Adopting a fun, high-energy approach to the study of a specific regional economy, this show focuses on local industries in Kyushu, the island located in the western part of mainland Japan. Foregrounding enterprising individuals and vibrant local businesses, each episode reveals how Kyushu is being revitalized by inventive technologies, imaginative new services, and ingenious new ideas.

The show introduces Kyushu companies and entrepreneurs who are tackling tough challenges and having a positive impact on their local communities. A wide variety of businesses are featured, with a focus on tourism, food, and leisure. Compelling slice-of-life footage abounds, with highlights including frantic bidding at a fish market and behind-the-scenes interactions at hotels and restaurants. Regional economics has never been so watchable!

Produced by TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting Co., Ltd., this series is ongoing. 25-minute episodes dating from 2023 onwards are available for sale, with new episodes being broadcast on a regular basis.

Mizuki Suginohara, a 14 years old girl called “Mi-chan”, lives in Omi Hachiman city and has Selective Mutism. She can talk with her family but cannot with others in public. In addition, she cannot even move when in a state of heightened stress. Although she ceased going to school when she was 10 years old, she suddenly showed an incredible talent for making sweets. Thanks to her family’s help, she opened her own sweets shop; Mie’s Sweets Factory. However, she is changing gradually as the shop is getting popular… She has a dream to make people happy with her cakes while her family wishes for her independence. This is a story of a girl with Selective Mutism, with which only one in 500 people is diagnosed, and her family.

56rd HOUSTON international film festival -Gold Remi Award
New York Festivals TV & Film Awards 2023 Silver Award

This program shines a spotlight on Japan's often-overlooked regional economies. For audiences only familiar with global brands, it offers something fresh and new: a peek into the world of local businesses, the unseen economic engines that power Japan. Probing behind the scenes into back office rooms, shop floors, farmer’s fields and other workplaces, it reveals an unsung universe of hard work and startling ingenuity, against a fascinating backdrop of everyday working life in Japan.

Exploring themes like tourism and manufacturing, Local Business Satellite covers industries ancient and modern, from soy sauce production to smartphone app development. Showcasing businesses dealing in local agricultural and marine products, it offers an overview of the nation’s regional strengths.

Over 150 episodes are available so far, co-produced from 2021 onwards by Nikkei and five regional TV stations headquartered in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Okayama. Production is ongoing.

At a time when Japan’s regions face population decline and workforce shortages, this documentary shines a light on the businesses in Setouchi that are defying the odds. Diving deep into the innovative companies driving the regional economy towards a brighter future, the series offers fascinating glimpses behind the scenes. In sequences that global audiences will find eye-opening, we watch udon noodles being made from scratch, eels being farmed, waste textiles being upcycled into uniforms, and all sorts of other operations being carried out with skill and passion.

Offering valuable insights into the secrets enabling local businesses to thrive, the show includes interviews from business leaders and explores cutting-edge solutions, delivering both inspiration and practical guidance for regional economic growth.

Launched by TV Setouchi Broadcasting Co., Ltd. in 2018, this ongoing series consists of 30-minute episodes, with new ones being aired on a regular basis.

A heart-warming, multi-award-winning documentary. Hibiki, a completely blind 12-year-old boy, is a fantastic drums player and is able to reproduce new music just by listening to it a few times. When he was two years old, Hibiki was diagnosed with retinoblastoma. Despite this harsh reality, he lives a happy life with his family in the “invisible world”.

-Won the bronze award of the New York Festivals 2020
-Won the Platinum Remi Award of the 53rd Annual World Fest Houston International Film Festival

The “factory” in the Tokai region of Japan is full of surprise!
The Tokai region is a major hub for manufacturing in Japan, but surprisingly little is known
About what, where, and how products are made. Therefore, the camera sneaks into the center of manufacturing, the "factory"!　Why did they challenge the development of that product? How did they become the world's No. 1 market share? What kind of wisdom and ingenuity are hidden in the proud factory? We explore factories with special cameras for powerful pictures such as super slow motion and also watch super craftmen’s divine skills and deliver unknown secrets of product development.
Here is a wonderful “world of manufacturing” that can only be seen here.

A real estate expert travels the world, showcasing dream properties both in Japan and overseas that people would love to call home, all presented in an entertaining variety show format.

Minyo is the traditional Japanese folk song based on daily life of local people and nature. Akita is said to be the treasure trove of minyo because more than 1000 minyo songs have been born there. It flourished in 1970s, but after the boom, the number of performers and fans has been decreasing. Also, COVID-19 gave another blow.
Teizo Fujimaru, from Akita, was the legendary player of shakuhachi, the traditional Japanese bamboo flute used in minyo. He survived the battle of Shumushu island and Siberian internment in the end of the second World War. Under harsh condition in Siberia, he continued playing shakuhachi to encourage his fellows. Why did Teizo take good care of his shakuhachi for more than 1000 days of extremely severe life? Yu Takahashi, a singer-songwriter from Akita, traces Teizo's life and thoughts.

