WORKS – 2022

Merry Christmas to you far away -Three Stories of Christmas Eve-
NHK BS1 49-minute program First broadcast date: Dec 31, 2022

How will we feel on this night of December 24, 2022? Amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, repeated conflicts and clashes, and the uncertainty of the future, billions of people around the world celebrate this night and pray quietly. This program is a documentary about people who left their home countries for various reasons and spend the night in Japan. Their reasons and length of stay in Japan vary, including refugees and migrant workers. Their appearances reveal the difficulties and hopes of our neighbors. The world has always been intolerant of people with different positions and ways of thinking, but at the end of the year, we quietly think about our neighbors.

[Directors] Hirotoshi Takeoka, Lee Sooyeon, Yuma Konishi
[Producer] Naoki Yonemoto

Magome Bunshi-Mura Fantasy Theater Festival 2022

“Magome Bunshi-Mura Fantasy Theater Festival” is an online theater project launched by the Ota Ward Cultural Promotion Association and the Yamanote Jijosha Theater Company to introduce the charm of “Magome Bunshi-Mura” which once existed in Ota Ward.  is participating in the video direction.

[Video Director] Naoki Yonemoto

“Chiyo and Seiji” by Yamanote Jijosha Theatre Company
Writer Chiyo Uno and painter Seiji Togo start living together on the day they meet. In fact, their seemingly scandalous encounter has hidden circumstances for both of them. However, their relationship gradually matures.

Japanese radio show “Hanamonogatari Gokko”
This work depicts the interactions between female students, based on the first chapter, “Lily of the Valley,” from Yoshiya Nobuko’s debut work, “Flower Story,” by the master of girls’ novels. It expresses the girlishness that exists in everyone’s heart through its mysterious worldview.

Seasoning The SeasonsVacant house
NHK BS Premium 59-minute program First broadcast date: Dec 23, 2022

There are approximately 8.5 million vacant houses across Japan. People are starting new lives and activities while making use of the memories engraved in these houses. A story of revitalization of vacant houses, where new connections and hometowns are born. The number of vacant houses continues to increase due to the declining birthrate, aging population, and depopulation, and the total number is approximately 8.5 million nationwide. But now there is new hope. In Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture, vacant houses are being used to open one after another, such as stores run by immigrants and offices of IT companies. In Nirasaki City, Yamanashi Prefecture, a former landmark commercial building has been renovated and the shopping district has been revitalized. In Iki, a former red-light district has been turned into a guest house, in Ishinomaki a former futon shop has been turned into a movie theater, and in Ibaraki a former supermarket has been turned into a religious facility for foreigners living in Japan. A journey around vacant houses across Japan, and stories of revival and regeneration.

[Voice] Takako Matsu
[Director] Tatsuya Sano, Kenji Nakamura
[Producer] Tatsuya Sano

Will your voice be heard? Secret footage of the 1969 Shinjuku West Exit Underground Plaza
NHK BS1 50-minute program First broadcast date: Nov 26, 2022

“Folk Guerrilla” was a major movement in which young people opposed to the Vietnam War gathered in the underground plaza at the west exit of Shinjuku Station to sing anti-war songs. The footage obtained by the program recorded the overwhelming enthusiasm of a crowd of 7,000 people singing and discussing. Based on this valuable footage, we interviewed people who were present at the scene at the time. How are the “voices” of young people being heard in the present day? This documentary intertwines the 1969 film with the people featured in it in 2022.

[Director/Producer] Tatsuya Sano

Sunday Art Museum: “My Friends, My Photos: My Days with Photographer Shigeo Gocho”
NHK Educational 45-minute program First broadcast date: Oct 30, 2022

“He was always conscious of the time he had left in his life, and lived his life in a hurry.” Photographer Gocho Shigeo, known for his casual portraits of family, friends, neighborhood children, and others. He continued to create despite physical difficulties, and passed away at the age of 36. 40 years after his death, amid a growing momentum for reevaluation, photographer Miura Kazuto, a friend of Gocho’s since their student days, attempted to print Gocho’s negatives in the summer of 2022. A quiet conversation between Gocho and Miura begins.

[Director/Producer] Toshimoto Uchida

Art Dash: Masahiro Motoki in Gold and Black
NHK BS Premium 59-minute program First broadcast date: Oct 1, 2022

Actor Masahiro Motoki, who has a unique sense of aesthetics, sprints around the country with his own legs and sensibilities. He sees and touches top-class artworks such as national treasures directly, not through glass, and unearths the source of Japanese beauty. The first installment is the bold and detailed world of beauty, the Rinpa school. He comes face to face with Ogata Korin’s “Red and White Plum Blossoms Screen” (national treasure), struggles with gold leaf canvases, learns from Tawaraya Sotatsu and challenges himself to apply ink, and has many conversations with cutting-edge contemporary artists. Masahiro Motoki sprints through art covered in gold and black!

[Director/Producer] Tatsuya Sano

『1/?』
(3) What is the 1/10 person? Who got married through online
NHK Educational 5-minute program First broadcast date: Sept 25, 2022

1 in 10. In recent years, the percentage of people who get married using online matchmaking services has been increasing. For men and women (aged 20-49) who got married in 2020, it was roughly one in ten. The members of “Showa Girls,” a group of five YouTubers, have experience using matching apps to meet people and find a partner. Among them, MANAMI, who is currently seriously looking for a partner, is using several apps to find a partner. The current state of society as seen through the numbers from “Nanbunnoichi.”

[Narration] Takashi Nagazumi [Hanaregumi][Director/Producer] Naoki Yonemoto

『1/?』
(2) What is the 1/100 person? Men who have taken parental leave for more than a year
NHK Educational 5-minute program First broadcast date: Sep 23, 2022

1 in 100. Is “parental leave” something that women take? The theme of this episode is “parental leave for men.” In Japan, one in seven men whose spouses have given birth take “parental leave (childcare leave).” The most common period is “less than two weeks,” with over half of the men taking parental leave. Meanwhile, among men who have taken parental leave, one in 100 take “more than a year.” The program follows a man who has taken a year of parental leave and is devoting himself to raising his two children and doing housework. His daily life gives us a glimpse into “Japan today.”

[Narration] Takashi Nagazumi [Hanaregumi][Director/Producer] Toshimoto Uchida

『1/?』
(1) What is the 1/30 person?
NHK Educational 5-minute program First broadcast date: Sept 23, 2022

1 in 30. The number of patients suffering from mental illness in Japan today is 4.19 million. In other words, roughly one in 30 people suffers from some kind of mental illness. We report on a “re-work program” where people who can no longer go to work due to mental health issues participate in order to return to work. We follow a woman who is worried about being unable to do the same things as other people. There are people around us who have various circumstances that we don’t know about. We unravel the numbers of “Nanbunnnoichi” and look at the diversity of this society in which we live together.

[Narration] Takashi Nagazumi [Hanaregumi]
[Director] Tsutomu Kawaguchi
[Producer] Naoki Yonemoto