Culture Crossroads - Season 8 / Year 2024

Yotsukaido City, Chiba Pref., has Japan's largest Afghan population. Language and religion create difficulties for women at schools and hospitals. This program shows people who go all out to help.

This episode introduces Japan's unique volunteer fire corps composed of local residents who often arrive at a disaster scene before professional firefighters. A Thai reporter visits Sano City.

What preparations are needed to protect children in the event of a disaster? This episode considers not only their physical safety, but also their mental well-being during stressful evacuation.

Japanese high-tech toys, fusing advanced technology and "kawaii" culture, are booming, even in education and space exploration. Through a Chinese woman at a toy maker, we look at their global advance.

Panic, isolation, evacuation shelter life, community cooperation, network support... Foreign workers living in the Noto Peninsula area describe their experience of the major January 2024 earthquake.

Japanese fermented foods have a long history, but sake and miso producers face problems as eating habits change. A "fermentation designer" is aiming to bring Japan's fermented culture to the world.

Local foreign residents have been helping people stricken by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake through ongoing support activities, starting with an emergency curry kitchen and meeting changing needs.

A supermarket is attracting attention for its handling of both halal food for Muslims and common Japanese foodstuffs. What is the new kind of communication created by such food culture differences?

In Edogawa City, where 40% of Tokyo's Indian population resides, a cultural exchange program gives Japanese residents the chance to visit Indian homes as well as facilities run by Indians.

In response to a serious labor shortage, Japan's taxi industry is hiring more and more foreign drivers. The program introduces the efforts being employed by both the government and taxi companies to facilitate this.

A popular cafe in Osaka Prefecture offers international dishes on a day-by-day rotating basis. This helps the foreign residents who prepare them, called "one-day chefs," to get involved in Japanese society.