NHK World [企画・演出・コーディネート] Asia Insight
The Battle against Legal Abandonment

NHK World 2015.07.17

The Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan is seeing an unending stream of ‘legally’ abandoned children. As many as 2,000 infants are relinquished every year in accordance with a family law that seems to reflect the nation’s socialist history. The number is particularly high in the capital of Astana where large-scale development is attracting people from the regions coming in search of work. Many babies resulting from encounters between such men and women end up being legally abandoned. The program delves into this troubling social problem by looking at a children’s home for “relinquished” infants and a mothers’ home for solo mothers who have decided to keep their babies.

Official Web Site

NHK World [企画・演出・コーディネート] Asia Insight
A Tough Test for Silk Road Merchants

NHK World 2015.06.26

The Dordoi Bazaar in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek is Eurasia’s largest. It is a key way-stop on the route by which Chinese products travel to Russia and Central Asia. But the bazaar faces major change, as Kyrgyzstan joins the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) led by Russia. Before, import and export taxes were very low, and the intermediary trade of the bazaar blossomed. Having joined the EEU, however, import tariffs on Chinese products are expected to soar, which will have a massive impact on sales. Merchants are troubled, with some choosing to downsize their business, or close up shop altogether. As China’s “One Belt, One Road” strategy unfolds, and the country turns its attention to Central Asia, small landlocked Kyrgyzstan is stuck between 2 giants. By looking at the Dordoi Bazaar, we’ll examine the pressures faced by merchants throughout Kyrgyzstan.

Official Website

BS1 [企画・演出・コーディネート] Asia Insight
“誘拐婚”との闘い

NHK BS1 2013.09.19 27:00 – 27:30 (28分)

中央アジアのキルギスでは、女性が見知らぬ男に誘拐され結婚を強要される“誘拐婚”が社会問題になっている。それをなくそうと立ち上がったキルギス人女性の活動を追った。

中央アジアのキルギスでは、女性が見知らぬ男に連れ去られて結婚を強要される“誘拐婚”が深刻な社会問題になっている。誘拐婚の起源は、遊牧民の社会の古い慣習にあるとされ、キルギスでは、今なお誘拐婚を民族の伝統として受け入れてしまう人が少なくない。番組では、誘拐婚をなくそうと立ち上がったキルギス人女性の活動を通して、今なおなくならない誘拐婚の実態とキルギスにおいてそれをなくすことの難しさを見つめる。

NHK World [企画・演出・コーディネート] Asia Insight
Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan

NHK World 2013.08.23

In Kyrgyzstan, a small country in Central Asia, the institution of marriage is troubled by the serious social problem of “bride kidnapping”. Women are abducted and forced to marry men they have never met. A traditional practice of Kyrgyzstan’s formerly nomadic people, during the Soviet years and since independence the custom has taken on a criminal character. It leaves deep scars in its victims, and 2012 saw a series of kidnapping-related suicides.
Munara Beknazarova has taken on the mission of putting a stop to this ongoing tragedy in her country. She offers supportive care to victims while battling to change public acceptance of bride kidnapping as a traditional practice.
This episode of Asia Insight reports on bride kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan and Munara Beknazarova’s fight to end it.

Official Website