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Season 1

  • S01E01 Into the Gray: Redemption of an Ex-Yakuza

    • April 12, 2024
    • NHK

    Morohashi Yoshitomo is a criminal defense lawyer based in downtown Tokyo. But he was once a yakuza. He believes second chances start in the space between black and white, between right and wrong.

  • S01E02 Jane Birkin: A Japan Love Story

    • May 10, 2024
    • NHK

    Artist and style icon Jane Birkin was devoted to empowering the survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Even after her passing in 2023, her legacy lives on in their hearts.

  • S01E03 Small Steps, Big Leaps

    • June 21, 2024
    • NHK

    In Japan, preschools are diversifying with more kids from international backgrounds or with complex needs, yet most daycare emphasizes the group over the individual. We see a space that is changing all that.

  • S01E04 A Final Lesson: Atomic Bomb Survivor Kajiya Fumiaki

    • August 2, 2024
    • NHK

    What if this was the final lesson you would ever teach? Atomic bomb survivor and former teacher Kajiya Fumiaki, age 85, prepares one last lesson for the children of an Osaka elementary school.

  • S01E05 Never Too Old to Work

    • August 21, 2024
    • NHK

    A Tokyo shutter manufacturer employs the elderly, which make up 30% of its staff. We take a closer look at this workplace where seniors thrive.

  • S01E06 Kintsugi: Repairing a Post-Quake Community

    • January 10, 2025
    • NHK

    Kintsugi mends broken pottery with gold. An artist is restoring earthenware damaged by the Noto earthquake, helping residents put the pieces of their lives back together too.

  • S01E07 Night School: Stoking the Fire of Hope

    • February 7, 2025
    • NHK

    In recent years, night high schools in Japan are admitting more students with international roots. We look at a school in Tokyo and a teacher dedicated to guiding his students toward a better future.

  • S01E08 Food for Life: Evolving Dysphagia Diets

    • March 7, 2025
    • NHK

    Many elderly Japanese have difficulty chewing or swallowing, and must follow soft, nutritional "dysphagia diets." Kawabata Eri is teaching caregivers how to make appetizing dysphagia-friendly dishes.

  • S01E09 Tokyo's Bobsled Factories

    • March 21, 2025
    • NHK

    Small factories in Tokyo are combining their expertise to build a new bobsled, with the goal of it featuring in the Olympics. We examine how the project is changing small-scale Japanese manufacturing.