The Akihabara district in Tokyo is known worldwide as a mecca for "otaku" or geeks. It's also where a number of girl groups dance and sing. The otherwise obscure "live theaters" where they perform have become major new attractions for the groups' wildly enthusiastic fans. But for these underground idols, the showbiz life is rough. They don't earn much. Rival groups are forever a threat to displace them. How old can the girls get before they lose their appeal? Yet they do not easily abandon their dreams.

Underground Idols

Dreams Bloom at Kochi Racecourse

Familyless Life Theater

The setting is a 24-hour flower store in Shinjuku Kabukicho, Tokyo. Who comes to buy flowers late at night and under what circumstances? An unfulfilled wish for a one-sided love. A thank-you note to a mentor approaching retirement. A surprise for his wife who is expecting a new baby. The graduation ceremony of a mother who has been studying on her own, or the parting of friends who have worked hard together to achieve their dreams. People live their lives today by entrusting flowers with feelings that cannot be conveyed in words alone.

Close contact: The Sleepless Flower Shop in Kabukicho

Shibuya Station in Tokyo is used by 3 million people every day. Overnight, the platform of the Toyoko Line, a private railway line, was moved from the second floor above ground to the fifth floor below ground. The platform, which has a history of 85 years, holds many memories. People watched the last train leave the station with cheers. It is a tribute to a time that will never return.

Farewell Shibuya, Kamaboko Station Building

A small, standing kushikatsu store that is attached to the wall of an underground passageway in Osaka's Umeda Station, it is always packed, sometimes with a long line of customers. The restaurant is always packed, and sometimes there is even a line of people waiting to get in. The customers, who are not related to each other, rub shoulders with each other at the counter, and soon become friends. They discuss their work problems, their families, and their hopes and fears for tomorrow. As their moods change, they are strangely empowered to face the challenges of tomorrow.

Osaka Kushikatsu Elegy

We closely follow the special three days that Yokosuka, a Maritime Self-Defense Force base, welcomes. In spring, most of the naval vessels gathered at Yokosuka base for the annual promotion examination. The 8,000 personnel do not hide their joy at being reunited and living ashore for the first time in a long time. From the submarine crew to the cooks who are masters at making curry, there are other reasons for the uplifting atmosphere. The day after the test, a “meet-and-greet” party is scheduled for 300 people. This is one of the few chances to get to know people of the opposite sex. Will you be able to meet the man of your dreams?

Yokosuka Air Base, Operation Matchmaking

Every year, 16 million people pass through Sapporo's New Chitose Airport, on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido. In spring, many dramas of greeting and parting play out as people come and go between the great expanses of the north and the megalopolis of Tokyo to the south. A surprise sendoff for a friend leaving to go to school in Tokyo. Tears flowing at the first big family reunion in 20 years. A foreign student's dreams for the future. It is a season of major life transitions.

Points of Departure: New Chitose Airport

The factory of a major manufacturer in Gifu Prefecture closed its 33-year history. At its peak, it had four thousand employees and had sent out products such as game consoles, but it ended its role in globalization. A skilled engineer who spares the heat of the past, a temporary employee who looks for a job from tomorrow. The end of the large factory will also completely change the atmosphere of the area. What do people think and what steps will they take in the last days?

In the City of Closed Factories

Hitorikara" is the art of singing karaoke alone. Recently, specialty stores have also appeared. At a 24-hour restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo, 48 private rooms are available, and on weekends there is a long line of people waiting for their turn to sing. What are they trying to get rid of by singing? Young people who want to sing enthusiastically without worrying about others. Housewives who are busy raising children or working part-time. College students job hunting or looking for a new job. This is a microcosm of repeated “struggles” of people seeking a place where they can be at ease and take a step toward tomorrow by singing.

