KAMIKAZE: An Untold History
"一億特攻"への道 隊員4000人 生と死の記録
45 min. + 46 min.
45 min. + 46 min.
Description
What lay behind the mad "kamikaze" fervor?
On the Pacific front towards the end of World War II, Japan's imperial armed forces launched "kamikaze" attacks, or suicide missions by aircrafts laden with bombs. It was a mad operation with no hope of returning alive. But the nation went wild, and the attacks continued for ten months, literally until the very last day of war. About 4,000 crew lost their lives. How could this happen? Utilizing 15 years-worth of extensive interviews with both US and Japanese former military personnel as well as experts, combined with a detailed "hometown map" created from the data of each and every life lost, and the latest analysis of archival footage and documents, the program delves into the mechanism of how a crazed madness swept through an entire nation.
Production Year
3000万
We are decent people. Really.
Yuko works a dead-end job at a call center for complaints. Her husband Yoshimitsu is a one-hit wonder former band musician. Their son Junichi shows talent at the piano, but with money being tight, buying one is not going to happen any time soon; if at all. Then one d...
椀をつなぐ 輪島塗 職人たちの歳月
Back-to-back natural disasters. A centuries-old craft in peril.
Japan's Noto Peninsula was hit hard in 2024: an earthquake on New Year's Day, followed by heavy rains and flooding in September. Kitahama Kosaku, a lacquerware (maki-e) artisan in the region's famed Wajima-nuri tradition, wants more ...
あんぱん
The artist behind "Anpanman," a beloved superhero to the entire nation, and his wife. When he struggles to find meaning in life, she never allows him to give up on their dream. From their humble origins to surviving a world war, then trudging through the post-war era, adversity after adversity comes...
cocoon -- One Summer of Girlhood --
cocoon（コクーン）～ある夏の少女たちより～
On the 80-year anniversary of the end of WWII, an NHK film that aims to deliver a story about war that viewers of all ages can engage.
Based on Kyo Machiko's manga of the same title, acclaimed for its sensitive portrayal of war through the eyes of a young girl. The film's animation producer Taten...
Deciphering the Nasca Lines (w.t.)
はるかなる古代文明 AIで謎に迫る！ナスカの地上絵
What do the 300 newly found geoglyphs tell us?
It is one of the great archeological mysteries: who created the massive-scale designs of the Nasca lines, and for what purpose? The 300 newly found geoglyphs by the research team at Yamagata University may shed new light. Because so many were discove...
Decoding the Chinese Document Leaks
調査報道 新世紀 中国 流出文書を追う
China and a new-age cybersecurity threat?
In early 2024, internal records that appear to have come from the Chinese cybersecurity company i-SOON were leaked onto the internet. The records contained a list of a large amount of data that was believed to have been stolen from government agencies and...
Deep Ocean: Kingdom of the Coelacanth
[ディープ オーシャン] 幻のシーラカンス王国
How living fossils surviving in the deep sea
The team who first filmed the giant squid in its natural habitat in Legends of the Deep reassemble to set for the new adventure of capturing a living fossil, coelacanth. Dr. Iwata Masamitsu from Japan and Dr. Kelly Sink from South Africa have joined th...
Eat, Sleep, then Wait for Happiness
しあわせは食べて寝て待て
Good things come to those who wait—and eat right
Mugimaki Satoko, 38, single. Works four days a week part-time, lives frugally. After being diagnosed with an illness she "must live with for the rest of her life," Satoko has had to change her life drastically – quitting a full-time corporate job a...
FRONTIERS: Death from the Sky?
[フロンティア] 旧約聖書 滅亡の街の真実
Why did an ancient city see destruction?
The archeological site of Tell el-Hammam in Jordan, located near the Dead Sea, is said to date back to the Bronze Age. In 2015, the dig revealed a severely damaged floor of a building, as well as a layer of burnt bricks and other debris that measured over ...
へうげもの
Glory on the battlefield or glory on the tea scene?
During the turbulent Sengogku period when dangerous warlords vied for control of the nation, one samurai falls in love with tea ceremonies and art. Furuta Sasuke is vassal to the legendary Oda Nobunaga, who is battling his way to unify the count...
マイティーモンキー～日本に新天地を見いだしたサル～
Meet the real "snow monkeys"
The image of "snow monkeys" submerged in a hot spring as snow falls around them is iconic. These are Japanese macaques, the northernmost population of monkeys in the world. Highly adaptable, they are the only primates to inhabit environments that range from low coasta...
