Visiting Japan and Asa-Dora

One of the small joys of refusal visits to Japan is learning the ebb and flow of morning TV programs. And for me that is defined by the National broadcaster NHK. You know the morning has properly started at 8pm JST, when the morning drama opening credits fire up. It is a rotating program that airs for limited part of the year, opening and Unfolding for 15 minutes each morning, 8-8:15a. Topics can vary widely, but they are truly original, last year at this time it was a series about young women working at an electronics factory, that shuts down early in the series, then you follow the women as they find other jobs. This year, on this trip, the series is called “Half blue”, which seems to be about a young woman trying to be an artist/illustrator. It’s an interesting tradition NHK has developed, “Morning Drama” or Asa dorama as it is called in Japanese. I look forward to it every time I visit, even though I don’t speak Japanese, I feel like I can follow the story well enough.