Author Archives: Phyllis Kihara

Happy New Year!

You may have already heard that KIKU will not be airing NHK’s 2019 Taiga Drama, Idaten. I wanted to provide you with a little bit of background behind this.

Each year since 1963, NHK has produced a year-long taiga drama based on the life of a key figure in Japanese history. KIKU first began airing NHK’s taiga dramas around 1993, and has been airing them every year since.

Next year, for the first time in 25 years, KIKU will not be airing NHK’s taiga drama.

The 2020 Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in Tokyo, and to gear up, NHK produced Idaten, a taiga drama based upon two historical figures who shaped Japanese Olympics history. Idaten utilizes historical Olympic footage, and because of the strict rules governing the use of this footage in the U.S., KIKU is prohibited from airing it.

NHK requested and received permission from the IOC to air Idaten on its affiliated cable station, TV Japan, with the understanding that because this station is targeted to Japanese-speaking viewers only; there would be no English subtitles. So Idaten is being shown in the U.S., after all, but only on TV Japan.

Faced with the knowledge we would not be able to air Idaten, we thought long and hard about a program to replace it.

We considered airing a taiga drama produced prior to 1993, the first year we began airing the taiga drama.

We even considered re-airing a taiga drama we had aired before.

In the end, we decided to bring back a well-loved program that many of you have requested over and over: Oshin.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Oshin, it is a story about the life of a woman, beginning from the time she was only seven years old and continuing through the end of her life.

More than that, it is a story of hardship, perseverance, determination, and courage.

If you have not seen Oshin before, it is a program worth watching. If you have, it is a program worth watching again.

KIKU-TV is proud to present Oshin in 2019. New episodes will air each Tuesday and Sunday nights, starting February 5 at 8pm and February 10 at 7pm.

Please don’t miss it!

And again, Happy New Year from all of us at KIKU.

Did anyone else think the first 10 minutes of Prison Princesses was confusing? Multiple flashbacks made it hard to follow, even for me! There will be more flashbacks in the episodes to come, but knowing what to expect should make it easier to follow the story.

We’re so happy with your positive response to Lone Wolf With Cub. We only licensed 26 episodes to begin with because we weren’t sure how this show would be received. Now that we know you like the show, we’ll be licensing more to air in 2019. Until then, we’ll be re-running the first 26 episodes starting in about a month.

Please keep your comments coming; it really helps!

Hope to see you at the KIKU booth at the Mo’ili’ili Summer Fest!

Ja, ne!

Thank you to all of you who have called or written to let us know you are enjoying the Lone Wolf with Cub series. This show was one of my personal favorites when I was growing up, and I’m so glad we were finally able to get it on KIKU. It took us more than five years to work out the details, but isn’t it worth it?

Let us know if you agree.

Ja, ne!

If you are receiving KIKU’s signal over the air, you may have noticed that you cannot see KIKU’s program schedule on the channel guide. We apologize for this inconvenience and are working to resolve this problem. In the meantime, please check our program schedule on our website.

Thank you for participating in our Kohaku poll and sharing your comments regarding the show. The results were overwhelmingly and resoundingly in favor of us continuing to air the Red and White Song Contest.

It was especially heartening to read your comments. Many of you wrote about Kohaku being a long-standing New Year’s tradition in your homes. Others reminisced of watching the show with your grandparents and parents when you were children. Many shared that Kohaku keeps you connected to your Japanese culture. And even those of you who prefer enka had positive, thoughtful comments about how Japan is changing, and Kohaku needs to change with the times.

So thank you again for letting us know how you feel. Your feedback is valued and appreciated.

Happy New Year!

Phyllis Kihara

Yes, we’re saying sayonara to Soko ga Shiritai. After more than 20 years on KIKU, this Friday, 3/24/17, will be the last time we play the show.

We are sad, excited and nervous all at the same time. Sad because Soko ga Shiritai has been such a regular part of our lives for so long. The show had a great concept and was very well produced. It took us to Japan’s famous sites as well as its not so famous quaint back alleys, all the while sharing interesting things about the places, people, and foods of Japan. Its visiting reporters were people we could relate to, and they asked questions we were curious about, too. To this day, people still tell me their interest in visiting Japan was first spurred by watching Soko ga Shiritai.

Excited because although it’s the end of an era, it’s time to learn new things, see new places, and meet new people! We are the first to admit Soko ga Shiritai episodes are dated and have been played and replayed. And replayed. But it’s been difficult to find a replacement, especially at a price we could afford. Japanese programming is extremely expensive, which has made finding a replacement for Soko ga Shiritai extremely challenging. But you deserve to see the Japan of today and we’re excited to share more current programs about Japan with you.

And finally, nervous because there is no show being produced today that is exactly like Soko ga Shiritai. Many have tried to imitate it, but no one show is an exact replica. And since Soko ga Shiritai is no longer being produced, our solution has been to find a series of different programs with similar concepts that focus on the places, people, and foods of Japan. The first in this series is a program titled “Kaze ni Fukarete” or “The Current”. You’ll even recognize one of the hosts, Hiroshi Sekiguchi, from another KIKU show, Dotchi.  Please give these new shows a try and let us know what you think.

To usher in Soko ga Japan, we’re giving away a trip for two to Japan! Please tune in to Soko ga Japan starting Monday, March 27 for a chance to win. Each Monday and Thursday, we’ll be giving you a clue about somewhere in Japan. Each Tuesday and Friday, we’ll be giving you the answer to the previous night’s clue. There will be two questions/answers per week for five weeks. Collect the correct answers for all five weeks, then send in your 10 answers to KIKU-TV. We will randomly select a winner from all of the correct entries.

Monday – clue

Tuesday – answer to Monday’s clue

Thursday – clue

Friday – answer to Thursday’s clue

Thank you for supporting KIKU-TV and Soko ga Shiritai for so many years. We look forward to sharing more of Japan with you through Soko ga Japan.

Ja, ne!

One of the most popular drama series on KIKU is Doctors (Saikyou no Meii). We just began airing the third season of this series this past Monday at 8pm.

Some would say that the show’s popularity is due to the handsome actor, Ikki Sawamura, who stars as the highly principled and capable Dr. Sagara. Dr. Sagara is employed at Dogami General Hospital, a private facility that is struggling to regain its integrity amid a reputation of greed and corrupt management practices. Dr. Sagara’s nemesis at the hospital is the director’s nephew, Dr. Suguru Moriyama, played by actor Masanobu Takashima. The two are constantly at odds over hospital practices and patient treatments.

In my opinion, Masanobu Takashima is the real star of the show. He plays an immature, self-centered, spoiled doctor yearning for attention and acknowledgment. He’s such a good actor because each episode makes you hate Dr. Moriyama and his selfish tactics even more. But you also see a vulnerable side to him that makes him likeable, too.

What do you think? Do you love him or hate him?

Ja, ne!

One of the most popular and most requested series on KIKU is coming back for a third season: Doctors 3. Once again, the handsome, kind, and capable Dr. Sagara will have to use his subtle (and sometimes devious) skills to make things happen at Dogami General Hospital, especially when dealing with his nemesis, the ambitious and egotistical Dr. Moriyama.

Doctors 3 begins Monday, March 21, at 8pm. There are nine episodes in this series. The Japanese title is Saikyou no Meii.

Ja, ne!