Nishimonai Bon Odori is the traditional festival of Bon dance held every August in Ugo town, Akita. For over 700 years, the festival has been the purpose of life for the local people. In 2022, Nishimonai Bon Odori was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list as a part of the "Furyu-odori, ritual dances imbued with people's hopes and prayers."
From 2020 to 2022, the festival was cancelled or held with no audience due to COVID-19. This program covers the festival in 2023 closely, held completely with audience for the first time in four years.
Through this program, you can learn deeply about four important elements of the festival: dance, instruments, songs, and costumes. Also, you can see how irreplaceable for the local people the festival has been.

This is the winning work of the 61st Galaxy Awards for programs highly recommended.

Mocomichi Hayami, also known as Moco in his fast-selling cookbooks, is a prominent actor starring in “This Guy is the Biggest Mistake of My Life” and many other top-ranked Japanese dramas. The friendly hunk is also a serious chef, winning the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards' Japanese cooking category in 2013.

In this show, he drives his self-designed kitchen car to the gorgeous countryside of Japan to sample utterly fresh ingredients. He gets inspired by meeting happy locals and being surrounded by rich nature, all leading to creating original delicate recipes in front of the camera. Follow him around to enjoy the art of cooking.

Utano Aoi, 23 years old, works at a small design company in Akita as the new designer. She moved to Akita this spring from Tokyo.
She is struggling with her unaccustomed lifestyle since moving from the city to the countryside. But there is the reassuring presence for Aoi: Akita sweets! They are the only source of energy for Aoi.
This program is composed of two parts, drama and documentary. In the drama part, you can discover the attraction of Akita sweets through Aoi’s daily life at her unique workplace. The documentary part introduces the background story of famous Akita sweets.

Everyone’s first gift is from their mother. It is our "birthday" when we come into the world. However,some children do not know the date of their birth. The baby hatch anonymously accepts children whose parents are unable to care for them. It has been 15 years since it was opened at Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto City. Over these years, 159 children have been placed inside the hatch. Some of these children are conflicted because they have no information about their origins and no memories of their mothers. One of the children placed inside the hatch, Koichi Miyatsu, will turn 18 this spring. What kind of life awaited him beyond the hatch's door?

This series showcases a wide range of topics about Japan, from traditional craftsmanship to pop culture, modern technology, food, travel, lifestyle, and more.

It presents the audience with different aspects of Japan and its many well-known and lesser-known “Worlds” - from miniatures to space, aesthetic gardens to naked festivals, perpetual clock technology to quirky colorful bread - viewed and reflected from the unique perspective of Japanese and non-Japanese people alike.

All episodes are produced and broadcast for NHK WORLD-JAPAN, an international channel covering 160 regions and countries worldwide. This series aims to boost its global audience’s interest and understanding towards Japan and spark a desire to delve deeper to all things Japanese.

Internationally renowned, award winning, visionary, architect Tadao Ando needs little introduction. His unconventional designs shook off old orthodoxies and his iconic buildings can be seen in cities around the world. Shot in breath-taking 4K, this documentary allows Ando to speak directly to the next generation of architects and gives us a captivating close up examination of some of his masterpieces.

National Board of Regional Visual Industry Associations “Grand Prix 2022”

Okazaki City is located in the center of Aichi Prefecture. Okazaki City is famous for its unexplored and wonderful water.
Okazaki Shaved Ice Street is lined with stores where you can enjoy delicious shaved ice made with super soft water "Shinsui" and "Sensui". This documentary filmed shaved ice in high quality camera.
Shaved Ice Road - Revitalizing the town with the gift from the earth

This is an annual project held in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, to revitalize the town using shaved ice made from the famous local water.
The people involved in the event are introduced along with the beautiful and rich nature and its blessings.

The Nukata area stretches across the mountains in the eastern part of Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture.
In recent years, the area has been facing problems such as a declining population and an aging society, so the "Shaved Ice Project" was initiated by members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and has been held since 2018.
Nukata is blessed with "Shinsui" (divine water) and "Sensui" (sacred water), both of which are famous for their pleasant taste, and the shaved ice made with local ingredients has been very popular.

The program depicts in 8K ultra high-definition how the town revitalization born from the "Shaved Ice Road" is spreading, involving people outside the local community.