Mitateru-phose: Let's Change Perspectives!
みたてるふぉーぜ
The familiar world metamorphoses!
"Mi-ta-te" in Japanese means to see a thing as something else. The highly stylized program for children will stimulate your playful imagination to soar! What does this look like? There are no correct answers. The answers will be as many as there are people, and a...
グランパの戦争 従軍写真家が遺した1千枚
Unearthing a Family’s Wartime Past
Marianne Ingleby, a photographer living in the Netherlands, came across a trove of images that reveal an unknown chapter in her family's story, a series of uncensored photos that her grandfather, Bruce Elkus, took in Japan during World War II and the Allied Occu...
水平線のうた
A gentle tale of healing from the trauma of an earthquake-tsunami disaster
Ohbayashi Kenji is a taxi driver. He became one after the Great East Japan Earthquake, hearing the story of how the souls of those who died sometimes take taxi rides. But after 13 years, he has yet to see his missing wife ...
燕は戻ってこない
To whom does this "life" belong?
Riki Oishi is a hospital receptionist with a dilemma. A colleague tells her she can earn good money by donating her eggs at an agency for reproductive medicine. Riki is still conflicted as she visits Plante, but once there, is tapped to become a surrogate. Kusaoke...
舟を編む ～私、辞書つくります～
From fashion to dictionary!
Kishibe Midori, an editor at a popular fashion magazine, is abruptly informed that the magazine is folding and that she's being transferred to the Dictionary Department. Midori's life is turned upside down when she joins the department which is run by the hyper earnest...
正直不動産
Too much honesty has its drawbacks
Nagase Saichi will lie, lie, and lie through his teeth to close a deal. That's how it is in real estate, and how Nagase stays at number one in sales at Tosaka Real Estate. But one day, he breaks a small shrine at a new construction site and incurs the wrath of t...
東京サラダボウル
Scooping up struggling souls in Tokyo’s underbelly
Now home to about 700,000 non-Japanese, Tokyo is a veritable "salad bowl" where different languages, food, and cultures mingle. And it's a place where more than a few struggles to fit in...
Arikino Ryo is an interpreter for Chinese attached to t...
団地のふたり
A community worth belonging to
Noe ("Noechi") and Natsuko are childhood friends, born and raised in the same giant housing complex ("Danchi") that was built nearly 60 years ago. Sure, when they were young, each had a lot going on ― from marriage to success at work. Now, single and in their mid-fi...
べらぼう ～蔦重栄華乃夢噺～
The man behind Japan's Artistic Explosion and his fight for beauty and freedom
An epic biopic unveiling the chronicles of a man unbound by his low status or social conventions who became a pivotal force behind the cultural renaissance of 18th-century Japan by discovering the talents of Sharaku, U...
WILDLIFE -- The Arduous Path to Becoming Lion King
[ワイルドライフ] アフリカ 大サバンナ 密着1年! 波乱万丈 ライオン王者への道
For the first time ever—high-performance GPS technology helps reveal the startling behavior of young male lions on their long-term quest for pride and power. Mahiri's life of ease with his mother has been upended after being forced from his pride. Busara and his brother left their group and eke out ...
ドキュメント72時間
NHK's long-running popular series since 2006. Ranked No. 1 for viewer satisfaction.
‘72 hours’ is an extremely unique format of human-interest documentary. For the duration of 72 hours, cameras target and record a single location. There are no preconceived scripts or artificially ""created"" stori...
An Artist of the Floating World
浮世の画家
Who can tell where the lines are drawn?
Japan, a few years after the end of the Second World War -- Masuji Ono is an ageing painter of considerable renown, and retired life in his lavish mansion unfolds peacefully -- on the surface. But this seeming tranquility is broken when he is told that his ...
麒麟がくる
The Beast of Peace shall reign
In the 16th century, Japan was still fragmented and at war, with famed warlords wrestling for land and power. Akechi Mitsuhide is born into this world as heir to a minor lord. But as he is groomed to become a military commander, Mitsuhide yearns for nothing but peac...
チコちゃんに叱られる！
Co-viewing comedy show which challenges celebrities with child-like innocent questions which are often surprisingly difficult to answer. The quizmaster is an “eternal 5 year old” character named Chiko. She is half CGI, half costume voiced by a famous male comedian. Full of curiosity and hard to plea...