Enthusiastic Singing! Hitori Karaoke

Near downtown Gion, Kyoto. There is a place visited by people from all over Japan who are troubled by their relationships. It is Yasui Konpira-gu Shrine, known as a "shrine for severing relationships. People who wish to break off bad relationships and take a new step forward write their thoughts on ema (votive picture tablet) and o-fuda (votive card). These include relationships between men and women, between parents and children, between siblings and other family members, and between people in the community, at work, and at school. From illness, injury, accidents, and disasters to computer and alcohol addiction, there are a wide variety of issues that confront us in our modern lives. What is the future that those who are confronted with bad relationships hope for?

Kyoto Engiri Shrine

In Japan's Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo, a patient died after being turned away by a number of hospital Emergency Rooms. Other patients have similarly been put in jeopardy; and even for minor ailments, treatment is hard to get after hours or during holidays. In response, a pioneering doctor has established an after-hours clinic, assisted by equally dedicated nurses. Working in shifts through the night, they cope with wave after wave of walk-ins and ambulance admissions. Other medical practitioners help out part-time; but the clinic is caught between a sense of mission and some harsh limitations. We observe their grueling schedule during Japan's annual Spring holidays in May.

Night Clinic: An ER of Last Resort

Got a PC or a smartphone? Media-sharing sites will let you stream live and interactively. It could be called "self-casting" and it's a whole world of its own. In a single day, via a single site, 100,000 people might be streaming in this way. What motivates people to participate in this form of social media? We go to an annual convention of these live-streamers near Tokyo, and then profile a number of "hosts" we encounter there. They're connecting via such sites with large and small circles of "friends" they might never actually see, let alone meet. It's a new kind of society.

The Live-Streamers: Interactive Webcasting

Ageo City, Saitama Prefecture, is a bedroom community about an hour from central Tokyo by train. A 24-hour family restaurant in a corner of the city never ceases to attract customers from early morning to late at night. Elderly people go there every day to eat alone. Some businessmen are enthusiastic about acquiring qualifications, perhaps because of the recession. Single mothers who want to give their children as many happy memories as possible. This film delves into the charms of family restaurants, a mysterious space where various lives intersect at back-to-back tables.

Kochi Racecourse once produced the racehorse Harurara, whose dedication to his sport drew sympathy despite a losing streak of more than 100 races. It is still a “sanctuary for losers,” so to speak, where horses released from racetracks all over the country end up. The people who come to watch the races also associate their own lives with these unknown horses. Some continue to visit the racecourse to inspire themselves while battling cancer, while others are looking for a fresh start in a place where their dreams have been shattered. The film listens to the voices of those who have not been defeated and who have met at the racetracks.

The round, dull eyes are disproportionate to the huge body. The way they drift humorously and leisurely in their tanks. The sunfish is a mysterious creature that gives one an unrealistic sensation when gazed upon. At present, Japan's largest sunfish, measuring 1.8 meters, is being bred and exhibited at Hakkeijima Island in Yokohama. Many visitors come from all over Japan to see it, hoping to forget, even for a moment, their busy lives. What do people think and talk about in front of the giant sunfish? What do people think and talk about in front of the giant sunfish?

In Front of a Giant Manbow

Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture. More than 100 victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake still live in an abandoned school in a corner of the city. They moved with the town office two years ago from Futaba Town in Fukushima Prefecture, where the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant suffered a serious accident. Although they cannot return to the town itself due to radiation, the town office has decided to relocate to another location in Fukushima. Will he go with them or stay with them? They are now at a crossroads. The residents of the town, who are mainly elderly, are in agony. This is a record of people who are far from their hometowns, but are searching for hope for their lives.

From the Last Shelter

When summer comes, people from all over Japan flock to Mt. Fuji. After the mountain was designated a World Heritage Site in 2013, the crowds swelled even more. The Yoshida Trailhead is one point where those going up and those coming down cross paths. Conversations with climbers reveal some of the troubles and joys in their lives. An office worker comes seeking a sense of achievement... A college student comes with prayers of finding work... A tapestry of human drama unfolds on the mountainside.

