Events
Japan Prize 2021 Events and Awards Ceremony
2:00P.M. – 3:00P.M.
Digital Media in the Age of “Social Distancing”
This session explored the potential and issues for digital media while looking back over the entries in the Digital Media Division of Japan Prize 2021.
The panelists were: NHK’s Moriuchi Daisuke, who was a Preliminary Selection Juror for the Digital Media Division in 2021; Hosokawa Keisuke, Chief Producer for the SDGs quiz program, Mirai O 2030 (Fight for the Futureking Throne); and Julia Kiehne, the producer of the work History 360˚, which was a finalist in the Digital Media Division of the Japan Prize 2019.
Daisuke described the trend among the 22 works he judged saying “many projects and programs pored a great deal of thought into issues people are facing under the current living situation, how these issues can be resolved using digital technology, and how people’s hearts that have become separated and distant can be reconnected.” Keisuke talked about Mirai O 2030, explaining how game-like elements were incorporated into the program to foster young people’s interest in SDGs, such as enabling them to participate in the program from their computers as avatars. One of the program’s advantages was that viewers could participate from anywhere in Japan. He also touched on a similar virtual project by NHK on hikikomori pointing out how such programs “enable people who have difficulty showing their faces to connect with others.”
In contrast, Julia identified the fact that there is still a lack of digital experts in the production staff, and the fact that digital media can be difficult for general households to access when special equipment such as VR goggles are required. Daisuke said that: “There are young people who have several social media accounts and use different personas for each account. When people continually communicate using different personas, they become used by technology. Psychological problems may occur of social media if not used consciously.” Keisuke added that “TV is becoming experiential,” pointing out the necessity of next-level medial literacy. Speaking about the mission of public broadcasting, Julia said that “we public broadcasters must be conscious of the content we deliver. It’s vital to be sure people understand what information is real when we deliver necessary information.”
- Panelists
Moriuchi Daisuke
Senior Manager, Strategic Planning Division, Audience Services Department
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)Joined NHK in 1999. Moriuchi has worked on set design for NHK’s year-end gala, NHK Red and White Year-end Song Festival, and computer graphics for NHK documentaries. In recent years, he has produced projection mapping for Tokyo Station and used AI to reproduce the voices of great singers of the past. He is currently developing digital marketing systems to disseminate awareness of the value of public broadcasting.
- Panelists
Hosokawa Keisuke
Senior Producer, Unit 6 (Media Design), Program Production Department
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)Hosokawa joined NHK in 2003 and worked in a broad range of entertainment programs for the young, including The Rules of (R)esearch and (R)ankings (R no Hosoku) and What Engrosses You? (Numa ni Hamatte Kiitemita). Since taking up his present duties in 2019, he has produced such programs as Everyone’s Graduation Ceremony (Minna no Sotsugyoshiki) and Young People’s Voices 2020 (Seinen no Shucho 2020), which delivered young people’s perspectives on the changes wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, and has also been developing the new, interactive program formats of Virtual NHK. The platform’s SDG quiz program, Fight for the Futureking Throne (Mirai O 2030) has been nominated as a finalist for this year’s ABU Digital Content Awards.
- Panelists
Julia Kiehne
Editor, Planner, Format Developer
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)Julia Kiehne works as an editor, planner and format developer for the German public TV network ZDF. Her work focuses on political and social issues. She produced various crossmedia projects and created video formats for different communities. She was part of the team of “History 360”, first runner-up at Japan Prize 2019.
- Moderator
Ohashi Taku
NHK Announcer
Ohashi reports for the evening news program, News Shibu-5 o’clock (News Shibu 5-ji) and is also responsible for the online project, Connect! NHK Media Literacy School (Tsunagaru! NHK Media Literacy Kyoshitsu), an initiative for encouraging primary school children to think about the media. He covered stories about the U.S. public media, podcasting and other themes while participating in a study program at Stanford University, and, building on that experience, now also presents a radio program on the future of the audio media.