Curriculamachine (partially found Japanese children's TV series; 1974)

Title screen of the show.

Status: Partially Found

Curriculamachine (カリキュラマシーン) was an educational children's television series that aired on Nippon Television from April 1st, 1974, to March 31st, 1978.

Overview

After the Kyosen Maetake Geba Geba Kyūjuppun(90-pun)! (巨泉・前武ゲバゲバ90分!) TV series ended its run on March 30th, 1971, Hajime Tabe, who was in charge of writing the show, was approached by the show's director, Tarō Saitō, who said that The Electric Company, a children's TV show on PBS in the US in 1971, was excellent and that he wanted to make a show similar to it. Tabe expressed interest in the proposal, leading to the start of production of the show.

A test version of the show was produced and brought to kindergartens and elementary schools for children to watch, but the children became bored if the show was too long, and it was decided that an emcee was needed to explain the curriculum. However, a problem arose as to who would serve as the host. The ideal host would be "someone who people around him or her would think what he or she is saying is right," and Hisashi Inoue, who was in charge of the script for Geba Geba 90-pun, recommended Saitō. Saitō was puzzled, but after a majority vote, all staff members except Saitō agreed, and he was assigned to host the show.

The show's content included educational elements such as Japanese syllabic charts, addition, and subtraction, which were taught using animation, but there were also segments that were dramatized or taught in a gag comedy style, sometimes with extreme depictions and black jokes that were not appropriate for children.

It aired every Monday through Saturday from 7:45 to 8:00 a.m. from April 1st, 1974, to April 2, 1977; the time slot was changed on April 4th, 1977 and the show aired from 7:30 to 7:45 a.m. until it ended on March 31st, 1978. In addition, from March 31st, 1975, to March 26th, 1977, the show was re-aired every Saturday from 5:15 to 5:30 p.m.
It was also re-aired in 1981 in a two-part series on Saturday mornings at 6:00 a.m.

Staff

• Planning - Takashi Ihara
• Music - Hiroshi Miyagawa, Toshi Ichiyanagi
• Animation - Renzō Kinoshita, Studio Lotus
• Writer - Yūsuke Jō, Toshiharu Matsubara, Hajime Tabe, Yūkichi Takashina, Kei Shimoyama, Ichirō Okamoto, Manabu Katō, Yoshio Urasawa, Mitsuo Yamazaki
• Director - Tarō Saitō, Masarō Miyajima, Osamu Shigematsu, Fumihiko Kanbe, Takashi Kijima, Kōzō Atsumi
• Producer - Shunsuke Nishina

Availability

On April 21st, 2004, NTV released the Curculamachine Best Selection DVD-BOX, a collection of surviving master tapes. This collection contains only existing footage, which means that footage that was not recorded is probably lost forever.

On October 3rd, 2007, YouTuber ruka HYBRID-CHILD posted the opening video of the show, and on March 29th, 2013, YouTuber furoseru posted three other opening videos of the show. (The opening of one of the three is identical to the one submitted by ruka HYBRID-CHILD, but with higher image quality.)
On February 27th, 2014, YouTube user beglialcell2 posted a 1981 re-aired recording, and on July 19, 2015, he posted another re-aired recording.
On January 2023, YouTuber snaf king posted seven partial segments of the show.

Gallery

1981 re-aired recording footage part 1

1981 re-aired recording footage part 2

1981 re-aired recording footage part 3

1981 re-aired recording footage part 4

1981 re-aired recording footage part 5

1981 re-aired recording footage part 6

External Links

• カリキュラマシーン - Wikipedia