Direct Talk

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Robots will one day become a part of our everyday lives.

Through his photos and stories, China's well-known investigative journalist Chen Jie has aroused both popular and official support for campaigns to deal with pollution and poverty issues.

Shocked by the discovery of refugee graves in his own country's jungle, Malaysian film director Edmund Yeo made the award-winning feature film Aqerat to open discussion on the Rohingya refugee issue.

Tatsuo Miyajima is an artist known for frequently employing digital LED counters.

Japanese-American actor George Takei spent his childhood in internment camps during WWII.

Conductor Yutaka Sado studied under the great composer Leonard Bernstein for 3 years up until Bernstein's death in 1990.

Media artist Jeffrey Shaw creatively employs the latest technology to conserve, document and display precious elements of cultural heritage, dramatically making the past meaningful to the present.

Yoichi Ochiai uses tech to conjure visual wizardry unlike any seen before.

The Suwada Blacksmith Works makes sharp, high-quality nail clippers that are used everywhere from salons to medical clinics.

Chaebol Company like Samsung brought rapid economic growth, but also disparities and its dependency in Korea.

Yanagiya has a 70% global share of the machines that produce "surimi" crab sticks.

Nicolai Bergmann creates flower arrangements that combine elements of Denmark, where he was born, and Japan, where he is based.

Setsuko Ono became an artist after working for the World Bank for 27 years.

The large-scale water tanks made by Nippura can be found at aquariums in over 60 countries.

Masaki Sato is the president of spinning company Sato Seni, which produces exquisite knitting yarn coveted by some of the world's most famous fashion brands.

South Korea's suicide rate has long been the highest amongst the developed nations.

Hartwig Fischer is the Director of the British Museum.

Patricia Rodriguez is executive managing director of Spanish football club, SD Eibar.

Marina Kaljurand chairs the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace.

For 20 years, Chung To has been helping children affected by AIDS in China by assisting with their tuition and job-hunting.

Lord Alf Dubs, the British politician, came to Britain as a child refugee escaping the Nazis.

In less than a decade, the Vaccine Alliance GAVI has saved nine million lives in the developing world.

Yaskawa Electric is one of the world's four big manufacturers of industrial robots.

Japan-born Anyango is the first woman in the world to play the nyatiti, a traditional stringed instrument played by the Luo people of Kenya.

Yoshiharu Hoshino is the CEO of Hoshino Resorts. He began his career by turning around his family's hot spring ryokan (Japanese-style inn).

Asahiyama Zoo is known for unique exhibits that are designed to encourage animals to behave as they would in the wild.

Thai political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak examines the state of democracy in Thailand and South East Asia, sharing his insights into the influence of China, and his views on the way forward.

Satoshi Miyagi is artistic director of the public theater company SPAC.

Mathematician Noriko Arai, a top Japanese AI expert, warns that artificial intelligences will likely take jobs from humans in the near future.

The Iris Group makes everything from appliances to gardening tools and food and releases 1,000 new products a year.

Masahiro Kato is president of Tendo Mokko, a furniture maker that creates wooden chairs and tables characterized by distinct curves.

Paavo Jarvi is one of the most gifted conductors of his generation.

Textile designer Reiko Sudo brings together Japanese tradition and craftsmanship to design fabrics that are recognized as art by world-class museums.

Ajinomoto intends to be one of the world's top 10 food companies by 2020.

Ikebana is the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement.

Maria Isabel Legarda is the Artistic Director of Philippine Educational Theater Association.

Ayato Takada is a virologist who tracks down new and mysterious strains of disease.

Dhammananda is a Thai Buddhist monk working to achieve gender equality in religion.

Former US Labor Secretary and USC Professor of Public Policy Robert Reich analyses the ramifications of widening income inequality, money in politics, and the urgent need to revive the Common Good.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Olympus has a 70% share of the global gastrointestinal endoscope market.

Sayuri Kinoshita is the first Japanese woman to set a freediving world record in a competitive discipline where divers use no fins-and of course, no scuba gear.

Compost entrepreneur and "zero waste" educator Pashon Murray has made sustainability profitable by turning food waste from corporations into healthy soil for Detroit's urban farmers.

