Season 12 (2023)

Stable Fishing Jobs Steer a Community
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January 1, 2023 • 25m

Over a century ago, residents of a port district in southeastern Japan established a cooperative that hires fishers as employees, ...Read more

A Float Artisan & His Muse
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January 15, 2023 • 27m

The Nebuta Festival, which features illuminated floats, is a tradition in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. But it wasn't held for 3 years...Read more

Magical Forest: Okinawa's Natural World Heritage Site
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January 22, 2023 • 50m

Yambaru in the north of Okinawa Island was registered as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site in July 2021. Its forests are home t...Read more

Soccer Team Raises Community Spirit
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February 5, 2023 • 25m

A small community in Niigata Prefecture is surrounded by beautiful, abundant rice fields, but its population is shrinking as young...Read more

Seeking a Chance to Learn: Students with Overseas Roots
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February 19, 2023 • 25m

In spring 2021, Shinji High School in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan, set up the first class in the prefecture solely for stude...Read more

Small Factory Reaches for the Stars
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March 5, 2023 • 25m

An aerospace project in Kyushu has brought together more than 20 local factories. Their grand plan is to launch 36 satellites. It ...Read more

Flying Like an Arrow
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March 19, 2023 • 25m

Yabusame is a traditional Japanese form of archery in which archers shoot arrows at targets while galloping on horseback. In north...Read more

Modern Methods Sustain Metalwork Tradition
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April 9, 2023 • 25m

A workshop in Iwate Prefecture has been making traditional Nambu ironware kettles for decades. After taking over the business from...Read more

A World Heritage Town: Past and Future
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April 23, 2023 • 30m

Omori Town in western Japan is located at the foot of the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, a UN World Heritage Site. It was once losing i...Read more

Hard Rain: A Village Divided
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May 7, 2023 • 26m

Across Japan, climate change is causing torrential rains and flooding. In response, the government is pursuing sweeping measures t...Read more

Bonding Through Soba: A Story of Four Grannies
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May 14, 2023 • 25m

In a small community at the foot of the famous Mt. Gassan in the northern prefecture of Yamagata, four women in their 80s work tog...Read more

Amashi: Japan's Freediving Fishers
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May 28, 2023 • 25m

The waters off Sadamisaki Peninsula, at the westernmost tip of Shikoku, are rich with large abalone and sea urchins. Amashi, or fr...Read more

Our New Classmate from Ukraine
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June 11, 2023 • 25m

Mariia, 12, fled the devastation of the war in Ukraine and now lives in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, with her mother and young...Read more

Waiting for the God's Crossing
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June 18, 2023 • 28m

An ice bridge rises up from Lake Suwa, connecting its opposite shores. Local people have documented this omiwatari or "the God's C...Read more

Mailing Letters to the Lost
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July 2, 2023 • 25m

In the woods of northeastern Japan stands the "Drifting Mailbox." This unique mailbox receives letters from family members to love...Read more

Kintsugi: Mending Memories with Gold
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July 9, 2023 • 25m

Kintsugi is a technique used to repair objects using lacquer and gold. In the mountain village of Yamanaka Onsen, Ishikawa Prefect...Read more

A Cut Above the Rest
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July 23, 2023 • 28m

Each year, aspiring barbers and beauticians from all over Japan display their skills in a national competition. Students from a re...Read more

The Final Journey
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August 6, 2023 • 25m

"The Car of Hope" is a volunteer project that helps terminally ill patients visit one last place that is special to them in their ...Read more

Life on a Sloping Farm
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August 20, 2023 • 30m

Nishiokada Haruki (82) and his wife Setsuko (75) live in the mountains of Tokushima Prefecture where they've farmed a steeply slop...Read more

A House-call Doctor in Fukushima
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September 3, 2023 • 27m

Eleven years after the 2011 nuclear disaster, Honda Toru, a doctor, moved to Iitate village, a disaster-hit area in Fukushima, det...Read more

A Song for a New Fukushima School
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September 10, 2023 • 25m

The residents of Tomioka had to evacuate after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident. As people gradually retu...Read more

Reviving a Fukushima Brewery
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September 24, 2023 • 25m

The people of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, had to flee their homes after their town was destroyed in the 2011 Great East Japan Ear...Read more

Japanese Paper Supports War-torn Ukraine
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October 8, 2023 • 26m

Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Awa washi paper was sent to Ukraine from Tokushima, western Japan, to help repair historical do...Read more

Egg Wars – Father vs. Son
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October 22, 2023 • 25m

Avian flu and the rising cost of feed have created problems for the egg industry. At a farm in Aichi Prefecture, a father and son ...Read more

Countryside Diaries
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November 5, 2023 • 20m

Fourteen years ago, Motoyama Saho left the big city and bought an abandoned farm. She built a house using scrap wood and has been ...Read more

A Heart-Warming Tokyo Veggie Stand
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November 19, 2023 • 25m

There's an unattended vegetable stand in the middle of Tokyo that draws more than 100 customers a day, supporting young people who...Read more

Sparking a Chain of Kindness
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November 26, 2023 • 28m

Ten years ago, a young student offered to help a man with limited vision ride the bus. Other youngsters have continued the traditi...Read more

Grandma's Hands Reap Nature's Bounty
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December 10, 2023 • 28m

On the Noto Peninsula in the Sea of Japan, winter winds buffet a tiny community protected by bamboo fences. We meet a woman in her...Read more

Inheriting a Thousand-Year-Old Craft
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December 24, 2023 • 31m

Ise katagami is the art of crafting stencils for kimono patterns. Now, the artisans practicing it are aging and their numbers shri...Read more