NHK Documentary Season 17: Episode Guide & Ratings

The world of healthcare is currently undergoing a revolutionary transformation using a huge collection of information known as "Big Data". A hospital in Japan halved a length of stays for cancer patients by analyzing 170,000 components of data from blood pressure, food intake and even the number of restroom visits. Furthermore, it's becoming possible to more accurately predict the onset of diseases by utilizing big data analytics. Learn how big data is transforming the front line of healthcare.

In March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant experienced one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. Nearly 4 years later, new information continues to surface about the accident. Recently acquired data reveals that the situation was deteriorating rather than being contained. For this program, we recreated what was happening on site, based on the accounts of those involved, and investigate what caused the massive leakage of radioactive materials.

There are children who have disappeared from society. To better understand the situation, we surveyed children's welfare institutions around Japan and discovered the harsh lives that some children endure behind closed doors when their parents cut them off from society. How can we protect these unseen victims? We investigated the stories of these "invisible" children.

The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 exposed the threat of active faults lurking beneath our feet that can generate a city-destroying quake in an instant. Recent studies show that certain kinds of jolts caused by the faults could bring down high-rises. Where will a mega-quake hit next? 20 years after the Hansin-Awaji disaster, scientific surveys across Japan have brought new warnings.

4 years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Many people lost their lives due to delayed delivery of relief supplies. We must learn how to survive after such catastrophes. Utilizing big data, the program looks into the problems that can arise following a disaster and creates "survival maps" that can lead people to safety.

People in China have developed a voracious appetite for beef. China's production of beef can't keep up with demand: the country saw a sixfold increase in beef imports in just 5 years and it's affecting the way people around the world eat and grow food. Prices for beef and the grain to feed cattle are rising fast, and Japanese companies are finding it increasingly difficult to cope. We'll report on what's behind the global grab for beef.

One out of every 3 people in industrialized countries has some type of allergy to substances including pollen, animals and food. Up to now, experts have been unable to find a cure. But a new approach to treatment holds promise. It makes use of human cells called regulatory T-cells, or Tregs, that play a key role in suppressing allergies. On this program, we explore how Tregs are bringing hope to allergy sufferers.

Residents of northeastern Japan recorded videos during the March 11, 2011 disaster showing the raw power of the tsunami that battered the coast. The clips were short, but gripping. And they served as reminders of the fragility and value of life. Some survivors found it too painful to watch the images. Others considered them precious mementos of lost loved ones. This documentary brings you the never-before-told stories and struggles of the people connected to these tsunami videos.

In recent years, researchers around the world have reported success with unconventional approaches to fighting dementia. One strategy involves enlisting drugs already in use for things like diabetes and strokes. Caregiving is also evolving to include touch and other tools for reaching the hearts of affected people. Practitioners have found that such methods can ease challenging symptoms, even in advanced cases. On this program, we report on global efforts to keep dementia in check.

Imagine going on adventures to remote places to collect exotic plants and trees, then showing them to create an emotional impact with a deep purpose. There's a man who does just that: Seijun Nishihata, 34. They call him "the Plant Hunter". He's been to Asian tropical forests, Yemeni desert, Australian marshes, the Rocky Mountains... Every year he makes the equivalent of 10 trips around the globe. This program focuses on his quest to obtain 4 giant "palo borrachos", a rare tree from deep within an Argentine forest. He uses special techniques to essentially put the giant trees to sleep for their journey to Japan, where they will be displayed. Seijun himself looks like a bit of a wild child, but he is in fact a 5th generation professional horticulturist, heir to a plant and tree wholesaler that has been in business for a century and a half.

In the heart of Tokyo lies the sacred forest of Meiji Jingu, one of the most visited shrines in Japan. Only a select few know the secret of this restricted forest. The seemingly primeval forest is a man-made creation, a result of a century-old grandiose experiment. For the first time, the outcome of this experiment is revealed and recorded on camera. Strange and wondrous flora and fauna are found. But how has such a rich forest taken root in a metropolis? Join us as we unveil the mystery of Meiji Jingu's sacred forest.

It is 70 years since the advent of the atomic bomb, the most extreme weapon humankind has ever produced. Why did nuclear weapons spread across the Earth? The starting point was an intense spy war that took place in the midst of World War Ⅱ. With an eye to gaining a monopoly over nuclear weapons, the United States established a mysterious espionage unit called the Alsos Mission. Its purpose was to prevent Germany, the Soviet Union, and Japan from developing atomic bombs. What became of the spies and scientists who were caught up in the contest that would determine postwar supremacy? This startling story, based on newly found documents, is told through documentary and dramatic recreation.

The program explores the reality people faced beneath the mushroom cloud in Hiroshima Prefecture on August 6, 1945. Digital technology restores and enhances scenes captured in the 2 extant photographs taken near the epicenter of the atomic explosion while the mushroom cloud remained in the sky over Hiroshima. The still images are brought to life with sound and motion, based on the testimony of survivors who appeared in the photographs, to reveal the nature of that experience 70 years after the bomb was dropped. New light is shed on how the victims behaved after the blast and about the intense thermal radiation that caused excruciating flash burns.

A 197-page diary created during the last days of World War Ⅱ by young girls in a small Japanese town. They documented how life unfolded during the war. At first the battlefields were far away, but gradually the shadow of war crept into their lives. Their diary is a valuable record of how war changed the thoughts and feelings of children at that time. This program offers insight by providing a detailed look at their decades-old diary including interviews of the girls 70 years on.

On the 70th year since the end of World War Ⅱ, NHK gathered archival film of the Pacific War from home and abroad and took on the challenge of colorizing the material with the help of experts in various fields. Compiled from the restored footage, this documentary vividly revives the realities of the war, bringing to light what had been obscured in the black-and-white films and photos, and conveying with fresh intensity the experiences of those who were there through diaries and words.