NHK Wins Two ABU Prizes

(Press Release)

TOKYO, November 11, 2014- NHK is celebrating wins at this year’s Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Prizes competition. There were 292 entries (187 for television and 105 for radio) in 13 categories. NHK won ABU Prizes for two programs and a commendation for another. The corporation also won the Dennis Anthony Memorial Award for its coverage of the typhoon disaster that struck the Japanese island of Izu Oshima in October 2013. The winners were announced in Macau on October 27th.

ABU Prize for Best Sports Program Sumo Spirit: A Storm from Egypt (2014, 50 min.) Osunaarashi is an Egyptian bruiser whose ring name means Great Sandstorm. He made headlines in Japan by becoming the first sumo wrestler from Africa—and the first Muslim. Then he fought his way to the sport’s top division faster than any foreigner before him. A director with NHK’s Arabic language radio service documented Osunaarashi’s first two years in Japan. The program shows how the wrestler overcame cultural differences, adapted to sumo’s spartan lifestyle, and pushed toward his goal of reaching the sport’s highest rank.

ABU Prize for Best Radio Drama A Pot of Goldfish: 55 Years of Dreaming (2014, 50 min.) How long can unrequited love endure? Kazuhiro met his first and only love, Mitsuko, on a night in 1959 during a raging typhoon. For the next 55 years, his feelings for her never faded. Kazuhiro has now retired. As he and Mitsuko face the final chapter of their lives, they get their last chance to be together. The drama traces Kazuhiro’s lifetime of loving in solitude—and the apparitions of goldfish that sustained him—while Mitsuko was supporting her family in an area famous for its goldfish-breeding industry.

- 1 - Commendation (ABU Perspective Awards Category) Blessings Amid Disaster (2014, 45 min.) Many people in Japan lost their lives when an earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11, 2011. On the same day, more than 100 new lives began. One woman gave birth in a hospital nearly submerged by the tsunami. Another couldn’t find true joy in her baby as she grieved for the lost. A passion to protect the children has carried families like theirs through adversity and helped to make them stronger. Now, the little ones have celebrated their third birthday. This documentary follows their families during the three years since the disaster and looks at their hopes for the future.

Dennis Anthony Memorial Award Typhoon Disaster Coverage (October 2013) The Dennis Anthony Memorial Award honors the most outstanding news coverage by an Asiavision member. NHK won this award for its coverage of the disaster that Typhoon Wipha sparked on the island of Izu Oshima in October 2013.

About NHK NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) is Japan’s public broadcaster. Funded entirely by receiving fees from Japanese households, it has a reputation for impartial, high-quality programming. NHK reaches about 50 million households via four nationwide channels, and it offers many programs internationally through one of its affiliates, NHK Enterprises. http://www.nhk.or.jp/corporateinfo

About the ABU Prizes The ABU is a group of broadcasting organizations that work together to achieve advances in television and radio throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It was established in 1964 and now has more than 260 members in 64 countries and regions. The organization presents the ABU Prizes during its annual General Assembly Meeting. It gives an ABU Prize to the best entry in each of seven television categories and six radio categories.

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