Hometown Stories
5.5
2011
Documentary
Stories about people, stories about life. Intimate portraits of people from around Japan, each leading diverse lives while enriching lives of others.
-
- Cast:
- lae astra
Episode 24 : Follow Your Heart: The Green-haired Gardener
December. 20,2020
Aoki Mariko, from northeast Japan, shot to fame after winning one of Japan's prestigious gardening contests in 2018 while still in her 20's. Her gardens have soothed the hearts of many people stressed from the coronavirus pandemic. Plants in her gardens grow without the need for elaborate human maintenance and create beautiful seasonal vistas. She is often late to work, shuts herself away in winter, and works only in spring and autumn. How can she make such beautiful gardens while living just as she pleases? We follow her over a year to find out the answer.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 21 : Steering Through Tough Times
November. 08,2020
A charter bus company had lost its major source of income - international tourists - in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CEO spends his days seeking emergency loans, but it's not enough to avert significant salary and job cuts. For the remaining staff, things are tough. With their incomes plummeting, some resort to part-time work. One driver ventures into sales in a bid to drum up business. Meet the members of a small but scrappy company fighting to survive amid the pandemic.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 20 : Breast Cancer Diary 2020: Keeping a Dream Alive
October. 17,2020
Yakata Miki, a former pop idol, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018. After surgery to remove her left breast, Miki kept a video diary to record her treatment and daily thoughts, even touching on delicate themes such as breast reconstruction and pregnancy. Her self-portrait has evoked a massive response among cancer patients nationwide. Miki's diary records 2 years in her life as she started training to become a voice actor, her lifelong dream, while continuing with the treatment to prevent a recurrence of the cancer.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 15 : The Shadow of Nagasaki: Nurses' Stories
August. 08,2020
Right after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki in August 1945, Japanese Red Cross Society nurses, mainly in their late teens and 20's, were sent there from across Japan to care for survivors. Later, some wrote about their experiences in a book titled "In the Shadow of the Flash." Out of about 500 nurses who attended survivors, only 50 contributed accounts for the book. The rest have never spoken of the horrors they witnessed. The program visits some of those nurses to find out about their hidden thoughts and their lives after the war.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 13 : Uncle and Nephew in a Tsunami-Hit Town
July. 04,2020
Onagawa town in northeast Japan was devastated by the 2011 tsunami. The town's only supermarket, which goes back 100 years, has now reopened after a 9-year closure. The relaunch was led by Sato Hiroki, the fifth-generation owner of the family-run store. As he tried to keep alive the wishes of his mother, older sister and grandparents, who died in the tsunami, he was also raising an adolescent nephew, his late sister's only son. The program follows the relationship of the uncle and nephew over the 9 years following the tsunami.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 12 : Bitter and Sweet: A Strawberry Farming Family
June. 20,2020
A father and son team of strawberry farmers in northeastern Japan faces tough times after the March 2011 tsunami devastates their hometown. To survive, the son decides he and his family must take a chance on farming far away, in Hokkaido Prefecture. 2 generations embark on separate paths, each full of challenges. As the son struggles to adapt to a new environment and to meet buyers' demands, his father works to revive the destroyed fields back home. This program follows their journey, both bitter and sweet, for 9 years.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 9 : He Has a Dream: A Novice Fisherman's Challenge
May. 16,2020
In the northern Japanese town of Oma, seasoned fishermen compete to land prized bluefin tuna. Among them is a 57-year-old novice, who moved there from western Japan 4 years ago. After his daughters were grown, he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a tuna fisherman. Having made his own choice about where and how to fish, he aims to catch bluefin weighing over 100kg. While others opt for stable jobs, he has taken the risk of pursuing his dream. We follow his journey as he battles through the rough northern waters.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 7 : Rock Ptarmigans: Reviving the Divine Birds
April. 04,2020
At altitudes of more than 2,500 meters in the mountains of central Japan, a 72-year-old ornithologist, Nakamura Hiroshi, takes on the challenge of saving rock ptarmigans, known as "divine birds," from extinction. Frequent human incursions have depleted their numbers across Japan. Spending more than 100 days a year in the mountains, he works on an unprecedented breeding project to restore a ptarmigan population to one of its former habitats. We follow Hiroshi in his quest to bring back these birds while questioning how humans can best interact with nature.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 5 : No Going Back: New Ideas from a Tsunami-hit Fishing Town
February. 29,2020
The 2011 tsunami devastated the fishing industry in Sanriku, in northeastern Japan. Like others, seafood processor Kenichiro Yagi and local fishermen are trying to recover and rebuild their business. Using a special freezing technique, they deliver fresh local fish to distant customers year-round. They even learned how to make stingray liver, previously thought useless, appeal to a top Tokyo chef. Yagi also goes to Taiwan to tap Asian markets. We follow them as they explore the future of the local fishing industry.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 3 : A Young Soba Chef's Challenge
February. 02,2020
On weekends, customers flock to this traditional restaurant in Murayama city in northeast Japan for a unique taste of soba noodles served on a wooden board. But in February 2019, after the 3rd-generation chef of the restaurant fell ill, his son, Kohei, suddenly had to fill his shoes. Through trial and error, he struggles to master the milling of buckwheat seeds, previously his father's job. As the new fresh-soba season draws near, the family strives to preserve a taste that goes back 100 years.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Episode 2 : Strength and Hope - The Power of Azaleas
January. 18,2020
Paralyzed in his lower legs and hands, Takeshi Kukizaki, 68, grows azaleas and runs an azalea garden in Kagoshima City, southwest Japan. 19 years ago, while working at a company, he was suddenly struck by a serious neurological disorder. Suffering from severe aftereffects, he even contemplated suicide. It was azaleas, flowers he had long cherished, that restored his will to live. After leaving the hospital, Takeshi opened his garden and now uses his flowers to give hope and courage to others.
Watch Now
Stream in HD
Seasons
Similar titles
Core Kyoto
The timeless heart of Japan's ancient capital. Against its rich backdrop of culture and tradition, today's Kyoto continues to innovate and inspire.
Ugly Delicious
Star chef David Chang leads friends on a mouthwatering, cross-cultural hunt for the world's most satisfying grub. All the flavor. None of the BS.
Sahara with Michael Palin
In this four-part BBC documentary, former Monty Python funnyman and renowned globe-trotter Michael Palin sets off from Gibraltar to travel across the Sahara, his witty humor downplaying the hardships he faces along the arduous journey. He travels to Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and beyond, across some of the harshest terrain on the planet.
Seasoning the Seasons
This program visits places across Japan to introduce the charms of their local daily life and festivals fostered by the nation's long history.
Italy's Invisible Cities
Using the latest 3D scanning technology, Alexander Armstrong and Dr Michael Scott uncover the hidden history of Italian civilisation and city life.
Searching for Soul Food
Follow rock star celebrity chef Alisa Reynolds as she discovers what soul food looks like around the world. As she seeks out the food, she also explores the stories, the people, and the traditions of each place she visits, bringing her own flavor right along with her.
Inside Culture
How does the art we consume reflect the times we live in? A topical look at the latest film, TV, music, books and theatre - through the eyes of their creators and their audiences.