＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added August 17, 2020> Announcement of the Resumption Date for Morning Dramas
It has been decided that morning dramas will resume broadcasting on Monday, September 14th.
<Added August 5, 2020> Announcement of the Resumption Date for Taiga Dramas and Morning Dramas
– Taiga Dramas: Broadcasts will resume on Sunday, August 30th. A “recap” will be broadcast over three weeks starting Sunday, August 9th.
– Morning Dramas: The date has not yet been decided. It is expected that broadcasts will resume as early as late August.
<Added June 15, 2020> Announcement of the Resumption of Filming for Taiga Dramas and Morning Dramas
It has been decided that the Taiga drama “Kirin ga Kuru” will resume filming on June 30th, and the morning drama “Yell” will resume filming on June 16th. We look forward to seeing the results. During filming, the health of the cast and staff will be the top priority, in accordance with the “Infection Prevention Production Manual.”
Regarding the timing of the resumption of broadcasting, it has not yet been decided, and the decision will be made after observing the situation after recording resumes.
Compared to last year’s “Idaten: Tokyo Olympic Banashi,” which was terrible, this year’s NHK Taiga drama “Kirin ga Kuru” features helpful time period indicators, easy-to-understand direction, easy-to-listen-to narration, and passionate performances by the actors, making it a very enjoyable show and one I look forward to watching every week.
I also enjoy the morning drama “Yell,” and watch it every day without fail.
However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, filming has been halted. Only the June 7th broadcast of “Kirin ga Kuru” and the June 27th broadcast of “Yell” have been filmed, and it is unclear when further filming or broadcast schedules will be made.
1. NHK’s production team should take a risk and resume filming as soon as possible.
However, rather than procrastinating on filming, I believe NHK’s production team should take the risk and resume filming as soon as possible.
In that case, I think they should keep the following points in mind.
(1) Take proper infection prevention measures.
Check the performers’ temperatures and thoroughly disinfect. Performers should also wear masks while waiting and maintain social distancing.
(2) Consider all performers and the content of the recording, and make every effort to streamline the recording schedule to minimize the number of recording days and time. Utilize film-like segmented recording techniques.
(3) Performers should focus on their acting to minimize NGs, and the director should avoid unnecessary take 2s and 3s. Performers should complete rehearsals independently whenever possible, and minimize rehearsals and dress rehearsals (full rehearsals) with other performers.
(4) Instruct cast members not to force themselves to appear if they are unwell, and if an infection occurs, immediately appoint a substitute and continue filming.
(5) If necessary, conduct PCR, antibody, and antigen tests.
(6) Use creative camera angles to create the illusion of close proximity between actors without them being too close, and utilize CG and virtual images.
2. The broadcast time should also be considered.
(1) Broadcast two episodes (90 minutes) at a time every Sunday.
(2) Broadcast every Sunday and Saturday (or Wednesday or Thursday).
(3) Cut out as much as possible, shorten the content, and complete the series by the end of the year.
(4) It would be fine to post a “recap” near the end of the year or in January of the following year.
The above points may be inappropriate for an outsider like me to comment, but I have high hopes for these two programs. Although I feel that this may be meddlesome and that silence is better than hate, I would like to offer a suggestion.
I hope that the NHK production staff are reading this blog. I hope that they will not make the mistake of “Burnt the tongue with hot soup once, one will blow cold salad.”