｜Length : 15min. x26 ｜Year : 2000 ｜

This 26-part series is a collection of images of some of the animals inhabiting the Japanese archipelago. Each episode is packed with rare insights into the lives of Japan's animals, fish, birds and insects.


[1. Animal Courtship]
1. The Jump of the Mudskipper
2. The Courtship of the Ruddy Kingfisher
3. The Courtship of the White-Cheeked Flying Squirrel
4. The Dance of the Short-Tailed Albatross
5. The Courtship of the Hakusen Fiddler Crab

[2. Animals in Winter]
1. The Japanese Sable Plays Tag
2. The Varied Tit Prepares for Winter
3. Habitats of the Flying Squirrel
4. The Iriomote Glow-Worm Glows in Winter
5. The Japanese Macaque Searches for Food

[3. Autumn Migrants]
1. The Visit of the White-Naped Crane
2. The Visit of the White-Fronted Goose
3. The Visit of the Black-Faced Spoonbill
4. The Grey-Faced Buzzard Heads South
5. The Life-and-Death Flight of the Brown-Eared Bulbul

[4. Building Nests]
1. The Nest of the Harvest Mouse
2. The Carpenter Bee's Nest
3. Great Black Woodpecker Parents
4. The Badger's Set
5. The Nest of the Long-Tailed Tit

[5. Courting in Spring]
1. The Songs of the Bush Warbler
2. The Radiant Colours of the Male Pheasant
3. The Courtship of the Giant Water Strider
4. The Courtship Feeding of the Little Tern
5. The Great Imitators: Bull-Headed Shrikes

[6. Creatures of the Southern Islands]
1. Sperm Whales Dive Deep
2. The Behaviour of Bonin Flying Foxes
3. A Native Species: Bonin Islands Honey-Eaters
4. Feral Goats
5. A Green Turtle Lays Her Eggs

[7. Fish Spawning and Hatching]
1. The Birth of the Medaka
2. The Birth of the Two-Banded Anemone Fish
3. The Birth of the Biwa Catfish
4. The Birth of the Blue-spotted Mudskipper
5. The Birth of the Chum Salmon

[8. Laying Eggs and Rearing Chicks]
1. Swallows: Parenting under the Eaves
2. Brown Dippers: Parenting by a Mountain Stream
3. Peregrine Falcons: Parenting on a Cliff
4. A Colony of Grey Herons
5. Rock Ptarmigans: Parenting in High Mountains

[9. Forest Dwellers]
1. Japanese Macaques on Yakushima Island
2. From Forest to Sea: Red-Legged Crabs
3. Grey-Faced Buzzards of the Satoyama
4. Jewels of the Forest: Green Mountain Butterflies
5. Black Woodpeckers in the Virgin Forest

[10. Hunters]
1. The Trapdoor Spider's Ambush
2. The Greater Pied Kingfisher's Dive
3. Giant Water Bugs: Hunting with Forelegs
4. The Four-Spined Sculpin's Stone Camouflage
5. The Powerful Suckers of the Common Octopus

[11. Life Among the Ice Floes]
1. Above the Ice Floes: White-Tailed Sea Eagles
2. Drifting Ice Angels
3. Mother and Baby: Saddle-Backed Seals
4. Scallops on the Seabed
5. Fish Beneath the Ice Floes

[12. Survival Strategies]
1. Masters of Disguise: Octopuses
2. Leaf or Butterfly? Leaf Butterflies
3. Seaweed Camouflage: Tiarinia cornigera
4. Fish Lures: Green-Backed Herons
5. A Multicoloured Coat: Flashback Cuttlefish

[13. Winter Migrants]
1. The Short-Eared Owl: A Hunter
2. Sandpipers on the Tidal Flats
3. The Courting Behaviour of Wild Ducks
4. Japanese Waxwings and Mistletoe
5. The Feeding Grounds of the Black-Headed Gull

[14. The Wonder of Seeds!]
1. White Birch Seeds Fly on the Wind
2. The Seed-Packed Spike of the Cattail
3. The Popping Seeds of the Wood Sorrel
4. Themeda japonica's Rotating Seeds
5. Birds Love Linden Viburnum Berries

