The first part of the latest installment in "Season 4" of "NHK Special The Hot Spot: The Last Paradise," a large-scale NHK nature documentary program in which singer-songwriter and actor Masaharu Fukuyama travels the world, titled "A New Chapter in which Masaharu Fukuyama Explores Evolution and Extinction," will be broadcast on NHK General TV from 9:00 p.m. on December 29th.
For the program, Fukuyama has traveled to over 20 countries around the world since 2011, examining the ecology and evolutionary mysteries of endangered wild animals.
The latest film features rare footage of rare creatures from around the world that the director has visited over the past 15 years, as well as the astonishing changes that have occurred in the creatures of the Galapagos Islands, a World Heritage Site also known as a "laboratory for evolution," which was the director's latest reporting location.
Furthermore, we will explore the mysteries of life together with researchers from the "Great Extinction Exhibition" currently being held at the National Museum of Nature and Science (Taito Ward, Tokyo). What is the inextricable relationship between the extinction and evolution of life, which has overcome numerous catastrophes over the course of 4 billion years of history? We will explore how humans should act.
The cast will include Fukuyama, announcer Maho Kuwako, and Jun Yabe of the National Museum of Nature and Science, who served as the general supervisor of the "Great Extinction Exhibition." The new chapter will consist of two parts, with the second part airing on January 4, 2026.
