“Channel JAPAN” is an informational program broadcast across Asia and offers a fresh look at the latest in the Japanese economy, business, trends, culture and technology. TBS announcers, and Nikkei staff writer guide viewers on a tour of cutting-edge products and services, key persons and companies, the hottest tourist destinations, and a variety of other topics that are sure to captivate viewers across the region. Discover the energy, the attractions, and the limitless business opportunities that Japan has to offer.

Shikada dreams of becoming a famous manga artist. The only problem—he’s terrible. His real talent is selling the complex and delicious snacks in his father’s “dagashi” shop. He never thought much about the family business until the trendy, eccentric Hotaru showed up. As a lover of “dagashi,” she can’t let his talent go to waste and decides she won’t stop ‘til she’s sold him on sweets.

Prior to the start of World War II, Saichiro Aichi witnessed firsthand the technological prowess and industrial strength developing in the automotive industry of the US and Europe. Under Saichiro’s strong visionary leadership and the efforts of his team, a do-mestic passenger car is finally built just as the march of war is heard approaching. Saichiro’s group bides its time through a devastating war by building military trucks and machinery only to confront a dire depression upon war’s end, due to a financial re-trenchment policy by the Bank of Japan. Short on capital and troubled by labor strife, as well as personal illness, Saichiro and his men refuse to give up. Here is an inspiring tale about visionary men who through blood, sweat and tears and the spirit of “monozukuri” battled back from the brink of bankruptcy to build a Japanese auto company that would be the pride of the world.

Fulfilling a long-cherished dream, school teacher Hijiri Matsunaga is hired at a far-flung countryside middle school where she encounters, Akira Kuroiwa, a 9th grader with mysterious powers. Though 10 years younger than his teacher, Akira falls instantly in love with her and single-mindedly pursues her affections. But Hijiri has a devoted finance, Shotaro, with whom she keeps up a long-distance relationship. Aware that she should not reciprocate her student’s feelings for her, Hijiri eventually finds her heart swayed by Akira’s unremitting love and becomes attracted to him. Deeply conflicted between the affections of a pubescent youth and an elite company man, Hijiri’s “forbidden” love triangle engulfs those around her in this “forbidden yet pure” love story between student and pupil.

A fired-up high-school teacher who teaches his baseball team the importance of having a dream, and the students he leads, burning with this dream of a national championship. A group of modern young people of the baseball club at Futakotamagawa High School: they have no hope for the future, and no idea of what they want to do. ‘The world is full of hope,’ a new teacher, Kawato shouts at them. ‘Don’t make fun of people who have dreams.’ Overcoming problems with the new players, and an injury to their captain, with Kawato, they move into the semifinal tournament that leads to their final chance at a national championship. Will the dreams of the Futakotamagawa baseball team come true? Meanwhile, graduation day draws near..…

”The most exciting baseball game score is 8 to 7!”
That’s what former U.S. President Roosevelt once said.
Aoshima Works is a medium-size precision instruments maker. Forced to navigate the rough waves of an unforeseen recession and fierce competition among rival companies scratching for advantage, company men on the brink of bankruptcy strive to survive by orchestrating a miracle reversal called the “Roosevelt Game”. Written by Jun Ikeido, author of a novel by the same name, and following his best-selling “Naoki Hanzawa”. A comeback story for the never-say-die working man.

A nation of people seemingly content to go about their business, not thinking too much, but simply trying to lead normal and peaceful lives. And then one day, a bus jacking incident occurs to rouse them from their reverie.
Ex-boxer turned cop, Ichigo Kamikura leads the NPS (National Police Safety Rescue), called “S”, effort to deal with the crisis, but so far, no demands have come from the perpetrator, and a sinking feeling of impending doom sets in among the force. Sure enough, a massive tanker off the Japanese coast in the Pacific is next reported as having been seized! On board is enough nuclear fuel to blow up the entire country.
A final battle begins with the nation’s future and the lives of 120 million at stake.....!

The setting is the Tsukishima district of Tokyo where the Summer Olympic Games will be held in five years. A small old-fashioned confectionary shop, “Sakuraya” stands as a remnant of the past amid the rapidly changing cityscape. Akiko Sakurai has been running the shop on a shoestring for over 50 years, along with her grandson, Taro (33) whom she raised form childhood after he lost his parents in a traffic accident. With them also is Reiko, a single mother who has returned to Tsukishima with her child. Seemingly left behind by a fast-moving world, Taro appears as something of a “loser” who finds himself reexamining his lost childhood in an effort to move forward. Life takes a strange turn when his grandmother, Akiko, receives a letter that she is being sued for damages because her cat, Mi-chan, allegedly scratched up a neighbor’s luxury car. What should be an easy case to win turns into a fumbling mess at the hands of Taro who can’t seem to win for losing in this wacky yet endearing and slightly heartwarming late-night drama.

TBS’s ”World Heritage,” is a 30-minute weekly documentary series that is registered by UNESCO under Natural Heritage, Cultural Heritage and Cultural Sciences. The program started in spring, 1996, and over a span of 10 years has covered about 560 topics around the world. To better convey the grandeur of these treasures of the world, TBS has shot the series in High-Definition. High quality images, impeccable narrative, and beautiful music...the elements are simple and straightforward. The producers feel that this style of presentation works best to visually document and preserve the wonders of the world, and continue to do so to this day.

Recorded with the most advanced visual image technology, TBS “World Heritage” has since its inception in 1996 has bemuse itself a valuable cultural property with its high-quality footage and visual documentation of mankind’s greatest treasures: UNESCO World Heritage sites. The program relaunched in June 2013 as the “The World Heritage 4K Premium Edition” focusing on expressing the sheer beauty of the world’s greatest marvels, and is Japan’s first program to be fully shot in 4K as the next generation in video technology, from photography to editing and post-production.