Document 72 Hours: 2019
Season 10 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Document 72 Hours Season 9.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 10 Progress Shield
Shinjuku Music Studio: Why We Formed a Band
Jan 11, 2019 · 25 min
The setting is a 24-hour music studio in Shinjuku. Not only amateur musicians, but people of all ages and occupations come here. Office workers gather after work to prepare for a c
A Matchmaking Lounge in Sendai
Jan 18, 2019 · 25 min
In this episode, the scene takes place at a so-called table-sharing lounge in Sendai City, where men and women of all ages and backgrounds come in the hope of finding someone speci
New Year Countdown at the Airport
Jan 25, 2019 · 25 min
Since opening in 2015, Narita Airport's Terminal 3 for low-cost carriers has attracted more passengers each year as travelers swoop on the cheap airfares these airlines offer. Even
Winter Camping Ground with a View of Mount Fuji
Feb 1, 2019 · 25 min
On the first weekend of the new year, we visited a campground at the foot of Mount Fuji. Despite the sub-zero temperatures, people kept arriving and setting up tents. Winter campin
Winter in Tokyo: Taiyaki Elegy
Feb 15, 2019 · 25 min
The redevelopment of the area around the station in Yotsuya, Tokyo, is progressing. In an alley off the main street, there is a small taiyaki shop that has been in business for 60
A Barter Chain in Osaka
Feb 22, 2019 · 25 min
If you start with a charm that supposedly brings good luck and offer to barter it with passersby on a bridge in Osaka Prefecture's Dotonbori district, what sort of trades will happ
Asahikawa Lottery Ticket Sales Office: Dreams Seen in a Blizzard
Mar 1, 2019 · 25 min
A lottery ticket sales office in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Despite sub-zero temperatures, people continue to flock to the office. This is a “legendary sales office” known for producing
A Realtor in Fukuoka: Opening the Door to New Lives
Mar 15, 2019 · 25 min
This episode focuses on a small real estate agency near Fukuoka Prefecture's Nakasu entertainment district, the biggest in Kyushu. Despite being tucked away on the 3rd floor of a m
Close-up! Giant Job Fair
Apr 12, 2019 · 29 min
In February, we took a close look at the “Giant Job Fair” held in Tokyo. Over 300 companies participated during the three-day event, attracting over 10,000 job seekers from across
Osaka Ferry: A One-Minute Journey Through Life
Apr 19, 2019 · 29 min
The bay area of Osaka City, surrounded by rivers and canals. This episode focuses on the city-operated ferry. The fare is free, and it serves as an indispensable mode of transporta
Close-up! ‘The Rental Do-Nothing Person
Apr 26, 2019 · 29 min
“I rent myself out to do nothing.” There is a man who offers this strange service. Despite the fact that he does nothing but simply be present, requests for his services continue t
Small Island, Big Send-Offs
May 10, 2019 · 29 min
Spring in Japan is a time of new beginnings and also goodbyes. On Fukue Island, the largest of the Goto Islands in the far west of Japan, locals have made sending off people moving
A Rotary in a Student Town: Meeting Spot, Melting Pot
May 17, 2019 · 29 min
Takadanobaba is home to dozens of universities, university preparatory schools, and vocational colleges, making it one of Tokyo's most popular student districts. An ordinary open s
Jumokuso: Resting Beneath a Cherry Tree
May 24, 2019 · 29 min
At a large cemetery in a Tokyo suburb, cherry trees grow in between rows of traditional gravestones. The trees themselves are also graves - a form of tree burial called "jumokuso"
Inside Japan's Largest Freight Terminal
May 31, 2019 · 29 min
Tokyo Freight Terminal is Japan's largest distribution hub, with goods from across the nation arriving and being shipped out 24 hours a day. Train drivers, engineers, truck drivers
Shibuya Post Office: Countdown to a New Era
Jun 7, 2019 · 29 min
A few minutes' walk from the famous intersection in Shibuya, Tokyo, is a 24-hour post office. In recent years, this post office has handled an increasing volume of packages for del
People Who Live for ‘Saba-ge’
Jun 21, 2019 · 29 min
As you drive through the farm roads of Chiba Prefecture, a mysterious spot suddenly appears. People dressed in camouflage uniforms run around a vast field with air guns in their ha
Fasting Retreat: A Break for the Body and Mind
Jun 28, 2019 · 29 min
Amid the ongoing health boom, many people have been tempted to try "short-term fasting" to improve their physical and mental condition. Visitors to a facility in Izu Kogen in Shizu
