‘Broadcasters’ Eye’ showcases Japan’s best commercial TV programs

During March, Japan’s international broadcaster NHK World will broadcast an English language series of some of the outstanding programs produced by Japan’s commercial broadcasters. 

The 2013 series, Broadcasters’ Eye, will include three award-winning programs – Fighting Doctor, produced by Fukushima Broadcasting Co.; Yamaguchi TV’s Being There through Laughter and Tears; and Television Nagasaki’s Steel Bond.

Each program introduced a different aspect of Japanese life and culture to the audience. 

Fighting Doctor is about a gynaecologist who lives in the Fukushime Prefecture and continues to practice medicine and support the local women although most hospitals have closed down and he himself has been diagnosed with cancer.

Being There through Laughter and Tears is a story about two friends who set up an in-home care service for the elderly on an island in Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture with the aim of providing “heartfelt nursing care”.

Steel Bond chronicles the lives of the five Yoshida brothers, who are aged between 72 and 91 years old and run a blacksmith’s shop with a history going back nine generations.