On the east side of Lake Biwa there's something simply known as "the bench." What goes on in the minds of visitors as they take a seat? We spent 3 days by this lakeside bench.

The Bench by Lake Biwa

Nature's Bounty at an Okayama Community Garden

“Rental Room” Life Story

The setting is a “rental room” inn in Beppu, a hot spring resort. Accommodation is inexpensive. There is no formal service. But its mysterious charm attracts people. The inn began by renting out rooms to hot-spring cure guests, but now it attracts a wide variety of visitors, including a person who has been staying in a room for three years, two women who came for a trip before giving birth, and a man who continues to travel alone. There was also a couple who came for a hot-spring cure for an illness. For three days, we listened to the voices of visitors and wondered what they were thinking when they stayed in the rental rooms.

A community garden in Okayama City is a popular spot for people from all walks of life to try their hand at farming. For three days, we watched the produce and relationships they grew here.

A discount women's clothing store in Ueno, Tokyo. The shop attracts customers for many reasons. We spent 3 days listening to their stories.

Ueno: A Discount Women's Clothing Store

Sweat dripping from the body at temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Celsius. This time, the setting is a long-established sauna. Located in Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, known for its towels and shipbuilding, it has long been a favorite of men working in factories. The style of the sauna, with its small talk and the owner's homemade cooking, is distinctly different from the recent sauna boom, and has remained unchanged from the past. A construction site worker who visits every Sunday with his friends, a former towel manufacturer who has been a regular customer for 20 years, and a man who has been a regular at the sauna since the Showa Era (1926-1989). This film focuses on the daily lives of men in saunas that have been around since the Showa period.

Ehime, Imabari At a sauna that has been in existence since the Showa Era

A drugstore in Tokyo's busy Shinjuku district sells medicine, cosmetics and snacks around the clock. Why do people shop there? For three days and nights near the end of 2023, we asked them.

At Shinjuku's 24-Hour Drugstore

Kerosene home delivery is a key lifeline for residents of Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture. For three days in midwinter, we followed trucks delivering this heating oil and spoke to people who rely on this service.

Kerosene Delivery Service in Snowy Sapporo

In the mountains of Fukushima Prefecture, there's an ice cream shop that people go to, even during winter. This shop has been with the locals for 3 decades. We spent 3 days listening to the stories of visitors.

Fukushima: An Ice Cream Shop in Winter

A 24-hour laundromat in Osaka Prefecture is a vital part of daily life for residents from all walks of life. For three days, we asked customers why they wash and dry their clothes there.

Spinning On at a 24-Hour Osaka Laundromat

Motsu stew, fried rice, stamina set menus, curry, and more. National Route 4 stretches north from Tokyo. The setting is a 24-hour drive-in along the road in Fukushima Prefecture. At first glance, it looks old-fashioned, but many people come here day and night. A man on his way home from Yamagata to Tokyo, carrying his belongings. A son who has joined the workforce and treats his parents to a meal. A man who has memories of his late father who was a truck driver. Each person's life path. Where are they all headed?

National Route 4, Drive-in Never Sleeps

A 24-hour supermarket in Osaka Prefecture is known for its brightly colored exterior and very cheap bento meals and prepared foods. For three days, we talked to people filling their shopping baskets here.

A 24-Hour Discount Supermarket in Osaka

It is close to Kagoshima Airport in the spring and the season of departure. Parents who see off their children who are leaving for work, friends who are separated from their children when they go to school, the airport at this time of year is full of drama. What kind of thoughts will everyone have in this place that connects large cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and remote islands such as Yakushima and Amami Oshima by air? For three days, I stared at the moment when the story of life was condensed.

Kagoshima Airport, In the Spring of Departure

Anime goods such as dolls, key chains, and badges. The story takes place in a store that buys these items. Located in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, the anime town, many people come here every day with something. Some people sell bags of their favorite characters because they have changed their favorite anime. Some are giving up their goods when they move far away for work. Others come to bring closure to their feelings. What kind of present can we see from the circumstances of each person parting with their favorite things?

A look at anime people in Ikebukuro in spring

There's a soba joint in Akita City that opens late at night until lunch the next day. All kinds of people come for drinks and food. Amidst the late March snow, we document this midnight soba shop.

A Midnight Soba Shop in Akita

An electronics retail store in Yokohama, Japan, has six floors filled with home appliances. For three days in spring, we asked customers what they came to buy in this season of new beginnings.

Fresh Starts at a Yokohama Electronics Store

In Asakusa, there is a mysterious underground shopping arcade that is said to be the oldest in Japan. Going down the stairs, one is in a different world. 69 years old, this old underground shopping mall is full of unique stores, such as a yakisoba noodle shop that has been in business for nearly 60 years, a fortune teller, and a barbershop. While some are long-established establishments, others are new stores opened by young shopkeepers. One wonders what kind of people come underground, away from the bustle and noise of the touristy streets. We spent three days underground.

Asakusa Underground

Banei Horse Racing" in Obihiro, Hokkaido, is the stage for this year's event. The horses are large horses that were once used for farming. This is a rare race in the world in which contestants compete for strength by pulling sleds weighing up to one ton. There are two mountains on the course. The horses stop to rest and regain their strength, while they diligently work their way over the mountains to the finish line. I wondered what people were thinking as they cheered on the horses as they pulled hard under their burdens over the course of the three days of the race.

