Currypedia - spicing up NHK’s global outreach, one curry at a time

29 Dec

Episode 1 of Currypedia, a series introducing Japanese curry to a global audience, hosted by Shizuka Anderson.

Episodic video production for NHK

This blog post will introduce our episodic video production for JIBTV, part of the Japan national broadcaster NHK. With a small crew we managed to make quality video content on a restricted budget that exceeded the clients expectations and is on track to becoming a popular web and streaming service series. For a bit of fun, we bought the animation graphics into the real world, hiding them as placemats and more throughout the series.

Almost all of our video production in Japan up until now has been one-off work. Of course, we have done multiple productions for the same client, often over many years, but they have always been for a specific video each time. It was time to work on something a bit more long term, a project that was big enough to cover something from multiple angles over a longer time. NHK and JIBTV, through their NHK World online and web channels, is doing some great work showcasing the people and places of Japan to the world but we felt that we could offer a bit more, helping bring their video production more into line with recent social media standards and expectations, while also working in some of our strengths in graphic design and art direction.

After approaching JIBTV directly and meeting a couple times ... we heard nothing for a couple of years. Until, one day, they asked us for help on producing a new food series they had in mind, Currypedia, introducing the varieties of Japanese curry to the world.

Not just your usual food video - how we spiced up the curry

The series is a food programme in the usual host-eats-their-way-around format. A host, here the wonderful Shizuka Anderson, explores various curry shops in Tokyo, talking to the staff/owners about what makes their curry unique, and giving her thoughts on the curries. However, we wanted to have a bit of fun and try to add a bit of spice to the shows, while working with the format.

Here are four things we included that make the episodes a bit more tasty:

Hearing directly from the shop staff

At each shop, as well as the host of the show interviewing them, we also asked the staff to speak directly to camera about what curry means to them. We weren’t sure what kind of replies (if any!) we were going to get but all those we asked replied with thought provoking answers.

Original animation graphics

A propers series needs proper theme graphics to tie them all together. With an art director in-house, we were able to design and make the animation of a Japanese kimono-wearing woman eating a curry used throughout the series. Something eye catching, capturing the fun essence of the show in a few seconds.

Animation graphics into the real world

Doing fancy things digitally is all well and good, but what if we could actually integrate some of those elements, bring them to life, in the real word? We had an idea for the host to wear a currypedia branded t-shirt but ended up being a bit more subtle, printing out branded signs and placemats and sneaking them into shots. See if you can spot them!

Maps, on curry shop tissues

This series is meant to entertain, as well as inform, so the client requested a map of the locations we visited. Sure, we can do a map digitally, but what about trying something different, something analog? We ended up sketching the location maps on the tissues found in restaurants. Perhaps we should have spilt some curry on them to give them even more of a curry shop feeling!

As of writing this blog, we have produced episodes 1 and 2 out of a planned 6, with episode 1 up on the JIBTV YouTube channel. The remaining currypedia episodes should be up there by around March 2025 so do have a taste!

japanese woman in kimono eating curry for currypedia video series — part of the animation graphics we designed for the NHK/JIBTV series on Japanese curry, currypedia

“I loved the variety of curries showcased in this video! The combination of soba noodles and curry was a unique and delicious twist. I’m intrigued by the 100-hour curry at Hungry Curry and would love to try it out. The host’s enthusiasm and passion for Japanese curry is infectious, and I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at the curry-making process.”

— YouTube commenter on episode 1