This year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Jules Verne, the French author who is regarded by many as the father of the science-fiction novel. Over the last century, Verne's tales of adventure and discovery have inspired many people to become writers.
One of them is novelist Makoto Shiina, who calls Verne's 1888 story "Deux ans de vacances (Adrift in the Pacific)" the "starting point" for his career. On Monday at 4 p.m., TBS will present a special program, "Shiina Makoto no Kando Ni-man Mairu (Makoto Shiina's 20,000 Miles of Emotion)," in which the writer traces the route traveled in the book by 15 boys.
For as long as the book has been in print there has been a controversy over the setting. People once believed it was Hanover Island, which belongs to Chile and is located near the Straits of Magellan. However, there are many inconsistencies in the book that indicate this isn't true. Shiina goes to Hanover to find out.