Happy surprise ABS-CBN & NHK’s first tie-up

ABS-CBN and NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, announced their first co-production venture, a feature on a famous Filipino-Japanese sumo wrestler and his family that airs in Rated K tonight.

The Rated K segment is one of the many projects lined up under the long-term collaboration between the two companies. It is based on NHK’s program segment Happy Surprise, which features different people who want to surprise a special person they care about by setting up a fake documentary.

In the special ABS-CBN-NHK-produced Happy Surprise segment that airs in Rated K, Filipino-Japanese sumo wrestler Masunoyama surprises and shows his love and gratitude for his Filipino mother, Maria Christine, who raised him and his siblings on her own.

“It’s a very inspiring story. When we found out there’s a half-Filipino sumo wrestler living in Japan, we were really interested and we wanted to be the first to bring his story to our kababayan and Kapamilya viewers all over the world,” said Ging Reyes, head of ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs.

Under the impression that Rated K anchor Korina Sanchez is featuring Filipinos living in Japan, Maria Christine goes around the famous tourist attractions and landmarks in Tokyo with Korina. As she is being interviewed, Maria Christine is suddenly surprised by a flash mob of sumo wrestlers, led by her son Masunoyama, which moves her to tears.

“We organized a surprise that’s beyond anyone’s imagination, it’s a very touching moment, I guarantee,” shared Hiroshi Yamamoto, senior manager at NHK.

The segment will also be shown on May 31 in Happy Surprise in Japan.

At the recent joint press conference of ABS-CBN and NHK, ABS-CBN business unit head Linggit Tan shared that the possibility of a co-production venture came about last year when NHK came to the Philippines to do a feature on Ivy Beldad, a Filipina nurse who passed the licensure exam in Japan and was the first-ever foreigner and Filipino to be featured in Happy Surprise. She said that it was also the first time she met Yuri Sudo, the producer-in-charge of Happy Surprise.

“We started talking and when they showed me the tapes of Happy Surprise, I saw that it’s a really feel-good segment and very heartwarming, a tribute and appreciation to people who have done so much in your life. This is also a very Filipino sentiment that we have. So we started talking about how we can work together,” she said.

She also revealed that aside from showcasing Japanese culture, NHK, as a public broadcaster, wants to show its appreciation for Filipinos.

“Yuri-san told me that after Japan was hit by the (2011) tsunami, they saw that Filipinos did not leave Japan and helped the people rise again. Now they are willing and would like to return the favor by doing something together with us,” said Linggit.

The story of nurse Ivy was already aired in Japan last year, and as part of ABS-CBN and NHK’s collaboration, her story will be portrayed in the top-rating drama anthology Maalaala Mo Kaya.

“We’re doing baby steps. We will try to collaborate again and see if we can push through and tie up with Rated K to feature the flash mob for Ivy,” said Linggit.

In a statement, NHK said that its “firmly established” collaboration with ABS-CBN, its first with a foreign company, is a landmark moment for the corporation.

“ABS-CBN is highly regarded as the leading broadcaster in the Philippines that constantly produces high-quality entertainment programs. We regard ABS-CBN as our best partner to develop content together because we can share the value of entertainment with people at the network,” said NHK.

“We regard Happy Surprise as the very first success we achieved on the long track. We are having collective and intensive discussions for extending our cooperation further. Just wait until you’ll see our second big surprise,” NHK said.

Linggit, on the other hand, said the collaboration with NHK will enable ABS-CBN to expand and penetrate the Asian market.

“Television is a global medium and we need to explore other things we can do for TV and for Filipinos. We’ve done co-productions with Malaysia, where Jericho Rosales and Gerald Anderson are very popular, and other foreign TV networks have licensed and aired our shows, but we also want to get into Japan and do something together. This might be one of the ways to get into the bigger Asian market, to boost our content, and be recognized globally,” she said.

Catch the Happy Surprise co-produced by ABS-CBN and NHK showcasing Masunoyama, his mother Maria Christine, and their family in Rated K tonight at 8:30.