Racecourse in the Northern Territories

Meatball soup, stewed tofu and crucian carp. This time the setting is Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China. It is a rented kitchen in a back alley. In fact, a large hospital specializing in cancer treatment is located nearby. Many of the people who use the kitchen are family members of hospitalized patients, and they cook meals here and bring them to the patients in their rooms. A mother makes vegetable soup for her daughter who has ovarian cancer. A young man quits his job and comes here every day to take care of his father. Cooking food that connects the lives of our loved ones. What kind of feelings do these people have as they prepare these dishes?

China Cancer Hospital, Rental Kitchen in the Back Alley

A ferry takes 16 hours to sail between Niigata Prefecture and Otaru, Hokkaido Prefecture. For three days, we asked passengers why they take this leisurely mode of travel when faster options are available.

Life Voyages on a Sea of Japan Ferry

The Nagara River is a clear stream that flows through the city of Gifu City. The river is also known for its cormorant fishing, which attracts many people to its riverside during this season. During the day, parents and children play in the water on the riverbanks, and anglers fish for big fish. At night, groups of classmates enjoy fireworks and friends listen to music. Many locals visit without any particular reason because of its proximity to the city center. It is a clear river that has been flowing near their lives for a long time. What kind of time do people spend here? A look at the days of early summer.

Gifu Nagara River, Watching the Current

A 24-hour gas station with prices that entice drivers from both near and far. From a couple who travels and sleeps in their car to a professional driver, join us as we listen to customers' stories.

A Low-priced Gas Station in Wakayama

What are the most popular Japanese manga in Paris today? The setting is a manga cafe on a street corner in Paris. It has 20,000 French-language Japanese manga. With a system similar to Japanese manga cafes, such as time-based rates and unlimited drinks, many French people visit the café every day. A graduate student visiting to relax after exams. Sisters who traveled 5 hours by bus. There are even people who say their lives were changed by encountering manga. This 45-minute program includes a ranking of the most popular manga!

Paris, France - At a manga cafe on a street corner

A huge "danchi" housing complex in Chiba is home to 7,000 households. Built in the 1960s, this complex is a community in itself. For three days, we asked residents about what life is like there.

Lives Inside a Huge "Danchi" Housing Complex

A public library in Kanazawa resembles a sublime theater and offers more than 1.1 million books. For three days, we asked people what books piqued their interest and how they spend their time here.

Beyond the Books at a Kanazawa Library

Gum, chocolate, candy and snacks are crammed into a penny candy shop in Akabane, Tokyo. What is the store's enduring appeal to customers of all ages? Explore the answer over three summer days.

A Local Penny Candy Shop in Tokyo

Up to 12,000 vehicles pass through a service area on Awaji Island every day. People stop for a break at the food court, observation deck or even the Ferris wheel. We find out where they're headed.

A Midsummer Service Area on Awaji Island

Inadani, Nagano Prefecture is home to a farmers' market which sells a wide array of vegetables, mushrooms, game and even edible insects. Explore local food culture and approaches to life in rural Japan.

A Farmers' Market in Inadani, Nagano

On the coast overlooking the Sea of Japan, there are twenty thousand graves. The stage this time is "Hanamigata Cemetery" in Kotoura Town, Tottori Prefecture. It is a natural cemetery that was formed before it, and its origins are not well understood. Every year during the Obon period, many people visit the cemetery. Each grave is lit up, countless lanterns are lit, and at night, a fantastic scene spreads only at this time of year. People who care for their dead families and ancestors and try to mourn. Look at the Obon of the huge cemetery on the mysterious seaside.

Obon in Tottori, at a seaside cemetery.

Tens of thousands of glasses are lined up in a glasses shop. There are a wide range of glasses, from attractive products with a cheap lens for less than 4000yen to fashionable items from overseas brands. Seventy percent of Japanese people wear glasses now that their eyes tend to be tired. People who want to change their image with glasses, people who have become old eyes, and various customers come. What kind of life can you see on the other side of your glasses? I looked at it for three days.

Why I Wear Glasses

A mobile food cart selling a traditional Japanese sweet has been plying the streets of Fukuoka for over 75 years. For three days, we talked to customers fond of a snack unchanged over the decades.

A Mobile "Warabi Mochi" Cart in Fukuoka

A shrine in Tokyo is dedicated to a deity believed to control the weather. For three days in fall, a season of fickle weather in Japan, we asked people why they wanted divine help for sunny skies.

Praying for Blue Skies at Tokyo's Weather Shrine

At a family diner, we meet customers of all ages, from solo diners to families and big groups. These diners' stories may seem ordinary, but all kinds of quiet dramas lie within these everyday moments.

An Everyday Family Diner in Tokyo

Bargain-hunters and people decluttering their homes flock to a huge thrift store near Tokyo. For three days, we asked customers what drew them to this place filled with an array of second-hand goods.

At a Huge Thrift Store in Saitama

From beginners to pros, this gym in Tokyo welcomes people of all ages and skill levels. Each member has a unique reason for training here. We find out what they're wrestling with in their lives.

A Martial Arts Gym in Tokyo

A national road winds through a rugged mountain range on the Kii Peninsula. We drove the length of this road over three days to meet some of the residents in this remote region.

A Winding Road Through the Kii Mountains

An unusual documentary series that delves into human dramas through chance encounters with ordinary people at selected spots. Filmed over 72 hours in a single location, the show captures glimpses into people's lives as they open up and share their stories.

The Bench by Lake Biwa

Seasons17

Season 15 Episodes35

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