Today's
Report
Oct.
3/11 JST
Saito-san
was the guest interviewee in the noontime TV Asahi news program "Lunch
News Access," shown across Japan on digital satellite. They did a great
job interspersing commentary with dramatic images of the trip. It was the sort
of "gee-whiz!" interviews he's getting used to now, but it was
particularly telling how it hit home, judging by the rapt attention of the
15 or so young TV staff as they watched on the studio monitors.
Arriving
home in late afternoon we learned that NHK Television had today aired a 7-minute clip – in English – that Saito-san
enjoyed watching, including a personalized and well researched presentation
featuring his sailing background, a dramatic report of his voyage, and a clever
animation of the circumnavigation.
Several
other TV programs are in the works, including a major NHK special in November
to help raise money for survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake. He's to
appear first on the program, as the only non-singer among a dozen or so top
vocalists in Japan.