Japan's local elections in April featured a record number of female candidates. Ranked 116th out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index, Japan is now changing at the grass-roots level. We spent three months following two candidates: a woman in Ibaraki Prefecture busy raising children while campaigning on social media, and a single parent in Nagasaki Prefecture gathering local support. This documentary offers a rare glimpse of a local election system that has changed very little in decades, and what two women bring to that challenging reality. Will our two candidates win?

Women on the Front Line: 15% of Japan's Politicians

The Unknown Master of Restoration Episode 2

Prayers of a Thousand Years

The midterms are said to predict the next presidential election. Support for President Biden and the Democratic Party is starting to waver, and former President Trump's influence is strong within the Republican Party. We hear from senior citizens struggling with the rising cost of living in Oregon, members of Generation Z in Arizona, a famous swing state, and a family in Florida, shaken by the introduction of a law prohibiting LGBTQ+ education in schools. How will they vote?

Where Will Divided America Go from Here? US Midterm Elections 2022

The Communist Party of China rules the country's 1.4 billion people. At its 20th National Congress, held in October 2022, Xi Jinping was re-elected as General Secretary for an unprecedented third term. Why did so many Party members offer their support? We visit a regional Communist Party school to discover how training and guidance are used to reinforce loyalty to Xi and the Party.

The Red Way: The Making of a Third Term

Okinawa Prefecture is home to US military bases, and cases in which American servicemen abandon local women and leave them to raise their children alone are not uncommon. For 28 years, American attorney Annette Callagain fought for those mothers to obtain child support. Though Annette left Okinawa, she came back to help a woman who was separated from her Japanese mother soon after birth. We follow Annette in her efforts to give the women a voice and shed light on this social issue.

A Voice to the Voiceless

Volodymyr Demchenko has been deeply involved in the defense of his Ukrainian homeland in the years since the street protests of the 2014 Maidan Revolution. He has recorded a great deal of his part in this effort to defend Ukraine and sent dispatches around the world. His video diary of more than 500 hours offers a raw, up-close account of a kind not seen elsewhere and provides a glimpse of a nation's harrowing experience of conflict.

Why I'm at War

Bunpuku is a dog like no other who lives in a nursing home for the elderly in Kanagawa Prefecture. Whenever an elderly resident is in their last days of life, he licks their face and leans up against them. Owing to this behavior, Bunpuku is known as the mitori-inu, which literally translates to "dog who is present at one's deathbed." However, Bunpuku is not the only pooch at the home, as residents are allowed to bring their beloved dogs with them when they move in. The hounds provide company for people in the autumn of their lives. The relationship between the dogs and the elderly here is based on mutual affection, as we can see in this selection of footage filmed over a period of six months.

End-of-Life Guardians

Fukashima is a small island in the southwest of Japan that had a prosperous fishing industry until the early 20th century. But the population declined from 200 to just 13, far outnumbered by their beloved cats. Most remaining islanders were very old, and it seemed that Fukashima had no future until one young family decided to reverse the trend. With the first children to be born here in many years, Abe Tatsuya and Azumi are raising a fresh generation to inherit the island's culture, history and rich nature.

Raising a Family on Cat Island

There are artists devoted to creation, not for others, not even for themselves, but only for the sake of creating. This film looks at the life and creations of a man who rarely leaves home and never stops painting. Why do people create? Nishimura Issei (44) began making art when he was 19 years old. He left Nagoya and moved to Tokyo with a dream of becoming a musician, but mental illness forced him to return home. For the 25 years since, he has been in his room painting like the canvas was his savior. He almost never leaves the house and doesn't even attend his own exhibitions. This documentary records a year in the life of Nishimura; the cameras witnessing him create his art, a scene no one besides his family has ever seen. Astonishing works by a proud and solitary artist ask "What is art?" and "What does it mean to live in this world?"

Blues from the Obscure

Steve Jobs was a titan of tech. He masterminded the iMac and iPhone, and changed the world. He had a deep love of Japanese culture, from woodblock prints to ceramics, and the inner workings of electronics giant Sony. Here, close friends, colleagues and design experts shed new light on how this came to be.

Steve Jobs and Japan

Tokyo is famous for its wholly original street styles—launching various fashion "tribes" and "kawaii culture." Takano Kumiko, editor-in-chief of ACROSS, has been a witness to three decades of this constantly evolving scene. Her snapshots and interviews with young people in Harajuku, Shibuya and Shinjuku reveal a unique history of the world of Tokyo's vibrant street fashion. And her work goes on.

TOKYO SCANNING

Located just off the coast of China, the islands of Kinmen and Matsu are rich in history and culture. Long exposed to strong winds blowing from the mainland, the islanders have experienced the fluctuating modern Chinese history of tension and calm. In this travelogue documentary, we visit the islands in spring, and observe the people celebrating Chinese New Year with hopes for peace.

Taiwan's Windy Frontline Islands

Just eight days after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, an NHK program began recording the messages of survivors. The program continues to this day, offering people a place to express their hopes and fears. We follow up with the survivors we've met over the years, and hear from people who were directly involved with the government's reconstruction policies. We examine what "reconstruction" means now, 12 years after the disaster.

