List server
Season
Season 7 Episode
- Season 4 Mochi Rice Cake
- Season 4 Watches and Clocks
- Season 4 Fugu Blowfish
- Season 4 Haneda Airport
- Season 4 Kagura Dances
- Season 4 Snow
- Season 4 Pollen Allergy
- Season 4 Sashimono Woodwork
- Season 4 Cranes
- Season 4 Kitchen Knives
- Season 4 Fishing
- Season 4 Armour
- Season 4 Judo
- Season 4 The Life of Taro Okamoto
- Season 4 The Life of Osamu Dazai
- Season 4 The Life of Kenzo Tange
- Season 4 The Life of Hideko Maehata
- Season 4 Toilets
- Season 4 Lifts
- Season 4 Motorcycles
- Season 4 Unagi Eel
- Season 4 Japanophiles - Ilan Yanizky
- Season 4 Japanophiles - Silvain Guignard
- Season 4 Japanophiles - Stéphane Danton
- Season 4 Japanophiles - Dorothy Feibleman
- Season 4 Plastic Food Samples
- Season 4 Insects
- Season 4 Traditional Japanese Mathematics
- Season 4 Bicycles
- Season 4 Chusonji
- Season 4 Seaweed
- Season 4 Charcoal
- Season 4 Rain
- Season 4 Golf
- Season 4 Shipbuilding
- Season 4 Japanophiles - Bruce Huebner
- Season 4 Japanophiles - Noelke Muho
- Season 4 Japanophiles - Matt Alt
- Season 4 Karaoke
- Season 4 Holidays
- Season 4 Red Sea Bream
- Season 4 Shopping Streets
- Season 4 Chickens and Eggs
Begin Japanology - Season 4 Episode 17 The Life of Hideko Maehata
8.00 28 minutes As a child, Maehata studied traditional swimming techniques passed down from the days of the samurai. At 18, competing in the 200 meters breaststroke at the 1932 Summer Olympics, she missed out on gold by one-tenth of a second. Determined to do better, Maehata trained incredibly hard for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. On August 11, 1936, Japan's first live international radio broadcast brought the drama of the women's 200-meter breaststroke final to the entire nation. Maehata won. After a long hiatus, she returned to the sport as a teacher to help rebuild Japan's swimming culture. She suffered a stroke in 1983, but characteristically battled back and resumed coaching. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, we look at the life of Hideko Maehata, a woman who captured the imagination of the Japanese public.
