Fuji TV’s documentary series, “The Non-Fiction,” celebrates its 20th anniversary this week with a special program, “Watashi wa Dare?” (“Who Am I?”; Sun., 2 p.m.).
John Ho, a successful businessman throughout Southeast Asia and based in Singapore, wrote a letter some time back to the producers of the program, requesting their help in finding out about his father.
Born in 1945 in Malaysia right after the end of World War II, Ho was raised by his single mother who always told him his father was a Chinese expatriate who had left before he was born. But just before she died 30 years ago, she confessed that actually Ho’s father was a Japanese soldier who was ordered to return to Japan just before the end of the war, when she was pregnant with John. It was the last time she saw his father.
Ho has only three clues for Fuji TV to work with: the man’s given name was Kazuo, he was first sent to Malaysia in 1942 and he claimed to be from Osaka.
Tabito Higurashi is an odd detective. Due to a bizarre condition, he has lost all senses except one, his vision. So while he cannot hear, smell, taste or feel, his eyesight overcompensates in amazing ways: He sees things others cannot.
Higurashi (Tori Matsuzaka) is the protagonist of the drama “Shikaku Tantei” (“Eyesight Detective”; Nippon TV, Fri., 9 p.m.), based on a best-selling novel. He and his partner, Yukiji, specialize in missing persons and items. Higurashi also has a young daughter named Tei.
One day, Tei goes missing from her day care center and the teacher, Yoko (Mikako Tabe), goes to Higurashi’s office, where she finds the girl. Higurashi notices that the key chain around Yoko’s waist is missing an ornament, even though Yoko doesn’t. The next day, Higurashi finds the ornament in a nearby park. Yukiji scolds him, saying that he shouldn’t waste his powers on non-paying investigations.
CM of the week: Mizuho Bank
Three young salarymen are sitting in the waiting area of Mizuho Bank looking into the cubicle of the securities adviser, who is a woman. All three seem reluctant to go in until they see a young female customer leave, laughing. One of the young men stands up.
“You’re going in?” his colleague asks him nervously.
“She seems easy to talk to,” he says before entering the booth. Apparently, asking for financial advice is easier than asking for a date.
