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Documentary : People and History

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A Passionate Challenger | Masters of Their Profession |

SERIES A Passionate Challenger | Medical Innovator Revolutionizing Medicine with Virtual Reality

DC281867Documentary

医療イノベーター外科医・杉本真樹 [MBS]

|Length : 25 |Year : 2018

Like a scene out of a SF movie, surgeons wearing head sets study 3D images of organs that hover above the patient on the operating table. Then with precision accuracy, the lead surgeon removes the lesion. A futuristic world has opened up in the medical field with VR technology that was pioneered in games and entertainment. Naoki Sugimoto has applied it to develop a system that can be used in surgery. Named one of the winners of Apple’s Mac 30 – Thirty Years of Innovation in 2014, this medical doctor is in high demand throughout Japan, providing support as a surgical navigator in complicated cases, and also travels widely as a lecturer and advisor. Despite the challenges of making inroads in the medical field, especially in surgery, this medical innovator is fervent in his belief that “Japan is a breeding ground for VR medicine” and passionately continues his quest.

SERIES A Passionate Challenger | Master Chef of Fermentation Refining the Taste of Tradition

DC281866Documentary

発酵料理人・徳山浩明 [MBS]

|Length : 25 |Year : 2018

Near Lake Yogo in Shiga Prefecture, there is a little treasure of a restaurant named Tokuyamasushi where its owner-chef Hiroaki Tokuyama has devoted his life to the ancient method of “narezushi” - salted fish packed with rice and fermented to produce a uniquely delicious aroma and taste. Tokuyama is the guardian of the traditional local cuisine that dates back a thousand years, but he is also a pioneer, adapting a myriad of ingredients into innovative dishes, raising the art of fermentation to a whole new level. Connoisseurs from around the world seek out the hidden restaurant where reservations must be made months in advance.
For nearly a year, our cameras followed Tokuyama who thrives amidst the seasonal bounties of the woodlands. Using the delicacies from the lake and the mountains, Tokuyama has honed his technique and knowledge. Enjoy the wonders of “fermentation” which preserves and creates such exquisite tastes, and revel in the scenery of Japan’s yet-unspoiled nature.

A Record of Life in Minamata

DC281765Documentary

命の記録~写真家・桑原史成の水俣~ [RKK]

|Length : 24 |Year : 2017

Shisei Kuwabara, a photographer in Tokyo, organized a group photoshoot in the city of Minamata in 2016. The subjects of this shoot are Minamata disease patients and their families, around 40 in all. Mr. Kuwabara has photographed them continuously for the past fifty years and beyond.
Minamata disease is a central nervous system disorder caused by methylmercury poisoning via seafood contaminated by factory wastewater. Its victims were families of fishermen: the adults, their children, even their unborn children. In 2016, some of these fetal Minamata disease patients turned 60 alongside the 60th anniversary of the official recognition of Minamata disease. Some of the patients and families Mr. Kuwabara knew had passed away, or were bedridden.
Mr. Kuwabara wished to express 60 years of the Minamata incident in a photograph. To this end, he prepared past photographs of the patients and their families. Held by the group photo participants, each image harkens back to the effects of the incident and the emotions of its victims.
For the 80-year-old Mr. Kuwabara, this may be his final “shutter chance” in Minamata. How will he frame his subjects with their complex, often bitter circumstances? The present reality of Minamata comes to light through Mr. Kuwabara’s interactions with surviving victims and in his photograph.

The High School Aquarium that Brought a Town Back to Life

DC281764Documentary

高校生水族館 竜宮城があった町 [RNB]

|Length : 25 |Year : 2017

The town of Nagahama was once home to the first aquarium in all of Shikoku, one of Japan’s four main islands. Now it is home to an aquarium run entirely by high school students. The public high school’s small aquarium opens up for public viewing once a month. With roughly 2000 aquatic animals from both the sea and rivers, the public openings always draw a big and lively crowd. The animals are cared for by the aquarium club, a rare club for Japanese schools. As the club members care for the animals, they learn many new things, and in 2015, the club placed fourth in the world’s largest student science contest. Hearing this news brought back old memories and brought a new life to the townspeople, who began holding events and collecting signatures to revive the original aquarium. The town was transformed by the young high school students and set out to revive the original aquarium.

Reviving the Lost Folk Songs of Japan

DC281763Documentary

ニッポンのうた~“歌う旅人”松田美緒とたどる日本の記憶~

|Length : 47 |Year : 2017

Mio Matsuda is a “traveling singer” who has spent five years on a project reviving precious Japanese folk songs on the verge of obscurity. By visiting the landscapes that nurtured the songs, she aims to convey the regional lifestyles and sentiments of old-day Japan in her performances. A key resource for her is a folk art research center in Akita with archived recordings of 70,000 folk songs. In the program she introduces several such songs including “Yamago-uta”, sung by hunters in Akita in reverence of the mountains, and “Tokohai-bushi”, sung by seamen navigating the Seto Inland Sea. Her quest also takes her to Palau, where residents still sing a Japanese song titled “Lemongrass”. Written in Micronesia during the time of Japanese administration, the song expresses a sad romance between a Japanese man and a Micronesian woman, and as such it is a valuable testament to the sentiments of that time.

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