Japan ambassador proposes TV program exchange with EBC
On a Thursday morning (Aug. 23) visit to Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), Japan Ambassador to Brazil Akira Yamada expressed his interest in seeing Brazilian shows aired on Japanese TV and Japanese programs in Brazil. He made specific mentions to programs focusing on culture, environment, sports, and music.
“This proposal is music to my ears,” said EBC CEO Alexandre Parola, adding that TV Brasil—the channel controlled by EBC—features a number of programs on the topics listed by Yamada. “Our shows are wonderful, and I’m sure they’d arouse people’s interest in Japan,” he said.
The ambassador also mentioned the Olympic Games in Tokyo, to be held in 2020, as a great opportunity to forge closer partnerships between news outlets in Brazil and Japan. Parola responded by adding the proposal would be welcomed as TV Brasil traditionally broadcasts the Paralympic Games, an important part of the Olympic Games.
Cerrado
Ambassador Yamada described the media as a powerful tool to raise awareness in both Brazil and Japan about development projects entailed by the collaboration between the two countries. As an example, he mentioned the Japanese contribution to the revolution in the Brazilian cerrado. The biome—often referred to as the Brazilian savanna—was previously regarded as unfit for agriculture. The introduction of techniques devised as part of the Japan–Brazil partnership, however, gradually transformed the cerrado into the country’s most productive region in agriculture. Thanks to the cerrado, Brazil has become one of the world’s largest agricultural barns.
He asked TV Brasil to publicize his country’s contribution, made through the Japan–Brazil Prodecer initiative. The ambassador agreed to focus on such initiatives, adding that this contribution stepped up development in Brazil.
Prodecer was conceived in a joint statement signed by Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and Brazil’s then President Ernesto Geisel in September, 1974. The document outlined the efforts to be made by the two countries in agricultural development.
Also in attendance were EBC Director Christiane Samarco, Journalism Director Estevão Damázio, and TV Superintendent Caíque Novis.
