New ‘Welfare’ NHK E TV Programme ‘toi-toi’ to Start in April 2025, Replacing ‘NHK Baribara’

By Barrier Free Japan

February 18 2025

JAPAN – NHK E will begin airing a ‘welfare’ TV Programme on NHK E called ‘toi-toi’ from April 2025.

On January 7th 2025, it was announced on the official website that NHK Educational TV’s barrier-free variety show “Baribara” (broadcast on Thursdays 8pm) would end in March 2025. However, it promised a replacement in the TV schedule, posting on Twitter/X:

“Baribara will end in March of this year.

We owe it all to the people involved, those involved in the incident, and all of our viewers who have helped with the production of this program that we have been able to broadcast it for 15 years. Thank you very much.

Starting in April, we plan to continue to share the voices of those involved in a new program.”

According to the ‘toi-toi’ NHK website:

“ ‘toi-toi’ is a new welfare program where everyone thinks about the “question” that a person has had deep in their heart.
The protagonist who posed the “question” explores the “question” while talking to people with diverse perspectives.
We will search for clues to realize a world where we accept differences and live together.

A ‘non-regular’ episode of ‘toi-toi’ had aired for the first time on NHK E TV on Friday 29th March 2024 with Sho Kawai, a philosopher who has cerebral palsy, asking ‘What does it mean to be normal?’