We now have the three winners to our trivia question! Congratulations to the winners for identifying these three actors appearing in shows currently airing on KIKU:
Hiroaki Murakami – in Zenigata Heiji (historical) and Love and Deceit (modern)
Mayumi Wakamura – in Hana Moyu (historical) and Love and Deceit (modern) or Investigator Mariko (modern)
Kanji Tsuda – in Hana Moyu (historical) and Behind the Noren (modern)
We also wanted to share that our viewers are more knowledgeable than us! We thought there were only three actors who qualified as answers to this trivia question, and were surprised to learn (from our viewers) that there are three more actors we hadn’t thought of! They are:
Tsuyoshi (or Takashi) Naito – in Hana Moyu (historical) and Investigator Mariko (modern)
Hirotaro Honda – Hana Moyu (historical) and The Last Policeman (modern)
Rena Tanaka – in Hana Moyu (historical) and Love and Deceit (modern)
We love that you found these actors we hadn’t thought of. Thank you for playing!
Somehow over the years, Thursday night became our detective drama night. Not samurai (jidaigeki) detective dramas, but modern detective dramas, like Partners, Omiya-san, Investigator Mariko, and many, many more. Currently, we’re airing Partners 10 at 8pm, and The Interrogator at 9pm.
However, the final episode of Partners 10 aired last night, and the final episode of The Interrogator will air next week (6/11). So, with these two dramas ending, will Thursday night still be detective night?
Mochiron!
Next week Thursday (6/11), we premier The Last Policeman at 8pm. This is about a small, elite team of detectives within the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Considered the best of the best in their areas of expertise, they were handpicked because of their remarkable skills and are tasked with bringing criminals of heinous crimes into custody alive. But first, they must learn to put their egos aside and work together as a team.
The Japanese title of this drama is Saigo no Keikan.
The following Thursday, 6/18), we premier Partners 11 (Aibou 11) at 9pm! As the title suggests, this is the 11th season in the Partners series, which KIKU began airing in 2007. You’ll want to watch to see if there is a new partner in this series.
We have a contest starting on Monday with a grand prize being airline tickets for two people from Honolulu to Tokyo on China Airlines!
To enter the contest, you need to watch Kuru Kuru Japan for the next two weeks for clues of 10 Tokyo landmarks. (Kuru Kuru Japan airs Mondays through Fridays from 6:30-7pm on KIKU.)
Each night from May 4th through May 8th and May 11th to May 15th, a different Tokyo location will be shown in Kuru Kuru Japan. Write down all 10 locations plus your name, address and phone number, and send or email this to KIKU-TV. We will randomly pick a winner from all of the entries with the correct 10 locations.
The airline tickets are provided by China Airlines. Did you know China Airlines has daily direct flights from Honolulu to Tokyo (Narita)?
For more information, check the rules information posted here on our website.
We try to have at least one program in the jidaigeki genre airing on KIKU at any given time. (Jidaigeiki refers to period dramas, usually about the lives of samurai.)
But we have FOUR jidaigeki programs airing in October:
1. Our taiga drama, Strategist Kanbe, which airs Tuesdays at 8pm and replays on Wednesday at 12 noon and Sunday at 7pm.
2. Mission to Kill, which airs Tuesdays at 9pm and replays on Wednesdays at 1pm.
3. Hidamari no ki, which airs Thursdays at 8pm and replays on Fridays at noon.
4. And Ninja Sarutobi III, which airs Fridays at 8pm and replays Saturdays at 7pm.
October is a great month for jidaigeki lovers. But come November, the theme will be modern dramas. I’ll share more with you about that later.
In an earlier post, I told you that the Mariko series that begins on Thursday, October 2 at 9pm was the 7th in the series. That is incorrect. It is the 11th in the series! Please be sure to watch it this Thursday.
In other news, Giselle “G” Tongi, host of our Kababayan Today show was in Hawaii this week, taping segments for her show. Kababayan Today airs Monday-Friday, 3:30-4pm and on Sundays from 4-4:30pm right here on KIKU. I’ll be posting about the upcoming Hawaii segments soon.
Detective dramas are big in Japan, and we normally have one or two on our schedule at the same time (in addition to our Mystery Theatre, which is usually also a detective-type drama). Right now, we are airing Doubles (Thursdays at 8pm) and Partners 9 (Thursdays at 9pm). Partners is a long-time favorite amongst our viewers, but we’ve also heard that a lot of you like Doubles. You’ve told us that your other favorites are the Asami Mystery Theatre series and our Fat Detective series. (Stay tuned for news about Fat Detective 2.) Do any of you remember the Investigator Mariko series? We are considering bringing new episodes of this back.
Which is your favorite? Are you interested in seeing Investigator Mariko again?
Getting back to the current detective series, both dramas are ending soon. The last episode of Doubles is next Thursday, April 3rd. The following week — on April 10th — we begin a new drama titled “853”. This stars Yasufumi Terawaki as Detective Shinnosuke Kamo. The number 853 refers to the busy precinct where Detective Kamo used to work. That is, before he accidentally (?) shot a criminal in his custody. After the shooting incident, Detective Kamo was reassigned to a smaller rural jurisdiction.
For 10 years, Detective Kamo keeps his nose to the grind despite his demotion to a smaller precinct. But one day, he is called upon to put his excellent detective skills back to work in the 853.
The last episode of Partners 9 airs on April 17th. The following week, we begin airing Partners 10! Did you know that in Japan, they are already airing Partners 12?
Last week, I wrote about jidaigeki, and mentioned a new show we will begin airing on April 4th titled “Mission to Kill”. (This is about assassins who are hired by victims to avenge their crimes.) Although this program is a samurai drama, I would consider it a detective drama, too, because the samurai police are tasked with solving the crimes, just like modern detectives.
