｜Length : 60min. ｜Year : 1997 ｜

Living in concert with nature

After his village was submerged when the Dainichi River Dam was built in 1969, Tsunejiro Ito refused to leave his old life behind. He recreated the traditional lifestyle of his ancestors and currently lives by burning fields and collecting wild plants, nuts and berries in the mountains of Ohara-machi at the foot of Mt. Hakusan, together with his grandson Shuji. The interconnection between the natural environment, civilization and our daily lives, and Ito's interaction with the tengu mountain god unfold during the course of the show.

｜Length : 44min. ｜Year : 1995 ｜

Suffering from a chronic shortage of fishermen at home, the Japanese fishing is going international; more than 20 percent of the crews responsible for Japan's bonito catch are fisherrnen from Kiribati in the Pacific. Young Kiribati crewmen like 18 year old Aoshi study their craft at the Ocean Training Center in Kiribati under a 67-year-old Japanese fisherman. The program focuses on the efforts of Aoshi and other young trainees - and the bond that develops between them and their teacher so far away from home.

｜Length : 29min. ｜Year : 1995 ｜

Hidetoshi Tanaka is a big man in a lot of ways - but, of course, there is a woman behind every great man. That woman is Tanaka's wife Yuko, who supports him in his efforts to develop sumo as a college sport. As supervisor of Nihon University's sumo club, Tanaka has helped train many top wrestlers including Tomonohana and Daishoho. He and his wife work together to nurture their club which has some 40 boarding students. Theirs is a fascinating, if different kind of dream!

｜Length : 29min. ｜Year : 1995 ｜

Are international marriages difficult? Katsuyoshi Sato would most likely answer no. Katsuyoshi met Christine when she came to Yamagata Prefecture from the Philippines as an apprentice seamstress. Married for five years now, they live in a large household of seven, including their two children, and are very happy. With the support of her family and other Filipino wives married to Japanese, Christine has largely overcome the problems of an "international marriage" and living in Japan.

｜Length : 28min. ｜Year : 1995 ｜

The Shinkansen "Bullet Train" is a marvel of modern technology, quite at odds with a traditional Japanese dairy farm. There is exquisite irony, therefore, in the location of the Kamio family's farm right above the Shinkansen's famous Tanna Tunnel. The trains speed through underground but Mr.Kamio and his son pay no heed. They tend their cows the old-fashioned way, with organic cow feed. The result is gallons of wholesome milk every day and a lot of pride. Only in Japan!