Back in the 1960s, before the average Japanese had enough money to travel long haul, a popular foreign destination was the Soviet city of Vladivostok on the Pacific coast. Most of the Japanese who traveled there were young people with wanderlust who also had a romantic attachment to the socialist experiment. And it was easy: You took the train to Niigata and boarded a special ferry to Vladivostok.
Very few Japanese go there anymore, so this week's special edition of the travel show "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kampai" ("Tsurube Toasts Families"; NHK-G, Mon., 7:30 p.m.), which takes in the city, may surprise older Japanese who think they remember it.
Rakugo storyteller Shofukutei Tsurube's companion this time is the magician Mr. Marik, who right away delights a group of Russian children in a park with his prestidigitation skills. He and Tsurube also talk to street musicians and visit a large family whose elderly matriarch has some very moving stories.