[15. Hunting Techniques]
1. The Ambush of the Stonefish
2. Cone Shells Shoot Their Poison Darts
3. Feeding Techniques of the Spotted Eagle Ray
4. The Feeding Habits of Shorebirds
5. The Agility of the Trapdoor Spider

[16. Seashore Breeders]
1. Grass Puffers Come Ashore to Spawn
2. The Life Cycle of the Spear Squid
3. The Colourful Eggs of the Sailfin Sandfish
4. The Spawnings of the Hermaphroditic Sea Hare
5. The Mysterious Glow of the Firefly Squid

[17. Creatures of the Coral Reef]
1. A Day on a Coral Reef
2. Crown-of-Thorns Starfish: Coral's Natural Predator
3. Defensive Strategies of the Parrot Fish
4. How Damselfish Protect Their Eggs
5. Cleaner Wrasses: The Cleanerrs of the Coral Reef

[18. Creatures of Clear Streams]
1. Japanese Chars: Headwater Dwellers
2. Common Kingfishers: The Jewels of Clear Streams
3. Ayu: Growing Up in the River
4. Survival Strategies of Caddisflies
5. The Spawning of Brown Stream Frogs

[19. Mangroves]
1. Mangroves: The Cradle of life
2. Rhizophora stylosa: A Paradise for Fish
3. The Aerial Roots of Sonneratia alba
4. The Survival Strategy of Avicennia marina
5. Bruguiera gymnorrhiza: Thickets Teeming with Life

[20. Colony Breeders]
1. The Parenting of the Black-Crowned Night Heron
2. The Slaty-Backed Gull of Daikoku-jima, Hokkaido
3. Common Cormorants in the City
4. The Nocturnal Life of Leach's Storm Petrels
5. A Spectacular Colony of Common Guillemotsd

[21. Creatures of the Mangroves]
1. Soldier Crabs on a Sandy Beach
2. Barred Mudskippers on the Tidal Flats
3. Fish in the Mangrove
4. A Leaf-Eating Mangrove Crab
5. The Mud Lobster Builds a Nestd

[22. Creatures of the Wetlands]
1. Red-crowned Cranes in the Kushiro Marsh
2. Siberian Salamanders
3. Redshanks on the Notsuke Peninsula
4. Water Spiders
5. Red-necked Grebesd

[23. Symbiosis: Helping Each Other]
1. Coral and Coral Crabs
2. Gobies and Snapping Shrimps
3. Sea Anemoes and Anemonefish
4. Ants and Aphids
5. The Coral's Secret

[24. Animals That Use Man-Made Objects]
1. Dusky Tripletooth Gobies: Parenting in an Empty Can
2. Oriental Particoloured Bats: A Nursery in the Attic
3. Magpies: Nests atop Power Poles
4. Land Hermit Crabs: House-Hunting Experts
5. Swallows: Parenting under the Eavest

[25. Strategies for Species Preservation]
1. Perch Sculpin and Their Sea Squirt Cradle
2. How Shirozua jonasi Cheats Ants
3. The Explosive Breeding Power of Aphids
4. Coypus: Dwelling on the Water's Edge
5. How Kobi Cuttlefish Use Sponges

[26. Child-Rearing Fathers]
1. Male Painted Snipes: The Plainer Sex
2. Japanese Freshwater Perch: Guarding the Young
3. The Male Seahorse's Brood Pouch
4. Giant Water Bugs Carry Eggs on Their Backs
5. The Three-Spined Stickleback Builds a Nest

｜Length : 25min. x7 ｜Year : 1998 ｜

The mysteries of math unraveled

Maths Wonderland invites participation from the audience when solving complex mathematical formulae and is an aid is dispelling the mysteries most people associate with mathematics. Professor Jin Akiyama uses various kits and devices to prove formulae and theorems, a method students are bound to find fascinating.


