L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables" is the most popular young-adult novel in Japan, at least among girls. The original was published in Canada in 1908, and was translated into Japanese by Hanako Muraoka. NHK's new morning drama, "Hanako and Anne" (NHK-G, M-F, 8 a.m.; NHK Premium, M-F, 7:30 a.m.) traces Muraoka's life.

She was born in 1893 to a poor farming family in Yamanashi Prefecture, and knew nothing but back-breaking work until her father gave her a picture book. It inspired her to seek an education in Tokyo, She became an English teacher, then an editor of a children's magazine. A foreign missionary gave her a copy of Montgomery's bestseller in 1939, and she fell in love with it. The adult Hanako is played by Yuriko Yoshitaka.

TV personalities with athletic talents get to show off their skills on the three-hour special "Honoo no Taiikukai" ("Blazing Sports Club"; TBS, April 5, 7 p.m.). In the main segment a team of celebrities who are supposedly better-than-average tennis players take on world-class pro Kei Nishikori in a "revenge match." The coach of the celebrity team is former tennis pro Shuzo Matsuoka, who is probably better known nowadays as a TV personality in his own right. He gives each player personal pointers on how to play Nishikori.