「全国地域映像団体協議会（全映協）」番組部門「最優秀賞（総務大臣賞）」


愛知県の中央に位置する岡崎市。岡崎市は秘境として素晴らしい名水が有名です。
超軟水「神水」「仙水」仕込みのおいしいかき氷が食べれるお店が立ち並ぶ岡崎かき氷ストリート。かき氷を高画質で撮影していたドキュメンタリー。

かき氷街道～大地の恵みで町おこし～

愛知県岡崎市で毎年行われる、地元の名水で作った“かき氷”を使った町おこしプロジェクト。
イベントに関わる人々を、美しく豊かな自然とその恵みと共に伝える。

愛知県岡崎市東部の山あいに広がる額田地区。
近年、人口の減少や高齢化などの問題を抱えるなか、商工会のメンバーの発案で“かき氷プロジェクト”を２０１８年から開催している。
額田は「神水」や「仙水」と呼ばれる口当たりの良い名水に恵まれ、地元の食材を工夫してあしらったかき氷は好評を博している。
番組では「かき氷街道」から生まれた町おこしが地元以外の人々も巻き込みながら広がる様子を８Ｋ超高精細映像で描く。

Japan's Omotenashi culture is renowned as "the world’s best hospitality”. In 2020, the number of traditional inns (ryokan) and hotels in Japan exceeded 52,000. Of all the accommodations in Japan, there is one long-established ryokan in Ishikawa Prefecture that stands apart from the others, voted Japan’s number 1 for 36 consecutive years.
KAGAYA. Kagaya has attracted guests from all over Japan and the world for over 110 years, to enjoy the best Omotenashi hospitality in the world.

A project has been launched to have six foreign residents living in Japan, undergo the top class Nakai (staff at ryokan who welcome, serve and attend to the needs of their guests) training at Kagaya. Over 100 women applied and six women were chosen. They are from the United States, Mexico, Spain, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, and Taiwan. How will the Japanese spirit of hospitality, Omotenashi be understood by these women?

The ten days of Nakai training at Kagaya is challenging to say the least. Wearing a heavy kimono is a struggle in itself. The spirit of Omotenashi dwells in everything, not only in etiquette, but even in a single greeting. We journey with these women from six different cultures and value systems and witness the empathy and conflicts that arise. While learning about traditional Japanese culture through Nakai training the six women realize that Omotenashi holds a different meaning for each person.

"Good memories are treasures of the heart, and creating treasures of the heart for our guests is the heart of hospitality.” - Bride & Pride

The genesis of this project is the daytime drama series "Bride & Pride," broadcast nationwide by Tokai Television via Fuji Television Network and distributed in more than 20 countries and regions around the world. Set in a long-established ryokan in Ishikawa Prefecture, the series depicts Japan's world-class hospitality, and the famous line from the show "good memories are treasures of the heart" is now recognized globally. What these six women have in common is the desire to create "treasures of the heart," just like the spirit that inhabits this drama series. Six women take on the challenge of training as Nakai at Japan's oldest ryokan. Through laughter and tears what do they discover in their search for the essence of hospitality?


“世界最高のホスピタリティ”として名高い、日本の「おもてなし」文化。2020年、日本全国にある「旅館・ホテル」軒数は、5万2千軒を超えた。その全ての宿泊施設の中で、「プロが選ぶ36年連続日本一」に輝いた老舗旅館が、石川県にある。その名も、「加賀屋」。創業110年以上の歴史を誇るその旅館には、日本一の「おもてなし」を堪能しようと、国内のみならず、世界中から多くの宿泊客が訪れる。
この日本一の旅館「加賀屋」で、6人の在留外国人が仲居修行に挑むプロジェクトがスタートした。100名を超える応募者から選ばれたのは、アメリカ、メキシコ、スペイン、ウズベキスタン、フィリピン、台湾で生まれ、現在は日本で暮らしている6人の女性たち。彼女たちにとって、日本のスピリットである「おもてなし」はどのように映るのか。
10日間にも及ぶ「加賀屋」での仲居修行は、簡単な道のりではない。重たい着物を着付けるのも一苦労。礼儀作法だけでなく、挨拶一つにしても、全てに「おもてなし」の精神は宿っている。6つの文化、6つの価値観。その中で芽生える、共感や衝突…。日本の伝統文化を学びながら、仲居修行を通して6人は気づく。それぞれにとって「おもてなし」は違うということに。
「良き思い出は心の宝　心の宝を作っていただくことこそ、おもてなしの心」
この企画の発端となったのは、昼ドラ「花嫁のれん」。東海テレビ・フジテレビ系全国ネットで放送し、世界20以上の国と地域で放送・配信されている。石川県の老舗旅館を舞台に、日本が世界に誇る「おもてなしの心」を描き、「良き思い出は心の宝」という言葉が世界中で話題となった。それぞれ文化も性格も異なる6人に共通していたのは、このドラマに宿るスピリットのように、“心の宝”を作りたいという思いである。日本一の老舗旅館で仲居修行に挑戦した６人の女性たち。時には笑い、時には涙し、「おもてなし」の真髄を探し求めた先で得たものとは。

Travelogue show to explore unique and eccentric accommodations located in far remote areas of Japan. These lodges are shabby and run-down looking but fully booked by tourists almost all the time. We explore why these odd lodges are loved so much. Three accommodations in different locations are featured. Aired in February 2020.