Yuuki Watanabe is a marine biologist who specializes in biologging -the tracking of individual wild animals- particularly the biologging of penguins.

Shuhei Hasado is a plasterer - "sakan" in Japanese.

Manuel Barange is Director of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the FAO.

The Benetton Group is globally known for fashion. Its co-founder Luciano Benetton, now in his 80s, has returned to lead the company's apparel division.

Francisco J. Nunez is the founder of the Young People's Chorus of New York City (YPC).

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

What makes Denmark the happiest country in the world? According to Meik Wiking, the secret lies in a lifestyle that includes social welfare and the uniquely Danish concept of "hygge.

New York-based illustrator Yuko Shimizu followed her dreams to a successful career, creating images for America's leading publications, in a style playing on traditional Japanese techniques.

In 1990, Song Zhenghuan, president of Goodbaby, a top global parenting product company in China, designed a stroller that became a huge hit.

Yoshiharu Kaihara is CEO of Kaihara Corp., a denim manufacturer supplying fabrics to global apparel brands like Levi's and Uniqlo.

Haiyan Zhang, Innovation Director at Microsoft Research, Cambridge, has made a name for herself as an inventor, specializing in technologies to help those living with disabilities and illness.

Known for her candid and uncensored content, bisexual Korean-American comedienne Margaret Cho uses the power of comedy to give voice to diversity and enhance communication in a divided world.

Former principal dancer of the Royal Ballet Tetsuya Kumakawa serves as artistic director of his own company, which performs many classics as well as original works.

Rick Stanton from England is one of the most experienced cave divers in Europe, and led the diving team that rescued the 12 children and their coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.

William Trubridge holds the world record for freediving to a depth of 102 meters.

Ikeuchi Organic is a firm that makes towels using organic cotton.

Kosuke Kuji is president of Nanbu Bijin Sake Brewery, an international award-winning sake producer based in northeastern Japan.

Nousaku Corporation developed the world's first 100% tin tableware.

Internationally renowned architect Toyo Ito seeks not only to refine design and function, but also build architecture that understands how people actually live.

Akiko Horiba works in conflict zones across Asia to end violence by laying groundwork for peace.

Sophiline Cheam Shapiro is a Cambodian classical dance artist working to keep the tradition alive.

Twinbird is an electric appliance maker based in a Niigata city known for craftsmanship.

Internationally renowned dancer Kaiji Moriyama is known for out-of-the-box dances where he uses his body to express abstract concepts like "katana" and "human viscera.

Vinesh Sinha is a young Malaysian entrepreneur who created an environmentally friendly business that makes biodiesel from waste oil.

Carl Pope, a former executive director of the Sierra Club has been working for environmental issues for more than 40 years.

Malaysian musician, filmmaker, and actor Pete Teo highlights social issues through his work and has had a big impact on society.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Artist Riusuke Fukahori uses a self-developed process to paint lifelike three-dimensional goldfish.

An Italian social entrepreneur Riccarda Zezza has come up with the idea that nurturing experience learned during maternity leave can be useful at work.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Fukushima Prefecture has produced "MIRAI2061," a musical film set 50 years after the Tohoku Earthquake.

Author and professor Mao Danqing explains Japanese culture to readers in his native China.

The Bolshoi is one of the world's oldest and most renowned ballet companies.

Impossible Foods CEO Dr. Patrick Brown discusses his mission to counter the environmental threat caused by animal agriculture and his creation of sustainable meat substitutes using biotechnology.

Kostas Kostarelos, a world expert in nanotechnology talks about how it will revolutionize medicine with tissue regeneration, new drug delivery methods, and neural interface and bio sensing devices.

Science writer Steven Johnson analyses the problems of social media, personal data, and the Internet and explains how blockchain technology can solve the issue by using an open, decentralized system.

As its newly appointed director, Professor Joe Smith wants to take the Royal Geographic Society forward to embrace the crucial issues of our time - including climate change and the environment.

The Harmony Project provides free music lessons to children of low-income families.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Nobel laureate James Heckman demonstrated a connection between developing non-cognitive skills in early childhood and success in life.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation, is committed to sports innovation for athletes and spectators alike.

