Japanese media aim to boost relief efforts

Fuji Network directors and producers Go Watanabe and Hideyuki Kasai were in the Shibuya district of Tokyo Saturday, interviewing locals about what they can do as citizens to help relief efforts for earthquake and tsunami victims. With the help of a volunteer interpreter, ATVN’s Marie Agnello asked them about how last Friday’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami has changed their jobs as TV producers. Check out the full interview.

Watanabe and Kasai say the variety show they produce usually focuses on entertainment, but that they changed the topic of Monday’s show to reflect what they feel is an important issue. They say their goal is to reach out to Japanese people to publicize what each person can do to help relief efforts. Their aim, they say, is to focus on the people rather than the quake aftermath.

The producers say this is the first time they have ever shifted the show’s focus away from entertainment to current events based content.

Watanabe and Kasai say they have interviewed junior high school students who they say normally do not care about news events, but want to help people affected by last Friday’s quake.

They said even small children are aware of the situation and are willing to go without certain conveniences for a while in order to conserve resources and help earthquake and tsunami victims. Kasai said people are doing things that they are not accustomed to doing in order to help people in the affected regions.

Kasai said his father, who lives in a prefecture north of Tokyo affected by the earthquake, is staying with him in Tokyo. He said his father also brought with him an elderly man so that he would have a place to stay.

The show will air Monday at 10 p.m. local time on the Fuji Network.