Rolling through Japan's four seasons
Due to Japan's immensely varied landscape and climate, this island nation developed unique cultural traditions. Many of these are world renowned, but many more remain hidden away deep in the countryside. The best way to discover these secret places—the real Ja...
ダーウィンが来た！
Began in 2006, Darwin's Amazing Animals explores fresh, engaging stories from the animal kingdom. Using the latest filming technology, each episode captures rare moments, and sometimes even world-first footage of animal behavior. The series is also characterized by Charlie, its mascot. Charlie jumps...
おやすみ日本 眠いいね！
A midnight program that puts the nation to sleep!
This is an unconventional, counter-intuitive television program, which aims to make viewers sleepy. It's a live talk show, where viewers write and telephone in about what they have on their minds and celebrities discuss these things in the studio....
I'll Still Love You Ten Years from Now
10年先も君に恋して
Have you ever wished you could change your past?
Have you ever wished you could change your past? Rika has no luck with men. She even has a suspicious man lurking around. The man suddenly claims that he is her future husband Hiroshi, who has time-slipped back from 10 years in the future to preven...
クイズ!丸をつけるだけ
All you have to do is simply circle the answer in the picture! (Don’t worry, the answer is ALWAYS there!) This is a new type of quiz show that anyone can enjoy. Participate from your smartphones and computers! Invite family and friends to join in! Have fun together while watching TV!
プチプチ・アニメ けいとのようせいニットとウール
Out of a shop window display come two yarn fairies, Knit and Wool! With a flick of a crochet hook, magical things start to happen. In the stop-motion animated world made entirely of knitted yarn, things are created then unraveled, then re-knitted into new things to everyone’s enjoyment!
Late Night Show with Nitty & Gritty
ねほりんぱほりん
People have their obsessions. Some have pasts. Many may not be "worthy" of mainstream television coverage, but we often read about them buzzing on social media. This show encourages and celebrates these weird, dark, niche, and definitely underground ways of life through a candid talk show using pupp...
いいね！光源氏くん
My roommate is a handsome aristocrat from another era!
One day, ordinary office worker Saori is dozing off in her room when a stranger in period costume steps in! What the...? But the good-looking intruder reminds Saori of Hikaru Genji, the playboy protagonist of a novel from Japan's Heian period...
忍たま乱太郎
Based on the best-selling comic series Rakudai Ninja Rantaro and broadcast since 1993, this ninja-in-the-making anime has become NHK's longest running series currently in broadcast.
Rantaro, Kirimaru, and Shinbei are far from being excellent ninjas. As they embark on their training at the ninja sch...
新・映像詩 里山
Nature is rich in blessings but can also be harmful to human life. People across Japan have been resilient, learning their lessons and passing them on for generations. Their countless efforts to cope with the harsh environment eventually created a world of bounty -- a world that's sustained by a del...
鎌倉殿の13人
12th century, Japan. Charismatic leader Minamoto no Yoritomo founds the Kamakura Shogunate, shifting the political powerbase from Kyoto to the east. Behind this military feat are thirteen vassals. But after the superstar shogun's death, a fierce power struggle erupts. The one out of the Thirteen who...
Tiny Tales: Stop Motion Shorts
プチプチ・アニメ
A collection of 5-minute stop motion animation shorts starring an array of characters! Enjoy the wonderful world of imagination and adventure that includes multiple international award winners! A must-see for children and adults alike.
[Titles]
Konigiri-kun
Knyacki! The Little Green Caterpillar...
グレースの履歴
Who was my wife, really?
Kikuo suddenly loses his wife to an accident. The only thing that remains is Grace, her car. Noticing that the navigation system has a history of her having visited places that has nothing to do with their life, Kikuo is worried. Was she seeing someone? He embarks on a ro...
彼女が成仏できない理由
A bittersweet romantic comedy of two "outsiders"
Aye Min is elated when he arrives in Japan from Myanmar to pursue his dream of becoming a manga artist. Then reality strikes -- finding an apartment he can afford! Aye Min finally stumbles onto an incredibly cheap flat, but its inhabitants prove to...
八重の桜
Sometimes following her dreams means breaking the rules.
NHK's famed Taiga drama series continues with the historical tale of Japanese heroine, Yae Niijima (1845-1932). Since Yae was from the Aizu Domain, which included the present-day Fukushima Prefecture, it is hoped that this tale of triumph o...