Voices of Tohoku: What We Want From Reconstruction

Kateryna Novytska is a Ukrainian caught between two worlds. Russia's relentless attacks threaten the lives of her family and friends back home, as she carves out a television career from the relative safety of Japan. Now, she's turning the camera on herself. This is her personal struggle, as she works out how best to help her war-torn country, thousands of miles away in a foreign land.

A Director's War: Fighting for Ukraine from Japan

A family and a village, documented over the course of five decades. Tsubayama in Kochi Prefecture, a steep mountainside village, is said to have been settled by a defeated samurai of the Heike clan some 800 years ago. There, brush-burning agriculture and mountain worship were carried on for centuries. But the population aged, and the village was abandoned. Three years ago, a man returned and began living there alone. He cut the weeds, caught wild boar, prayed to the mountain. Memories of past generations filled his life. Soon, other former residents began to gather in Tsubayama. What does one's home village mean to the Japanese? The story is told against the backdrop of the traditional Taiko Dance.

Return to an Abandoned Village: 50 Years in Tsubayama

Issey Miyake, the world-renowned clothing designer, died in 2022 at the age of 84. As a child, he lived through the dropping of an atomic bomb on his hometown of Hiroshima. It was an experience he rarely spoke about, but those close to him say it was one of the reasons he decided to pursue a career in design.

ISSEY MIYAKE: The Human Inside the Clothes

Dazaifu Tenmangu enshrines Sugawara Michizane, the deity of learning, culture and the arts. Exiled from the capital in the 9th century, he died an untimely death. Why was Michizane deified by later rulers? Why is he still embraced by so many today? The shrine's grounds have become a sanctuary for wildlife, adorned with beautiful trees and flowers, protected by those who honor Michizane. The shrine has gathered people's prayers for a thousand years, exuding mystery and charm alongside the vibrant colors of the seasons.

Mayuyama Koji is thought by afficionados of fine Japanese ceramics to have "hands of god" able to restore the finest vintage pieces to pristine beauty. As an artisan first and foremost, Mayuyama has never before shown outsiders the workings of his craft. He has allowed NHK to observe his work on an early Edo period porcelain horse valued at more than 700,000 dollars from the famous kilns of Imari in Saga Prefecture. Koji and his son Yu are also seen restoring a vintage platter from Arita in the same prefecture.

In 1994, Ukraine's leaders gave up a formidable nuclear arsenal. But the country is now mired in war. We follow one young man who asks his fellow citizens if they'd have been better off keeping what is often dubbed the ultimate deterrent. His grandfather advocated disarmament as a government minister. So did William Perry, the US defense secretary tasked with overseeing the dismantlement process, who reflects on his work now that Russia threatens to use the most destructive weapon of all.

Ukraine's Nuclear Dilemma

In 2015, novelist and playwright Yu Miri moved to Minamisoma City in Fukushima Prefecture and opened a book café and a small theater. In the summer of 2023, she decided to produce a play based on the effects on young people of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the nuclear power plant accident and COVID-19. She interviews local actors and high school drama club members about their experiences back then, and together they write and present the play.

Staging Shared Memories —Yu Miri and Young Fukushima Actors—

Two and a half years since Myanmar's coup d'état, its military maintains control of the government. Armed groups continue their long struggle for democracy, and amid tightening restrictions on journalism, some reporters are joining the front lines. Their cameras capture intense fighting that draws civilians into the struggle, and volunteer soldiers who continue to fight despite a lack of guns and ammunition. One independent media group has launched a top-secret project to develop information sources within Myanmar's borders. Meet the journalists risking their lives to report from the front lines, and the civilian volunteers battling to regain their stolen democracy.

On the Frontlines of Myanmar's Civil War

Filmmaker Yang Yonghi is a second-generation Korean resident of Japan. Her internationally acclaimed films have focused on her family, torn between Japan and North Korea. Her parents, activists in a pro-North association of Korean residents of Japan, sent Yonghi's three brothers to live in North Korea when they were still in their teens. During the decades of separation that followed, Yonghi has used her films to explore conflicted feelings about her family. Her search for identity continues, striking a tenuous balance of love, politics and history.

Walking a Tightrope: The Filmmaker Yang Yonghi

China enforced the One-Child Policy for 36 years from 1979 to 2015 in order to combat overpopulation. In it, any family having more than one child would be subject to harsh fines. Due to the status associated with male heirs, the policy led many families to give up their newborn daughters, ending up in international adoption. Now that over two decades have passed, those daughters have become adults, and many wish to be reunited with their biological parents. In this program, one such woman makes the journey to her homeland to meet her birth parents for the first time.

The Day I Gave Up My Daughter

Okinawa, Japan. Momoko loved the piano and attended a school that had one. Then the war arrived and she was drafted to work in an army hospital. Could she survive the war through the power of music?

Piano Girl

Matsubara Hidetoshi, one of Japan's last traditional falconers, resides in rural Tohoku with only the company of his birds. A sudden request by a young city-dweller may be key to retaining his legacy.

The Falconer's Legacy

Inmates at a prison in Japan record themselves reading picture books as a way to reconnect with their children. In the process, they make some life-changing discoveries about themselves.

Finding My Mirror

NHK WORLD PRIME brings you a world of mainly documentaries, and more. Tune in to see special select programs on all sorts of topics and genres.

Women on the Front Line: 15% of Japan's Politicians

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