Anime fans will find shows like Imagine-nation interesting. Imagine-nation features stories about video games, anime, and other works of art. Documentaries focus on various aspects of Japanese culture: festivals, towns, and places to visit. Some of the programs are quirky, like one that challenges aeronautical engineers to build paper airplanes.
The station covers concerns and events in Asia and in Asian business that rarely appear in American and other Western broadcasts. Often, these news shows end with an article about a personality. For example, one rural village in Japan has 30 residents but over 180 life-sized dolls created by a local woman. She recreates the vibrancy of the village’s past using the dolls. You will find many shows centered on food and others reveal Kyoto and Tokyo.
NHK World offers a look into Japanese culture that you can’t find in anime. Its nature and tourist shows visit places all over the island chain. Its programs offer anime fans a better understanding of the culture. The documentaries are a little cheesy at times, but the documentaries are always enlightening. They are also rarely boring, but then I do enjoy a good documentary.
Check out NHK’s live stream and their On Demand Programming.
