｜Length : 47 ｜Year : 2018 ｜

Take a trip to Nagasaki’s Dejima, an island that connected Japan to the world.
During the two centuries after its creation in 1636, this island was the only place where interactions between Japan and the West took place, earning its place in Japanese history as a “foreign country within Japan.” Dejima was inhabited for limited periods by people from The Netherlands, including the Trading Post Chief (the “Kapitan”), scholars, and their supporting crew. Japanese officials and their interpreter “Tsuji” would also come and go. The island was connected to land by the short “Omotemonbashi” bridge, which become the funnel from which all things western would enter Japan. In this program, we celebrate the revival of the Omotemonbashi bridge after 130 years by taking a look at the history, people, things, and culture of Dejima with artifacts and reenactments, paying particular heed to one Tsuji named Tadao Shizuki and the Japanese words he coined for “present, past, and future.”

｜Length : 48min. ｜Year : 1994 ｜

The son of a Japanese woman and an American serviceman, Tsuyoshi Matsumoto was placed in a children's home at age 2 and ten years later adopted by American naval officer and taken to America. But young Tsuyoshi yearned to know his roots and find his mother. After growing to manhood and completing a tour of duty in Vietnam, he returned to Japan. It was too late: his mother was already dead but was still able to piece together some of the details of her life and his beginnings.

｜Length : 48min. ｜Year : 1995 ｜

This documentary offers an interesting view of the spiritual side of Japan. It tells the story of Shinsuke Kaneko, a Zen monk and co-founder of Zenshin-ji temple. Drawing on what he has learned from his own battle with cancer, Kaneko gives regular lectures on Life and Death. We also see him tending his dying mother. Along with the Catholic Hospital in Nagasaki, Kaneko believes that it is not enough to just tend to the health of the body: the health of the soul is just as important.