Climbing Mt. Fuji

The Shonan coastal region in Japan conjures up images of summertime, youth culture, fashion. We cast an offbeat video eye on an obscure but revealing Shonan location: a 24-hour coin laundry, during the rainy season. People stream in, clutching bags of laundry, mostly just to dry them. While they're waiting, most just relax. Some talk. Businessmen exhausted from their daily routine. People who have lost a beloved partner and now live alone. All of them are waiting for a spell of "clear weather".

The "Rain, then Fine" Coin Laundry

For a low fee, you can enjoy to your heart's content a spacious bath and massage room, as well as a place to eat and take a nap at this health spa in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. During the day, it is a social gathering place for the elderly. At night, it is a place for workers to stay after work. On holidays, families line up at the entrance from morning for affordable leisure. What kind of future do these people look forward to as they go about their daily lives? In late July, when the nation was in a state of excitement over the Upper House election, I thought about the “happiness” of the Japanese people at a 24-hour health spa.

The Happiness Theory of Healthland

The Airin District, Osaka. Here live thousands of male day laborers, many of whom spend their nights in rooms so small they have no storage space at all. So they rely greatly on cheap rental lockers to store their essential belongings and prized possessions. Each locker contains a condensed life: a narrative. We set up at a locker rental establishment, and ask the patrons to share parts of their life-stories with us during the Obon season, when most Japanese go on holiday to visit hometowns and family graves. For these men, home is in their lockers.

Home Is Where the Locker Is—The Day Laborers of Osaka

The Yanaka Cemetery is one of Tokyo's oldest cemeteries. The greatest number of visitors come during the Obon holiday in the summer, when Japanese traditionally pay their respects to the dead. But though they come in droves, they each mourn in their own way. Some have finally been able to spare a few moments from their busy lives to tend to a grave. An elderly man is seen speaking to his absent spouse as he pours water ritually over her tombstone. A young man recounts memories of his deceased lover in front of her grave. This is a space for conversations between the departed and the bereaved.

Yanaka Cemetery: Dialogs Between Death and Life

In August, a small town on the outskirts of the peninsula of Kagoshima attracted the world's attention. The launch of the state-of-the-art rocket “Epsilon” carrying a planetary observation satellite. The town was inundated with inquiries from early on about a tour of the launch site. The parking lot on the hill overlooking the launch site received more than 20 times as many applications as it could hold. Then came the day of the launch. People from all over the country rushed to the launch site in search of romance. Local residents entrusted their dreams of revitalizing their town. What did they see in the midst of all these mixed feelings?

Fly! Epsilon

Yoshimoto Kogyo attracts aspiring young comedians from all over Japan. They believe that they are the funniest, and there is a place where they are first sifted through the ranks. Every year in September, a three-day, two-night “mountain retreat” is held. Three hundred people, divided into buses, gather at a lodging facility in Shizuoka. The participants go through a curriculum that can be described as a “comedy immersion” program, aiming to be selected on the last day of the camp as the best of the best. While some emerged as standouts, others found themselves at their limits. This is a coming-of-age graffiti of people who bet on laughter.

Yoshimoto: Summer Training Camp at the critical moment

24-hour gyms are quickly gaining in popularity. Relatively inexpensive and open all hours, they're well-suited to busy modern life. A close look at patrons reveals many reasons why people want to tone their bodies. Some people must stay fit to keep their jobs; others need more strength to care for elderly parents; and some try to conquer something within themselves. This program examines the human motivations that bring patrons to the gym from early in the morning until late at night.

Personal Glimpses at a 24-Hour Gym

Outside Yokohama's main rail station is a 6-floor game center. New games come out all the time, but an old standby is a cash cow: crane games, accounting for 40% of revenue. From early morning till late at night, an endless stream of people pay to wage a fierce struggle with these cranes in an effort to win a prize. Overworked office workers, job-hunting college kids, independent students re-taking college entrance exams. What prizes do they seek beyond the prizes right in front of them?

