Shows about and for women will highlight the second week of Japan's pre-spring TV specials. Fuji TV will present the eighth in its occasional series of talk shows, "Ganbare! Onna Bakari no Jinsei Tatenaoshi Hitori Mi, Issho Kenmei Special" (Monday, 7 p.m.), in which a dozen or so single female celebrities discuss life without men. Since the title indicates these women are "recovering" from something, the implication seems to be that being with men is the normal state of affairs.
Most of the discussions, in fact, revolve around individual reasons why they can't or don't get married, or why some of them got divorced. Singer Mariya Yamada explains that she was raised by a single mother, and that the experience was the driving force behind her decision to enter show business at an early age. Women's studies professor Yoko Tajima, who rejects the institution of marriage outright, talks about how modern women are still poisoned by the image of being rescued by a prince on a white horse. The discussions are complemented by video reports of "average women" struggling to raise children on their own, or recovering from divorce.
On a slightly more progressive note, businesswomen are celebrated on "Jiritsu Nadeshiko ga Saku Toki (When Independent Japanese Women Bloom)" (TV Tokyo, Tuesday, 10 p.m.). "Nadeshiko" is a term usually used to emphasize feminine traits that are traditionally prized in Japan: reticence, humility, strength. In this particular case, it is attached to women who have made names for themselves in the world of business through their own endeavors, and thus helped the Japanese economy immeasurably.