Catching Goldfish at a Fishing Pond in Tokyo
Jul 5, 2019 · 29 min
A few minutes' walk from Asagaya Station, Tokyo, is a traditional goldfish fishing pond that has been operating in a quiet residential area for more than 90 years. Anybody can casu
Wig Shop: A New Appearance, A New Self
Jul 26, 2019 · 29 min
For some people, a wig is a "secret item" that dramatically transforms their appearance and mood. An underground shopping mall in Shinjuku, Tokyo, is home to a wig shop that has be
Bargain Shoes for the Next Step in Life
Aug 2, 2019 · 29 min
A huge footwear store in Kobe attracts customers from far and wide. About 100,000 pairs of shoes, sandals, and boots fill the shelves of this store, which covers over 3,000 square
Climbing the Walls of Life
Aug 9, 2019 · 29 min
An indoor climbing gym in Kawasaki City, near Tokyo, gives climbers a venue to test their physical limit and improve their skills while experiencing thrills - and a sense of achiev
Okinawa Driving School: Dreams Beyond a Driver's License
Aug 30, 2019 · 29 min
Okinawa is seeing an increase in tourists every year. Construction of hotels and department stores is booming throughout the city. Behind the scenes, driving schools where you can
A New Life Away From Bustling Tokyo
Sep 6, 2019 · 29 min
Japan's population continues to gravitate to the Tokyo area, but some people long to move from the capital to different corners of the nation. A consultation center in Tokyo's Yura
At a coin car wash after the rainy season
Sep 13, 2019 · 29 min
The setting is a self-service car wash in Shinagawa, Tokyo, where people line up to wait their turn. Using spray bottles filled with water and detergent, they take their time polis
Nurse Visits: Home Is Where the Heart Is
Sep 20, 2019 · 29 min
As Japan's society continues to gray, the nation's hospitals are facing a chronic shortage of beds. At the same time, a growing number of people want to spend their final days at h
10-Year Milestones in Bikers' Life Journeys
Sep 27, 2019 · 29 min
In August 2019, more than 2,000 motorcycle fans from across Japan assembled at a remote parking area in the volcanic Mount Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture. They came to be photographed wi
From Town to Town on Hokkaido's Blood Donation Bus
Oct 11, 2019 · 29 min
We follow a blood donation bus on its journey from town to town in Hokkaido Prefecture. Japan as a whole faces a chronic shortage of blood donors, but Hokkaido has the highest dono
Chasing Dreams in a Shared Office Space
Oct 18, 2019 · 29 min
Working styles are changing with the times. People no longer have to be physically present at their office at a certain time, and not everyone wants to be an "employee" at a compan
Osaka Castle Park: The Park That Never Sleeps
Oct 25, 2019 · 29 min
Osaka Castle, which stands in the heart of Osaka City, western Japan, is surrounded by a park covering more than 100 hectares. Each year, over 2.7 million people visit this urban p
China, Yunnan Province: A City Park Where You Can See Seagulls
Nov 1, 2019 · 26 min
This episode is a Chinese version of “Document 72 Hours” produced by a Chinese production company. The setting is Kunming, Yunnan Province. Blessed with a warm climate throughout t
Toothy Smiles and Dental Woes: A 24-Hour Dentist's Office
Nov 8, 2019 · 29 min
A dentist's office in Fukuoka, southern Japan, has people streaming in around the clock to be relieved of their pain or to improve their smile. Some of the patients include: a man
A Toast to Life
Nov 15, 2019 · 29 min
A liquor store in Ginza, Tokyo, boasts a selection of over 3,000 types of mainly wine and whiskey from around the world, including a bottle that costs over 18,000 US dollars. Their
Small Wedding Stories
Nov 22, 2019 · 29 min
In this episode, the stage is a low-budget wedding hall in Tokyo, where 30-40 couples shuffle through every day for affordable, small-scale, short notice wedding arrangements. For
Mountain Views, Life Insights
Dec 13, 2019 · 29 min
Every autumn, people from across Japan flock to a large observation area about 1,600 meters above sea level in the mountainous village of Achi, Nagano Prefecture. The picture-postc
Amusement Facility at Twilight in Amagasaki
Dec 20, 2019 · 28 min
The setting is a little-known amusement facility in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture. With billiards and table tennis available from 100 yen for 30 minutes, the facility is bustlin