Although he's now teaching and consulting for aquariums, the TV personality and fish expert Sakana-kun has not lost any of his bubbly, childlike demeanor. A marine otaku (obsessive) since he was a boy, Sakana-kun is basically self-taught, and much of his learning was acquired by talking with fishermen all over Japan.
This week he'll return some of those favors on "Sakana-kun Hisaichi Ongaeshi" ("Sakana-kun Gives Back to the Disaster-Stricken Area"; NHK-G, Mon., 10:05 a.m.). He visits the tsunami-destroyed Sanriku coastline and pledges to help the region rebuild its aquarium. He also carries out some research diving of the undersea damage and meets a boy who wrote him a letter saying he never wants to see the ocean again.
The worst thing you could say to a Japanese variety-show producer is: "Someday Sanma Akashiya is going to die." The buck-toothed, motor-mouthed comedian will fill up a full three hours of prime-time with his off-the-cuff humor during the "Sanma & Okamura Premium Talk Show" (Nippon TV, Tues., 7:56 p.m.) along with Takashi Okamura of the comedy duo Ninety-Nine.