Chiba, a ...
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A Journey on the Equator
2011 84 mins
In this large-scale travel documentary, Japanese popular actor Masahiko Nishimura reports on travel of countries on the equator for 3 years. Nishimura uses the equatorial line, 40,000km long, as a guidepost for his travels. Over 3 years time, he travels a total distance of over 120,000km--which is essentially the distance of traveling around the world ...
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Golden Field in China
2009
2009
Sichuan TV Festival Golden Panda Award. China has achieved remarkable development. One driving force behind its growing prosperity is a Japanese man who devoted his life to passing on his rice farming expertise bringing about an agricultural revolution in China. That man is Shoichi Hara, an agricultural engineer from Hokkaido. In 1982, at the age ...
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Everlasting Guitars
2010 60 mins
Naoto Odajima, a young craftsman who builds jazz guitars using Hokkaido wood, mastered his guitar-making skills in the US. He chose one of the coldest places in Hokkaido to build his workshop. Odajima was drawn to wood from Hokkaido trees, especially to trees that were given little value and considered poor quality. This program captures ...
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ENGAWA 1 & 2
2010
2010
Grand Prize at NAB Awards 2010. Japan has a large population that is aging rapidly. A Japanese woman's average life span is 86 years old, which has been at the top of the world record for 25 years. This documentary shows the life of four sisters whose average age is 90 years old. All of ...
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Costume Play Family Photograph
2009
2009
Grand Prize at NAB Awards 2009 / Local TV Festival 2009. The rapid economic growth in Japan during the last century has taken its toll on the health of family life. This documentary focuses on the "modern family image" in Japanese society, where family ties are becoming thin. Masashi Asada (29) is a popular photographer ...
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Bonds Born Through Football
2012 30 mins
Vegalta Sendai makes its home in Sendai, a city known for its greenery. In the sub-divisions of this club, 2 young coaches coach children in hopes of cultivating them into professional football players. These 2 coaches are Coach Kazunori Inoue and Coach Naoto Fukuda of the Sendai Vegalta Player Development Division. In January of 2011, ...
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Blowin’ in the Wind
2009 24 mins
A TV camera has been brought into a deep-sea tuna fishing boat for the first time in 30 years to film its 150-day activities. This program focuses on a young man who became a fisherman after being laid off by a leading automaker. Against a backdrop of economic depression and employment uncertainty, the meaning of ...
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A Kaleidoscope in the Evening Sky
2007 60 mins
Fireworks exhibitions are held frequently throughout the year in Japan. Mid-winter exhibitions are not rare. This program captures the enchantment of fireworks, including its history and culture, while interweaving a human documentary on a master pryotechnician. This program also visits Florence, Italy, the birthplace of fireworks, and searches for its historical depth in this world ...
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Village Kabuki Passed on by a Mentor
2012 30 mins
Kabuki became a part of Ina village culture in Nagano when it was first performed by travelers in 18th century Edo era. It became known locally as Nakao Kabuki, but was lost with the onset of war. Thanks to village youths and their elder mentor, the tradition was revived, and is now being preserved through ...
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Pyrotechnicians: Laying All on the Line for a Flash of Light
2012 30 mins
Yamazaki is a pyrotechnician who has won numerous accolades for his fireworks skills. All his time and effort goes into creating a flash in the sky that lasts just an instant. We introduce his intricate designs at the Tsuchiura All-Japan Fireworks Competition, one of the three biggest in Japan.
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Oni-kenbai: Prayer in Motion
2012 30 mins
The Oni-kenbai demon sword dance has been passed down from fathers to sons to grandchildren, with no additions or amendments for generations. Not simply a dance to pray for happiness, it's to ensure the spirits of ancestors of both dancers and viewers are kept alive, while driving away evil. This is the demons' gift they ...
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Marugame Fans: A Proud Tradition Faces New Challenges
2012 30 mins
Marugame produces 90% of Japan's total number of fans. Now plastic frames are favoured over bamboo as today's industry moves to low-cost mass-production. See how Marugame's treasured fan industry is taking on the challenge of creating modern fans that hold value as functional design and retaining traditional skills to pass on to successors.
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Food and Folkways in the City of Fish
2012 30 mins
Choshi is a long-established fishing town. By using catches not normally sold at the market, such as shark meat for fish paste and fish cakes, and preserved seaweed, Choshi has established a rich cuisine all of its own, which has sustained the community for many years.
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Dreams in the North: Ban’ei Horse Racing
2012 30 mins
Ban'ei is a one-of-a-kind horse race run in Obihiro, Hokkaido. Powerful horses pull sleds made of iron over sand embankments as they race to the finish line. The equine culture of Hokkaido tells the history of its pioneering era, and Ban'ei carries that proud tradition onwards today in the hearts of the people entranced by ...
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Believe in a Brighter Future: Nature’s Recovery after the Quake
2013 47 mins
The Great East Japan Earthquake devastated nature along the Miyagi Prefecture coastline. Will the rich ecosystems that once existed in the bays and estuaries ever return to their original state? A volunteer group is working hard to restore the tsunami-ravaged Gamo Tidal Flat, a wetland region which was once home to a treasure trove of ...
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A fish out of Seawater: Magic Water Changing the Future
2013 54 mins
Sea-dwelling fish swim in salt water, while others swim in fresh water. But there’s now an amazing ‘magic’ water that turns this idea on its head. Developed by Prof. Toshimasa Yamamoto of Okayama University of Science in 2006, it’s known as ‘the third water.’ It allows salt and fresh water fish to live in the ...
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732 days: The lives of 3 orphans post-earthquake
2013 24 mins
732 Days is a heart-wrenching account of the lives of Shohei, Naoki and Yuuki, three siblings who lost both parents and their grandfather in the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami disaster. Shohei, a university student, is determined to become the legal guardian of his younger brother and sister, and all three begin to rebuild ...
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