In April, NHK launched the BS Premium channel, which is mainly dedicated to art and history. This week, Premium presents a special four-part series entitled "Kindai Chugoku ni Kunrin Shita Onnatachi" ("Women Who Dominated Modern China"; Mon.-Thurs., 7:30 p.m.).
Each night, the series will profile a woman who had a hand in bringing China into the modern age. On Monday, the subject is the Empress Dowager Cixi, a concubine who produced the Tongzhi Emperor and became the de facto ruler of China in the late 19th century. Wan Rong, the wife of the last Emperor of China, Puyi, is profiled on Tuesday. And on Thursday it's Jiang Qing, the wife of communist leader Mao Zedong. She was arrested for being a counter-revolutionary after her husband's death.
One of Japan's most curious TV personalities is Sakana-kun, the young man with the preternaturally high voice and bubbly personality who knows everything there is to know about fish. Sakana-kun will be the guest on "Kokoro Yusabure Sempai Rock You" ("The Upperclassman Who Rocks My Heart"; Nihon TV, Sat., 11 p.m.).