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SERIES A Passionate Challenger | Treasure Hunter in Tropical Rivers

DC281659Documentary

情熱大陸 | 淡水魚研究家 佐藤智之 [MBS]

|Length : 24min |Year : 2016

Cambodia boasts nearly 500 species of freshwater fish. More research on freshwater fish needs to be done on a wider scale because so little is known even about the types of fishes that exist there. In his quest to encounter every fish that exists in Cambodia, Tomoyuki Sato, an avid aquarist, has been cataloguing the freshwater fishes of Cambodia with great zeal. At the same time, the Cambodian arowana conservation project has hired him to study the Asian arowana which has been declared an endangered species. We take a fascinating look at this man, Tomoyuki Sato, and his simple and honest desire to “encounter every fish that exists.”

SERIES A Passionate Challenger | A Little Make-up Goes a Long Way: A Japanese Woman’s Efforts to Win Smiles

DC281556Documentary

情熱大陸 | 社会企業家・向田麻衣 [MBS]

|Length : 24min |Year : 2015

Nepal is one of the most underprivileged nations in the world. Here, where women live in dire conditions, a lone Japanese woman strives to render aid through “facial make-up.” She is social entrepreneur Mai Mukaida.
In 2009, Mukaida began the Coffret Project which sought to bring smiles and hope to women victimized by prostitution and rape. The idea was to support these women through make-up; to instill confidence in them to get through life.
One day Mukaida journeys to an impoverished village and encounters young women who were once a type of indentured slavery. After talking to them, she gently applies make-up on them. What the camera lens captures is...

SERIES A Passionate Challenger | A Japanese Woman’s Hunt for the Elusive White Cacao

DC281555Documentary

情熱大陸 | カカオハンター・小方真弓 [MBS]

|Length : 24min |Year : 2015

Mayumi Ogata is a Japanese woman with an unusual profession known as "cacao hunter." She searches for cacao while keeping an eye on market trends as well as the cacao-growing industry’s future.
Ogata started out at a chocolate ingredients supplier, but she developed a keen interest in cacao itself and left the firm in 2003. Subsequently, she traveled to cacao-growing nations, researching each region's cacao industry. With the experience she has gained, she now works on improving the quality of cacao beans and trees and developing new chocolate products.
One day Ogata finds the mysterious cacao, but all she brings back is a small cutting. She reasons that by planting it and protecting the variety, it could one day provide a living to people in the area. She believes that hunters must not plunder.

SERIES A Passionate Challenger | Biologist Unlocks the Secret Life of Marine Animals

DC281454Documentary

情熱大陸 | 海洋生物学者 渡辺佑基 [MBS]

|Length : 24min. |Year : 2014

The behavior of marine animals still remains a mystery. A world-renowned biologist, Yuki Watanabe, researches and records their behavior using a method called bio logging. By attaching a motion recorder called logger and a miniature camera to the animal, the secret lives of these animals become clearer through captured footage. It is the most advanced field of research that has rapidly developed over the last 20 years in the biology field.
Watanabe’s biggest accomplishment is the invention of logger retrieval system. Until now, bio logging was limited to animals that returned to their nest since that was the only way the logger could be retrieved. But Watanabe solved this problem by utilizing IT equipment and intelligence which instantly broadened the field of research. Joint research offers flocked to Watanabe from around the world and he became known as the “Indy Jones of the biological world.”
When Watanabe went to Antarctica as a member of the Antarctic expedition team, he captured footage of the Adelie penguin by attaching a camera to the penguin. That footage has garnered a lot of attention as it is the first time anyone has clearly seen a penguin eating its prey in its natural setting. It has been assumed that tuna swim at a high speed at almost 80 km/hour. But based on Watanabe’s research, they swim at about 3 – 8 km/hour. Even in emergency situations, they only reach speeds of up to 30 km/hour. In this way, Watanabe works to clarify the behavior and habits of marine animals which are often shrouded in mystery.
The program follows Mr. Watanabe for three years. It introduces a joint research project he did with Australia’s Tasmania University on the broadnose sevengill shark. It also presents a lot of the world premier footages, captured by cameras attached to marine animals.

SERIES A Passionate Challenger | Doc Fights for the Future of a Tsunami-Hit City

DC281453Documentary

情熱大陸 | 医師・川島実 [MBS]

|Length : 24min. |Year : 2014

Kesennuma City in Miyagi Prefecture was devastated by the tsunami of the Great East Japan Earthquake. In 2013, two years after the earthquake, the region's only medical institution, Motoyoshi Hospital, finally began admitting patients.
The man who rebuilt this hospital is Dr. Minoru Kawashima. In 2011, the tsunami destroyed the first floor of Motoyoshi hospital and doctors left one after another. Kawashima couldn’t turn his back on the hospital shutdown, so he began commuting to Motoyoshi every weekend to lend aid and support as a volunteer doctor. Half a year after the earthquake, he was appointed as the hospital director and took on the task of restoring the hospital services.
Immediately, Kawashima was confronted with a critical shortage of doctors specializing in obstetrics and pediatrics. Hoping to make Motoyoshi a place where mothers can give birth to their children at ease, he personally receives training once a week at another hospital to open an OB-GYN ward at his Hospital. Kawashima envisions a hospital that offers "comprehensive medical care" including internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery and obstetrics-gynecology.
There is another challenge that Kawashima faces in community medicine - "home care." Motoyoshi has many senior citizens for whom even a visit to the hospital is a difficult ordeal. To Kawashima, to die means to "live until the very last breath." He wants the practice of "home care" to take root, so that one's end of life can come at home, surrounded by family and loved ones. Presently, he has 70 patients who receive medical care at home.
Kawashima's life has taken unusual and diverse turns. As a graduate of an ultra-elite university, he first became a professional boxer and then farmer. He now hopes to “knock out” the region’s medical problems.

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