TV personalities with psychic powers used to be all the rage and then they suddenly disappeared because of a few scandals. Who could have foreseen that they’d now be making a comeback? One of the new psychic stars is a young woman named Chie, ...

Nippon TV has the sole broadcast rights for the films of Hayao Miyazaki, which means whenever you watch his movies on TV you have to endure commercial breaks. NHK has the lock on TV documentaries about the reclusive animator. The public broadcaster hangs around ...

The government continues to chip away at the welfare state, reducing benefits for poor families and forcing them to find new ways of saving what little money they have. Luckily the variety show “Ikinari! Ogon Densetsu” (“Suddenly! The Legend of Money”; TV Asahi, Thurs., ...

In June, 11 Japanese people whose family members died shortly after the end of World War II in the area now called North Korea traveled to the communist country to carry out memorial services for their kin. It was the first time they’d ever ...

NHK commemorates the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima with a report on “secondary leukemia” in the documentary special “Owarinaki Hibaku to no Tatakai” (“Battling Endless Radiation”; NHK-G, Tues., 7:30 p.m.). In the aftermath of the bombings, many victims who showed no ...

One million people were killed in Rwanda 20 years ago during a period of civil terror. On Monday, TV Tokyo visits the African country for the documentary series “Mirai Seiki Jipangu” (“Future Century Japan”; 10 p.m.) to look at its “miracle recovery.” Tourism and ...

As the saying goes, behind every great man is a woman, and this week’s installment of the variety show “Bakuho! The Friday” (“Explosive Information! The Friday”; TBS, Fri., 7 p.m.) looks at wives of prominent professional athletes. The first is the proprietress of a ...

Monday is Marine Day, a national holiday, and as has been its tradition for a decade, Nippon TV will air a 90-minute afternoon special about sustainability hosted by Osaka-based announcer Seiji Miyane. “Nippon no Shoku no Mirai” (“The Future of Food in Japan,” 2:55 ...

Kotaro Koizumi, the son of former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, plays against type in the new mystery series “Namonaki Doku” (“Unnamed Poison”; TBS, Mon., 8 p.m.), based on a story by Miyuki Miyabe. Saburo (Koizumi) rescues Nahoko (Ryoko Kuninaka) from a molester and they ...

The welfare ministry estimates there are more than 1 million single mothers in Japan whose individual annual incomes are less than ¥2 million. A new drama series titled simply “Woman” (Nippon TV, Wed., 10 p.m.) is about one such single mother. Koharu (Hikari Mitsushima) ...

The eight-part NHK suspense drama “Gekiryu: Watashi Oboete Imasu ka?” (“Wild Current: Do You Remember Me?”; NHK-G, Tues., 10 p.m.) is about five former classmates struggling with personal and professional problems 20 years after a friend of theirs disappeared during a junior high school ...