Japanese-born Ms Uchida was recently approached by major Japanese television corporation TV Asahi to prepare a video report on how Dunedin has been dealing with coronavirus.
"I was a bit surprised — I never worked on that channel before.
"I think it’s good — that’s quite a well-known programme," she said.
Ms Uchida prepared the report, working as a television reporter, and it ran for about three minutes on the Japanese channel during a high-profile noon television show last Sunday.
The report discussed how New Zealanders were living under Alert Level 2.
And the show was a popular social and political debate programme with expert and celebrity panellists including the main presenter Takeshi Kitano, who is a comedian, as well as a widely respected director and writer himself.
Her report included use of social distancing in cafes and on public transport and the relatively limited use of masks in public places in New Zealand, she said.
Ms Uchida, who has lived in Dunedin for the past 26 years, said New Zealand had boosted its international reputation through its success against Covid-19, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had been praised in Japan and elsewhere as one of a series of female leaders — including in Germany and Taiwan — who had been effective in countering coronavirus.
Ms Uchida enjoyed communicating about Dunedin and New Zealand to a Japanese audience.
"I just want to let people know about the wonderful people and the wonderful natural life," she said.
