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40 Episodes 2017 - 2019
Episode 1
The workers at a waste management company in the city of Niigata, Japan, all look forward to the pork soup day that comes around once a month. Office worker Ms. Horikawa cooks this soup for the men who go out every morning, despite any weather. They gather garbage from more than 100 collection points, scattered across the city. The soup not only warms up the workers' bodies, but their hearts as well. In another segment, we visit a factory in Osaka that produces windows and doors. The factory hires Vietnamese interns. 3 times a week, the company president's mother-in-law cooks staff lunch for all workers. And she does so with a hint of Vietnamese cuisine, to treat the interns with a taste of home.
Episode 2
We tag along with a bus tour guide in Miyazaki Prefecture, southern Japan, to see what her job is all about and also what she does for lunch. While the tourists are busy enjoying local delicacies, the veteran tour guide often orders delivery lunch and has it with the bus driver. In another segment, photographer Satoru Abe visits a factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, central Japan that produces 100 thousand utility poles every year. Inside the factory, we get an in-depth look at the skilled craftsmanship that makes it possible to create safe and reliable poles. When it's lunchtime, we take a look at the homemade bento lunch people bring from home.
Episode 3
Episode 4
Ryu Uchiyama, who lives in Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka, Japan, is an unusual type of underwater photographer, as he specializes in shooting freshwater wildlife. He's loved rivers since he was a child, and today, he spends over 6 months every year diving in rivers. Since the best time to take photos is around noon, when the sun is directly overhead, Mr. Uchiyama always has lunch past 2 o'clock. But before he eats, he goes into the river again to catch his lunch. In another segment, we visit the Wakayama Electric Railway's Kishigawa Line. The feline stationmaster of the line's Idakiso Station does an excellent job of charming customers. When the train company's employees have lunch, they always discuss new ideas to vitalize the areas around their line.
Episode 5
The patent office in Japan receives more than 300 thousand patent applications every year, and those applications are reviewed by examiners. There are about 1,900 examiners, and each one goes through about one application a day. Although the job is naturally tough, as it demands a thorough understanding of some very scientific and technical things, the examiners seem to be enjoying their job. In fact, they enjoy it so much that they get together to watch technology-related videos during lunch break a few times a month. In another segment, we visit the Minato City Hall in Tokyo. As we hang around in the cafeteria, we get to talk to city hall employees of various sections, each with different tasks.
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
We go to Ishigaki Island of Okinawa, the southernmost prefecture of Japan, to visit a pineapple farm. The island's pineapple farming industry once flourished, but today, it is faced with tough competition. However, the pineapple farmer we meet keeps producing tasty pineapples. Harvesting the fruits under the scorching sun is extremely hard work, but the farmers keep going as they hydrate themselves with the juicy pineapples they grow. When they sit down for lunch, we see the farmers all eat a unique local specialty. In a different segment, photographer Satoru Abe visits a mosquito coil plant in Wakayama Prefecture, which is located south of Osaka. For 120 years, the plant has produced mosquito coils, and although many of the production processes are today automated, there are still some things that are done the old-fashioned way: with gentle human hands. And at lunchtime, the break room is full of smiles and delicious-looking bento lunches.
Episode 9
Episode 10
Episode 11
We visit the staff cafeteria of a publishing company in Tokyo, where every day, lunch is prepared for 280 employees. Although the cafeteria only offers the very inexpensive daily special, it comes with a variety of all-you-can-eat side dishes. The hungry employees can't help themselves from piling on huge portions on their plates, and many testify that the cafeteria has made them gain weight. In another segment, we visit a plant near Tokyo that produces traditional Japanese socks called tabi. An 18-year-old rookie is now training to master the most difficult part of the sewing process, as the plant feels the urgent need to pass the skill down to the youngest generation. The rookie lady makes her own bento, and so does her coach, who is 40 years older than her.
Episode 12
Episode 13
Episode 14
Episode 15
Episode 16
Episode 17
Episode 18
Episode 19
Episode 20
Episode 21
Episode 22
Episode 23
Episode 24
Episode 25
Episode 26
Episode 27
Episode 28
Episode 29
Episode 30
We go to Kawaguchi City, near Tokyo, to visit a company that boasts the biggest share of cardboard boxes in Japan. Cardboard boxes come in a variety of types, as different clients demand different features. Designers at the packaging technology department work restlessly to develop boxes, but when they get hungry at lunchtime, they eat heartily at the cafeteria. In another segment, we go to Fukuoka Prefecture, southwest Japan, to meet a group of men who are farmers by day and handball players by night.
Episode 31
We visit a major information services company near Tokyo Station. And come lunchtime, we go to their cafeteria to investigate who or what is number one in a variety of categories. Who gets to the cafeteria first? Which meal is the most popular? And who is the last to come to the cafeteria? In a different segment, we go down to Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, to see how a seaweed called mozuku is farmed and harvested. For lunch, the fishermen eat homemade, tasty mozuku rice balls on their boat.
Episode 32
Episode 33
Episode 34
Episode 35
Episode 36
Episode 37
Episode 38
Episode 39
Episode 40