1. The Clever Way to Count - The Sum of Whole Numbers -
2. Use Your Wits to Measure - Volume of the Pyramid & Prism -
3. Fantastic Pythagoras - Applications of the 3 Squares Theorem -
4. Front? Back? Then What? - The Characteristics of a Curved Surface -
5. Balance is Everything - Centre of Gravity -
6. Brilliant Spins - Inscribed Circles -
7. Let's Make a Square Hole - The Properties of a Certain Shape -

｜Length : 15min. x15 ｜Year : 1996 ｜

An Inspiring Introduction for Scientific Seekers

Developed with the aim of fostering the ability to think scientifically, this series introduces basic principles in a way that is both understandable and engaging for students in the upper grades of primary school. The presenter, herself a primary school student, and her adult assistant apply scientific thinking and research methods to a wide range of fascinating questions. Eye-opening experiments and clever observations aid both in arriving at answers and in capturing the interest of young viewers. An invaluable introduction to the world of science, created specifically for children from 10 to 12 years old.


1. Living seeds
2. How Bean Sprouts Grow
3. How Fish Are Born
4. Food for Fish
5. How Animals Reproduce
6. How Plants Reproduce
7. The Temperature and the Sun
8. Moon and Sun Paths
9. Why the Moon Changes Shape
10. What Happens When Substances Dissolve
11. The Beauty of Crystals
12. Levers in Everyday Life
13. The Pendulum Principle
14. Collision Power
15. Now It's Your Turn

｜Length : 20min. x10, 15min. x10 ｜Year : 1997 ｜

Placing environment concerns above convenience

In the pursuit for a more comfortable life, humans rarely consider the damage to other living creatures and to the environment. This series questions today's values and lifestyles when measured against the resulting pollutants, waste and blight of natural resources. From an environmental perspective, we are taken on a journey spanning the ocean depths to deep forests and made to re-examine man's impact on nature. Suggestions on how to care for our planet and its finite resources are incorporated into each program, hopefully encouraging us to change our habits and way of life.


1. Creatures that Have Eaten Garbage
2. How Far Can Recycling Go ?
3. The Sleepless City
4. The Ocean's Forests
5. Vegetables for All Seasons
6. The Forest's Secret
7. The Dead Forest
8. A Doctor for Wild Animals
9. A Child is Born!
10. Feeding the Cranes
11. The Water Pouring into the Seas
12. Chase the Litter!
13. Let's Think about Plastic Bottles
14. People and Beech Forest
15. A Story about a Paddy-Field
16. White Stork, Fly Leisurely!
17. Invitation to the 'Dragonfly Kingdom'
18. Making Healthy Soil
19. Hand-made Electric Car, Go!
20. The Food in Japan

Nos.1-10: 20min. each
Nos.11-20: 15min. each

｜Length : 15min. x30 ｜Year : 1993 ｜

NHK's Science Program Group has accumulated an impressive amount of scientific material over the years in a variety of fields. "Junior High School Science" draws on this extensive library using computer graphics and video footage of actual experiments and research to improve young people's understanding of biology and physical geography - the micro and macro worlds that are background for all human existence. The series covers a range of subjects from a variety of perspectives. It is a fascinating introduction to natural phenomena and the scientific laws and principles that govern them.


[Chemistry]
1. Crystallization
2. Chemical Compounds and Decomposition
3. Burnable Metals
4. Unchanging Mass
5. Properties of lons
6. Electrolysis
7. Separation of Gases

[Physics]
8. Motion and Speed
9. Acceleration
10. Equilibrium of Force
11. Buoyancy
12. The Function of Force
13. Water Pressure
14. Slopes and Friction
15. Falling Motion
16. Work and Energy
17. Wave Transmission
18. Mirrors and Lenses
19. Gas Pressure
20. Magnets

[Biology]
21. Micro-Organisms
22. Reproduction in Plants
23. Digestion and Absorption
24. Blood Circulation
25. Reproduction
26. Biological Evolution
27. The Nervous System
28. Vertebrate Animals

[Physical Geography]
29. The Moon
30. Movement of the Planets