The Game Center and the Prize Beyond the Prize

Osaka Station: a major transportation hub for Western Japan. One popular service catering to travelers there is a Ladies Powder Room. Women who have traveled long distances without any makeup on, or others on their way to or from work or hanging out, stop by here to freshen up. Makeup can be thought of as superficial, but these women's ultimate concerns-work, love, their futures-are hardly trivial. So what are their present circumstances, and what is on their minds?

The Makeup Room

There is a street person who is said to have no one in the center of Hiroshima who is said to be unknown. His name was "Hiroshima Taro." God's demons are dead. He runs through the city on a bicycle to wear a flashy costume. It is said that many people are given "healing" and "encouragement" by their mysterious appearance and words and actions. What kind of person is Hiroshima Taro? Why are the people of Hiroshima attracted to him? I listened to the hearts of people living in regional cities while following the footsteps of one person.

In Search of Hiroshima Taro

Hitchhiking on the sea" is a way of traveling through the Seto Inland Sea by boat only. The starting point is Shodoshima Island, and for 72 hours, the group will aim westward. That's the only rule. The destination is simply left to the wind. As they call out to people they meet at ports and frantically search for a boat, they discover the diverse and rich lifestyles of people living with the sea. Businessmen who spend their post-retirement lives on yachts. A father and son are proudly engaged in the fishing industry. A couple who never wants to leave their remote island, where the population continues to decline. Three days of encountering life on the sea.

Hitchhiking in the Seto Inland Sea

Nothing but sand, as far as the eye can see. The Tottori Sand Dunes on the Sea of Japan are a vast world of nothingness. 2 million visitors a year are drawn by scenery that is utterly different from their daily surroundings. But their motives differ. There are elderly people who feel the pull of eternity. Businesspeople who crave even a momentary liberation from the daily grind of numbers and memos in their cramped offices. Travelers from afar who hope to find themselves in the shadows of a night on the dunes. In this otherworldly milieu, we catch glimpses of people's "internal landscapes".

The Call of the Dunes

It occupies an entire floor of a large building in Shinjuku, a bustling district in Tokyo. An enormous travel agency, visited daily by a high volume of customers seeking discount airfares. In spite of the growth of Internet sales, people throng the 100 meters of counters here for the expert help they can get in making their dream voyages come true. For 72 hours we observe a range of customers, from meticulous long-range planners to those who, for whatever reason, simply must depart "tomorrow".

A Giant Travel Agency: Destinations and Detours

More and more these days, people communicate via texting, social media and email. Yet there are some who rush into the Shinjuku Post Office, a giant establishment in Tokyo open 24/7, at all hours of the day or night, with something that simply must be sent by post. Some want to send a special present to a special someone far away; others need a postmark to fix eligibility for an application process; others still are rushing to meet a deadline for submitting a résumé. We camp out by the counters to learn not only the "what", but the "why".

The Post Office That Never Sleeps

An unusually large number of passengers gather at a train station in Tokyo. They're taking a special night train to Izumo, a thousand kilometers to the southwest, on the Japan Sea coast. It's November, when, according to Shinto belief, the gods are in residence at the Izumo shrines, above all the Izumo Taisha, or Grand Shrine. Men and women of marriageable age, and others seeking better matchups in their professional lives, make this pilgrimage and say their prayers. We listen and learn.

Night Train to Izumo: Destination - Destiny

Crammed together are magazines and novels, art books and technical treatises. In an era of increasing Internet book sales, streams of people are drawn to actual bookstores, in search of unexpected encounters. The bestsellers on display provide a glimpse of contemporary Japan. Books teaching "self-improvement" attract crowds of office workers on their way home; other shoppers, worn out by the daily grind, find themselves in the "spirituality" book section. All are wanderers in a forest of print.

A Giant Bookstore: Wandering in a World of Words

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.

Underground Idols

Seasons17

Season 4 Episodes32

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