RTDocumentary

‘Before, I could never have imagined a person living with a doll, but now I can,’ says Senji Nakajima, 62. He lives with Saori, a silicone doll, and not just lives but takes care of her – washes, feeds, hugs, brings her to bed, and talks to her. Dolls are in high demand among the Japanese. Doll vendor Noboru Tanaka explains it this way: ‘When you make love to your wife, there can be some problems. With a doll, none matters!’ The dolls often replace real partners in Japan. Experts say it may be one of the reason births and the population is declining. But Mr Nakajima doesn’t care; he is sure Saori is the love of his life. Learn more about his story in the clip. Then, watch the full documentary Substitutes about people who have silicone dolls to help overcome loneliness. #Japan#humanstories Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Yukiko was a child when she witnessed experiments on humans. She lived near the place where in the 1930s and 40s, the secret Japanese Unit 731 created biological weapons. There is speculation Emperor Hirohito of Japan knew about the unit and passively condoned its work. Listen to Yukiko’s memories and learn more about the notorious criminals in the clip and our film Death Factories. #video#Japan Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#photo#Japan The virtual wife of the Japanese man stopped talking to him. The real drama came as her love ended with software support. Despite the setback, Akihiko will not leave his wife and look for a real girl. Instead, he carries a life-size copy of her with him: ‘My love for Miku has not changed. I arranged the wedding ceremony because I thought I could be with her forever’. Akihiko fell in love with Mika in 2008, and almost ten years later, a device for communicating with virtual characters appeared on the market. Akihiko bought it for $2,700 and got married. But relatives didn’t understand. His mother wishes Akihiko would marry a real girl. See the story of Akihiko Kondo and his virtual wife in the film I Married a Hologram. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#video#Japan In Japan, tens of thousands of young people voluntarily isolate themselves from society. They live in their rooms for years and only communicate with the outside world through the internet. They’re called hikikomori (people who refuse a social life). So why do young Japanese stop going out? Watch our video. Learn more about hikikomori in the film Hikikomori Loveless. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Inside Japan's lonely death cleaning industry #video#Japan Lonely death cleaner is a real job in Japan, which is experiencing a loneliness crisis. More and more elderly Japanese with no one to check on them die alone in their homes. In Japanese, it’s called ‘kodokushi’. When neighbours discover the deceased weeks or months later, it’s usually a gruesome scene. That’s why an entire ‘lonely death’ cleaning industry sprung up. Cleaner Masatomi Yokoo shows his typical kodokushi cleaning process in the documentary, Dying Alone. Watch it on @documentaryplanet https://t.me/documentaryplanet/26

#video#Japan When a plutonium bomb dropped on Nagasaki, a teenage postal worker, Sumiteru Taniguchi, was ‘lucky’. However, he received terrible injuries to his back and left arm. Sumiteru was a hibakusha, the Japanese for an A-bomb survivor. Burns covered his entire back, forcing him to lie on his stomach for nearly two years. Sumiteru devoted the rest of his life to the anti-nuclear movement, showing his scars as a symbol of the horrors of war. More than 70,000 people died in Nagasaki due to the Fat Man bomb. Sumiteru died of cancer in 2017. This is part of his interview from the documentary Atomic Message. Subscribe on our channel odysee.com/@RTDocumentary:4 All our films are available there! Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#video#Japan At least 3,000 people were used as guinea pigs by Japan’s secret Unit 731 before and during World War II. The unit conducted gruesome experiments on humans in occupied China, infecting test subjects with diseases like plague and cholera. They were later vivisected without anaesthesia to see what the disease does. Unit 731 was one of Japan’s biggest wartime atrocities and secrets. The Japanese government denied the unit’s existence until the late 1980s, while the unit’s ideologist, Shiro Ishii, was never punished. You can find out more in the full documentary, Death Factory: Japan’s secret Unit 731 - https://odysee.com/@RTDocumentary:4/death-factory.-japan%27s-secret-unit-731:6 Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#video#Japan Japan is listed as the loneliest country in an OECD survey. There are nearly six million elderly one-person households, according to 2015 census data. Murata-san is elderly and who lost connection with his family. Volunteers regularly check on him. The country’s ageing and single population have given rise to kodokushi, or lonely deaths. As a result, more and more people die alone and unnoticed in their apartments, spurring a kodokushi cleaning business. For more check, the documentary, Dying Alone. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#video#Japan Good thing January is over. It’s commonly considered the most depressing month of the year. But for many Japanese students, stress is permanent. For example, Ryoji Tani was constantly bullied at school and pressured at home. ‘I was raised in an environment where my personality didn’t exist; it was missing’, he says. As a result, Ryoji suffered from a nervous tic and constant stress until he decided not to go to school anymore one day. In Japan, there is even a term for children who refuse to go to school - futoko. But quitting school had a long-term consequence for Ryoji. He withdrew from society and shut himself away in his room for eight years. Social recluses like Ryoji are known as hikikomori. Learn more stories of Japanese hikikomori in our documentary here. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Yukuzas cut off a finger to atone #video#Japan When a member of a Japanese Yakuza owes an apology to a boss, they have to endure a ritual called yubitsume, which means, chopping off their own finger! The pinkies are usually the first to go. For Yubitsume, the penitent lays his hand on a cloth and uses a sharp knife to cut through his finger, just above the top knuckle. Then he wraps the severed finger in the cloth and gives it to his oyabun, Yakuza boss. We once witnessed a yubitsume ritual and it's not a scene for the fainthearted! To learn more about the Yakuza in modern-day Japan, check out our documentary. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

#video#Japan Japan’s Yakuza gangsters are portrayed as merciless, but wise and noble guys. Beneath their sharp suits, they’re all covered in tattoos (irezumi in Japanese). Their pinkies are missing because that’s how they demonstrate loyalty to the yakuza boss, known as oyabun. They drive fancy cars and are popular with women… Well, apparently, that’s how it used to be! Since Japan passed stricter anti-gang laws, life has become difficult for Yakuza members. Mobsters can’t open bank accounts, rent apartments, or even send their kids to good schools. Their ranks have been dwindling and ageing. Are they becoming good for nothing? Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary

Lonely death cleaner #video#Japan Lonely death cleaner is a real job in Japan, which is experiencing a loneliness crisis. More and more elderly Japanese with no one to check on them die alone in their homes. In Japanese, it’s called ‘kodokushi’. When neighbours discover the deceased weeks or months later, it’s usually a gruesome scene. That’s why an entire ‘lonely death’ cleaning industry sprung up. Cleaner Masatomi Yokoo shows his typical kodokushi cleaning process. Follow: https://t.me/rtdocumentary