｜Length : 50min ｜Year : 2023 ｜

Me in the Mirror
Utako Seki, age 16, of Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture, was born with incurable spinal muscular atrophy. She can barely move her eyes and toes or breathe by herself, but she lives optimistically with the support of her family.
This is Utako’s story.
Although her disease has no cure, advances in medicine are opening up new treatment possibilities, and technological advances expand her capabilities using the slightest of movements. Utako has many dreams, and with her family’s help, she sets a huge goal.
Despite her disease, Utako’s brain developed normally. She loves storybooks and movies, so the idea for Utako to create an original picture story was born! Utako's family takes on the challenge of making it a reality, and their efforts attract many supporters. With their help, can her dream come true?
In her story titled Me in the Mirror, Utako dresses fancily and flies about freely while facing her reality.

｜Length : 50min ｜Year : 2023 ｜

74-year-old Kazuo Funabashi, the proprietor of a print shop in Aichi Prefecture, has suffered from cerebral palsy since childhood. He manages stairs, dressing, and shaving with the help of a caregiver. He was not expected to live beyond 20 years, but he lives happily, surrounded by his wife, two daughters, and even a grandson. The computer helps Kazuo to eloquently convey his thoughts and feelings, but he is unable to clearly vocalize his thoughts. Mizue, his wife of 45 years, supports him as his hands and feet, and even as his voice.

50 years ago, a CBC-TV camera crew filmed Kazuo as he and three friends with disabilities journeyed on their own to a distant hot spring inn. Back then, the negativity shown by the public toward persons with disabilities was much more pronounced than it is today. Despite this, Kazuo’s mother Yukiko encouraged her son to face the world.

This program presents the thoughts and the everyday life of this intrepid man.

｜Length : 55min ｜Year : 2021 ｜

There are only 11 doctors in Japan with hearing disabilities.

Doctor Ryuji Imagawa (34), who works in Mie Prefecture, has not been able to hear most sounds ever since he was born.
He admired Doctor “Black Jack”, a protagonist in a manga series when he was young. However, Japan’s Medical Practitioners Act stated that “anyone who is blind, deaf, or mute will not be granted a license to practice medicine”.
Still, in 2001, the act was deemed discriminatory, and the words “deaf person” was omitted. This became his turning point, which allowed his dream of becoming a doctor come true. Today, he has been working diligently.

Through following the daily life of Dr. Imagawa, who reads lips when inspecting his patients, we hoped to ask what is important in the medical scene as well as our daily lives, during a time of worldwide discomfort in the wake of COVID-19.

｜Length : 23 ｜Year : 2017 ｜

Isaac Newton, the scientific genius who discovered the law of universal gravitation, said“My best friend is truth.”
Since then, a number of researchers have put their own “truth” on papers.
They are called theses.
In this program, of the countless theses published to the world, we will introduce unique and innovative theses that may have even surprised Newton himself.
This talk show, hosted by Ryota Yamasato (a member of comedy duo Nankai Candies), invites the author of a particular thesis to the studio to dig into and find out more about their research and background story.
In this episode, we focus on Japanese youth culture.
Our guest this time is a researcher at the University of Tokyo, who studied “mori in photo sticker booths” that are popular among young girls.
She has quantified this “mori” for the first time in the world.
In addition, she has collected portraits of beauties throughout history to quantify their facial characteristics and investigate ideal faces admired by Japanese people.
What is the true value of Japanese culture found through her research?

｜Length : 48min ｜Year : 2015 ｜

Midday September 27, 2014, some 250 people at the summit of Mt. Ontake were caught completely unaware by a sudden and violent explosive eruption that sent volcanic rocks and ash raining down on them. Sixty-three people died or went missing that day in the single greatest volcanic disaster in postwar Japanese history.
Living with the possibility of a volcanic eruption is a fact of life for many Japanese people. Is Japan doing enough in the way of volcanic disaster awareness and prevention to keep its people safe? This documentary examines what went wrong at Mt. Ontake and explores issues with Japan’s volcano disaster prevention warning system.