｜Length : 24min. ｜Year : 1996 ｜

With two of the three pupils at a village's elementary school about to move away, their traditional story-telling performances are coming to an end. Learn what the end of this tradition will mean to the older people of the village.

｜Length : 24min. ｜Year : 1996 ｜

The decline of the kimono has hit Kyoto's Nishijin hard, throwing many talented weavers and related craftsmen out of work. Their plight comes to life in the story of 60-yearold Mitsuo Shibagaki, a master craftsman who is nevertheless forced to search for employment.

｜Length : 24min. ｜Year : 1996 ｜

The joyous craft of making people happy is in sad decline in Japan, as circuses have lost much of their former popularity. Veteran clown and trapeze artist Kenichi Yamashita may be one of a dying breed, but he gamely passes his skills on to a new generation.

｜Length : 24min. ｜Year : 1996 ｜

As these programs demonstrate, Japan is changing with the times. The changes are sometimes difficult, but the spirit with which they are met is never less than inspiring. Retired schoolteacher Kazunari Katsumoto, an avid diver in his 60s, establishes a seafront school for children who refuse to go to regular schools. Witness how Katsumoto eventually gets these "problem" children to open up by following his relationship with one particular boy.

｜Length : 24min. ｜Year : 1995 ｜

Mr. Inoguchi is working to bring back the great flocks of cranes once so common in Japanese skies - no easy task since these splendid creatures are now an endangered species. Inoguchi not only breeds cranes at the Okayama Prefectural Conservation Center, he must act as a surrogate parent teaching his charges to fly. While aware of the difficulties, Inoguchi is determined that the crane, so important in Japanese culture, will survive for the next generation to marvel at.