Are you familiar with PBS’s Antiques Roadshow? Experts knowledgeable in various fields, such as art, furniture, jewelry, ceramics, and many other specialties (even weapons), travel around the country and evaluate items people bring to them. In many cases, the items may have been in their families for years, passed down through generations. In other cases, people purchased the items at garage sales or flea markets without knowing whether the item has true value or is just a piece of junk. And in still other cases, people have consciously collected the item as an investment.
Whatever the case, it’s always interesting to hear an expert’s opinion about the market value of a product that may have just been collecting dust in someone’s home for years.
There is a television show in Japan similar to Antiques Roadshow. It’s called Nandemo Kantedan, which literally translates to ‘experts in anything’.
A film crew from Nandemo Kantedan is in Hawaii this week, along with several antique experts from Japan. They are here to evaluate items — primarily Japanese antique items — that may have been brought to Hawaii from Japan, and to provide their expert opinions about the authenticity and/or value of those items.
If you have something that has been passed down to you by your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, and you always wondered about its value and authenticity, these experts will be at the Moiliili Community Center this weekend — March 15 and 16, from 10am-6pm in Room 303. No appointment is necessary; just bring your valuables. And good luck!
In the 90s Sumo was all the rage in Hawaii. Bruddah Iz sang “Akebono…Musashimaru…and Konishiki” as our home grown local Sumotori quickly ascended to the ranks of Ozeki and Yokuzuna. The matches and rivalries were awesome against the great Chiyonofuji and the Hanada brothers.
One of the more entertaining Sumotori because of his diminutive size was Mainoumi. At 5’7″ and a “slim” 216 pounds, Mainoumi was a David amongst the Sumo Goliaths yet managed to climb to the rank of Komusubi in the top makuuchi division. Initially failing the Sumo Association’s physical entrance exam because he didn’t meet the minimum height requirement, Mainoumi got a silicone implant on the top of his head! LOL. He was the Sumotori facing off against Konishiki in the Sports Illustrated “Meat Bomb” article.
Nicknamed “Waza no Depaato” (Department Store of Techniques), Mainoumi, used up to 33 different techniques to juke and out finesse his much larger opponents. Coming off the line at the tachi-ai, he used to clap his hands in front of his opponent’s face as an attempt to throw him off….hilarious and sometimes effective. Other times might made right and he got squashed. Mainoumi was never the same after Sale fell on him in a match he ironically won, and broke his leg.
Who is/was your favorite Sumotori?
K-den,
Paul
Mainoumi vs. Sale da “Meat Bomb”
what a short Sumotori does with a silicone implant
Mainoumi (Shuhei Nagao) is now a TV personality, and does color announcing for Sumo broadcasts
Bruddah Chad, first foreign born Yokuzuna! Did you have an Akebono POG back in the day?
da boyz….Hanadas, Akebono, Musashimaru
The great Chiyonofuji…31 tournament championships!
Both parents and kids know Kikaida, the red and blue jinzo ningen superhero who burst onto the local scene in the mid 70’s and returned to the KIKU airwaves some twenty seven years later along with Kikaida 01, Kamen Rider V3, and Inazuman. Do you remember the other old school Japanese superheroes? Perhaps this will jar your memory….
– Ten Four Ten Ten – The forgotten show that I can’t seem to find any information on. The show’s jingle still resonates in my head but nobody seems to recall this show featuring a team of do-good kids in space helmets. Were they glorified JPOs? LOL. If anyone remembers this show reply back.
– Rainbowman – Before Kikaida, there was Rainbowman. A lot of Buddhist meditation was required for him to gain power. Which of his seven Dash’s was your favorite? Most of my friends wanted to be Lightning Man or Fire Man. Nobody wanted to be the dirt guy (doo doo man). Remember the action figures? Press the button on his stomach & he shakes his head, “No”. Press the button on the back of the neck, he nods “Yes”.
– Go Rangers – The original Power Rangers. One of the coolest team of heroes. Ao (Blue) Ranger, the guy with the bow and arrow, was the same actor that played Kazami Shiro (Kamen Rider V3). Yellow Ranger was the fat one who loved curry and all the girls wanted to be Momo (Pink) Ranger
http://youtu.be/K87itMn2EUw
– Denjin Zaboga – This show had the coolest toy ever! Like the robot in the show, you could transform him into a motorcycle, deploy a helicopter from his head, make a car come out of his boots, and watch out for his chain punch! This guy I worked with years later had brought to Hawaii the original Zaboga robot motorcycle from the show.
– Robocon – The girls loved this cutesy show with all the robots trying to earn good deed points and the well-intentioned Robocon always seeming to screw up. My sister had a Robocon toy slot machine.
– Diamond Eye – The sword wielding silent caped hero with big diamond eyes. All I remember is that the bad guys were very demonic and that the theme song was cool. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any videos on YouTube.
– Raideen – One of the original transformer-like giant robots, Raideen had the face of an Egyptian pharaoh and could transform into a fighter jet. Unlike the other live action shows, Raideen was a cartoon, maybe one of the first anime to be shown in Hawaii.
http://youtu.be/0bB28mphrMM
– Ultra Seven – KIKU is currently airing Ultraman Leo on Fridays at 6:30pm. Ultra Seven was in episode one as the Ultraman passing the torch on to Leo. In the 70’s this show was dubbed in English. Look at the Hawaii credits below…do you know any of these people?
http://youtu.be/JLGOxVeSGYw
– Candy Candy – Not a superhero show but the girls used to love this anime and learned to draw those anime eyes with the three white dots in them. lol.
Which show was your favorite back in the day and why? Send a reply.
Denji Endo!
Paul
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