TV MAN UNION was founded on February 25th, 1970.
We were the first independent TV production company in Japan formed by creative individuals who left their production jobs at a major commercial television station.
We all felt we could not become full-fledged professionals within a large organization.
Yet, in another sense it was a step into uncertainty and an unknown future.

TV MAN UNION explored new ways to produce television programs.
Our programs brought new life to television, was highly acclaimed and received numerous awards. We began to receive many requests to produce programs from sponsors, TV stations and agencies. Our new approach to television production was being recognized.

A new and different company must be based on a different organizing principle.
Unlike other companies, TV MAN UNION's unique company system is based on membership.
Each member makes capital investment in the company. Each must actively participate in managing and charting a course for the company. Corporate decisions are by resolution with each member having a vote. Everyone has an equal say in how the company is run and a right to vote on important matters concerning the future of the company. This membership system which guarantees the independence of each member-producer is still in place today.

TV MAN UNION devised new ways to present culture and arts through the medium of television.
We made culture a part of television through such regular music program series as travelogue " I want to Travel Far ", docu-drama "From Europe With Love ", three-hour drama "Born to the Sea ", "Bon Festival of Waves" which received Grand Prize at the Agency for Cultual Affairs, National Arts Festival, "Here Comes the Orchestra" for TBS, special program such as "Maestro Seiji Ozawa: The Day Brahms Was Heard in Beijing" for TBS. In arts, there was "Impressionism: the Artists of Light and Shade, Hosted by Jeanne Moreau" for TBS, in science, "Life Tide" for NTV, Arthur C. Clarke's "Testimony from Space" for ANB and a nature program entitled "A Tale of Four Seasons in the Japanese Archipelago" for ANB.
This trend towards cultural programming had wide support as evidenced by the many companies who helped make these programs possible; companies such as The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, Suntory Limited, Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd., IBM Japan, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Nippon Life Insurance Company, Shiseido Co., Ltd., The Seibu Department Stores, Ltd., Saison, Japan Railways, Hitachi, Ltd., Sony Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, NEC Corporation, Japan Tobacco Inc., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Toray Industries, Inc.
We are proud of the many awards we received for these programs.

TV MAN UNION devised new and creative formats that revolutionized entertainment programming.
The year 1977 saw the birth of "Trans America Ultra Quiz" for NTV. It was a totally new type of quiz program combining quiz and documentary elements in a single program. With each broadcast, the audience grew exponentially, and "Trans America Ultra Quiz" established itself as one of the most popular programs in Japan with audience ratings of more than 30% several times.
We introduced another popular program in 1986, a Hitachi Ltd. sponsored series called "Discovery of the World Mystery" for TBS. The program plays a part in documenting and preserving on video important cultural artifacts. It is still considered one of the best educational-entertainment programs on Japanese television today.

"Home Stay in the World (Sekai Ururun Taizaiki)", a series sponsored by Toray Industries, Inc. is a mainstay Sunday evening program which we proudly point to as one of our new successes. "Home Stay in the World" combines segments that document young people's experiences as they travel around the world and a studio quiz format to produce a truly human interest entertainment program.
Currently, TV MAN UNION produces many diverse programs ranging from documentary and quiz to debate programs for NHK.
We continue to produce excellent drama, documentary, variety and informational programs for the commercial network stations represented by NTV, TBS, CX, ANB and TX in Tokyo ; YTV, MBS, KTV and ABC in Osaka.
We are honored to have been asked to produce a special program for their first day of broadcast for WOWOW, the station name for Japan Satellite Broadcasting Inc. "Telecast from Space: Satellite Broadcasting is Changing the World".

The 21st century is the age of digital broadcasting.
TV MAN UNION embraces digital technology and has devised new and exciting production and technical ideas in step with the digital age. In the digital age, new modes of media become possible by connecting television to computers or linking broadcasting with telecommunications or by pairing information with distribution.
One of TV MAN UNION's first endeavors in this new field was to participate in the programming of a movie channel for CS Digital Broadcasting. With Imagica, we formed CINEFIL, an organization that acquires selected film classics from around the world. These films air on the Cinefil Imagica Channel on both SKY PerfecTV! and DirecTV.

February 7th, 1998. The opening ceremony of the Nagano Winter Olympics. TV MAN UNION was responsible for the production of the finale, the Ode to Joy choral from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted by Maestro Seiji Ozawa. We were successful in bringing together simultaneously, via satellite, the voices of the choir spread out over five continents; New York, Beijing, Berlin, Sydney and Cape Town; all in sync without the characteristic annoying satellite delay.
Our ability to skillfully execute music events were honed during our production of Casals Hall events.
TV MAN UNION is solely responsible for the planning, production and presentation of music events at Casals Hall. The New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra performing all of the Haydn symphonies and the Julliard String Quartet performing Beethoven's pieces for the string quartet, Casals Hall Ensemble, Nobuko Imai's Viola Space have received high praise.
Films produced by TV MAN UNION have received many international awards. Our first independent feature film "Maborosi" was given the Ossela d'Or prize at the 52nd Venice International Film Festival as well as the Grand Prix at the Chicago Film Festival. Our second independent feature "After Life" was the recipient of the Montgolfiere d'Or grand prize at the Festival des Trois Continents held in Nantes. The third film "Distance" received an official invitation to the 2001 Cannes International Film Festival copetition.

TV MAN UNION Members are professional producers, directors and camerapersons. TV MAN UNION's other staff categories are:
Production Staff: Production and technical staff who aspire to be Members General Staff: Administration, Planning, Business, Management Clerical Staff: Account-ing, Production Management,General Affairs, Produc-tion Office,Management, Secretarial.
Each year, we accept talented newcomers who infuse us with new blood and new ideas. We aim for a borderless office that welcomes all ages, sexes and nationalities. But there is one strict rule. One must aspire to professionalism in one's chosen craft. The unequivocal law at TV MAN UNION is that one acquires the skills, knowledge and attitude to become a recognized professional in one's field.

We, as professionals, here at TV MAN UNION have a deep respect for people, the world community and the environment here on earth and throughout the universe. In an age where increasingly, journalistic integrity is demanded of all television producers, we believe that TV MAN UNION's guiding principle in all things we do and produce for the 21st century must be the journalists' respect for people, the world commu-nity and the environment.
A producer must not forget that he/she is a human being and a journalist first. His/her view of people, community and nature must be both humanistic and his/her action governed by journalistic principles.
Humanism is our precept. We will approach people with healthy curiosity. Observing, analyzing and approaching people with huma-nity and love. That is the principle of the new humanism in media.

TV MAN UNION constantly reexamines the answer to the question: "What is television? " We are still doing so today.
The word that defines our industry, broadcast, originally was a term used in agriculture and means the scattering or sowing of seeds in a field.
But today's television has gone beyond the age of a one-way scattering of information. Information now have the power to change the course of history, society and politics. It has become a medium capable of two-way communication, a medium poised to work hand in hand with the internet. In a sense television is transforming itself into a completely new medium.
Our goal will always be to work creatively and be the very best in our profession. What, how, and where to channel our creative efforts is the question TV MAN UNION must answer in the 21st Century. If one characterizes what one sees on television as a visualized thought process then TV MAN UNION is a think tank and our members a group of thinkers.
TV MAN UNION chooses to work within the exciting field of media, in whatever form the 21st century has to offer. Is creation our mission or is it our amusement? We willingly cast ourselves into the turbulent unknown currents of tomorrow. We salute the new century.
It will once again be a new beginning. Close your eyes so you may see: that the future is not darkness, that our imagination is already beginning to show us the outlines of our new creations.