Lee So-hyun, the founder of a company supporting people with autism, looks forward to a time when individuals with autism are accepted, feel comfortable, and can fully play their part in society.

Grigory Sergeev set up a non-profit search-and-rescue organization in Russia, where a person goes missing every 30 minutes.

Charles Pepin teaches popular philosophy classes at a Paris movie theater to make the topic more accessible.

Takahiro Yagi is the sixth-generation head of Kaikado, a long-established Kyoto manufacturer of traditional tea caddies.

Venture Whisky in Chichibu, Japan has won top prize 2 years running at an international whisky competition.

Frances Corner, Head of the influential London College of Fashion, speaks out on why fashion should matter to all of us, and how the global fashion industry can be a force for good.

Andrey Kurkov, Ukraine's foremost writer witnessed the tumultuous events that shaped independent Ukraine.

Kim Gee-yang, South Korea's first plus-size model, dreams of a society that will accept diversity and individuality.

Florian Wiltschko from Austria is the first foreigner to become an officially recognized priest of Shinto, the ancient Japanese religion.

Reiko Takahashi is a photographer who mostly shoots underwater.

Duan Yuezhong launched a publishing firm specializing in Sino-Japanese relations.

Jon Jandai is a Thai organic farmer whose self-reliant way of living attracts people from around the world.

In 2018, the famous chef and restaurateur Andre Chiang returned to his hometown in Taiwan.

Kentaro Hayashi is a doctor who's worked all over the world.

Masao Hosoo combines traditional craft and the latest tech to create interior decorations and other innovative items made with fine Nishijin textiles.

Entrepreneur Thai Huong revolutionized Vietnam's dairy industry by producing safe, fresh milk.

Taiwanese chain restaurant manager Viola Cheng's dedication to helping the disadvantaged has drawn global attention.

In 2017, Masako Wakamiya developed her first smartphone app.

Bunaco is a woodworking company specializing in beech.

Jalal Ahmed is a Bangladeshi architect. His work goes beyond just creating beautiful buildings.

Kiko Matthews from UK broke a world record when she rowed solo across the Atlantic, just 6 months after having brain surgery.

Space debris is an increasing problem. Nobu Okada's company is the first to tackle the garbage.

Hironao Hamada makes the world's thinnest handmade traditional Japanese paper, used to repair cultural properties such as paintings and other invaluable artwork.

Andria Zafirakou, an art teacher in London, won the Global Teacher Prize 2018 and is using the prize money of $1 million to create a foundation to help provide arts to disadvantaged school children.

Adam Hickey is fighting against cyberattacks that threaten the US government and private sector.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Ryojun Shionuma is a Buddhist priest who completed an intense ascetic ritual: hiking a steep 48-kilometer mountain trail 1,000 times.

Tatsuya Tanaka photographs dioramas made with 2cm tall figures and everyday objects and food.

Acclaimed Japan-China expert and Harvard Professor Emeritus Ezra Vogel discusses the history, cultural connection and relationship between the 2 nations, and suggests how they can forge closer ties.

In the era of digital streaming music, head of South by Southwest Festivals' music's division, James Minor shares his passion for live performance, supporting unique artists from around the world.

Karate will be an Olympic sport at 2020 in Tokyo; the origins of this martial art lie in Okinawan karate.

"Taberu Tsushin" is a magazine that comes with samples of locally produced food.

By examining a company's environmental, social, and governance when analyzing potential stocks, financial advisor Lauren Compere is helping investors make socially responsible investing decisions.

Chinese lawyer Tang Shuai uses sign language to protect the legal rights of his clients who have hearing difficulties.

Munroe Bergdorf is a successful transgender model.

Masahiro Kikuno is a watchmaker who does it all himself, from design to manufacturing and assembly.

International award-winning artist Toshihiko Hosaka talks about the beauty of sand art and the artistic vision he brings to life through his sculptures, which are made using only sand and water.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Direct Talk is an in-depth interview program featuring business executives or persons in the news who share their insights, information and analysis.

Direct and in-depth. Interviews exploring the minds and motivations of the leaders, visionaries, artists and entrepreneurs who are changing our world.