NHK World

Ninjas are enduring, iconic figures of Japan. They were active about 500 years ago during the country's Warring States period. And these days, they're thought to be long gone. But centuries later, one ninja is still with us. 84-year-old Masaaki Hatsumi is a successor of the Togakure school. He teaches a supreme form of self-defense to more than 100,000 students around the world, including FBI agents and army personnel. Hatsumi can easily fend off attacks from these tough disciples and make them unmovable using just one finger. What is the essence of his astonishing art? This program investigates the hidden power of this ninja master.

Within Japan, there's a place that's like another world: Gion, in Kyoto. When night falls in this historic district, nearly 100 geiko, or traditional entertainers, make their way to teahouses to perform classical arts, such as music and dance, for carefully selected guests. Kimi Ota, 77, is proprietress of a 200-year-old teahouse. Throughout its history, it has always been run by a woman. The proprietress cannot marry, and must have a daughter who can someday take over. Peer behind the curtain into the unique and alluring world of Kyoto's teahouses.

On a hill overlooking the ocean in northern Japan is a telephone booth known as the "Phone of the Wind." It is connected to nowhere, but many people come to here to "call" their loved ones lost in the 2011 tsunami. The phone booth is in a private garden of a man who originally installed it to talk to his lost cousin.

Join experts such as Wim Wenders to explore the masterful film-making of renowned Tokyo Story director Ozu Yasujiro, the 120th anniversary of whose birth fell in December 2023.

Kaoru Ogura dedicated his life to telling the world about the Japanese city where the first atomic bomb was dropped. He brought public figures from other countries together with survivors in postwar Hiroshima, even though he himself was born and raised in the U.S. The devastation shocked the visitors, causing them to spread the word internationally. They eventually began supporting the victims and joining in the anti-nuclear movement. The program recounts the life and work of those activists and the experiences of Kaoru Ogura.