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Fundamental Sea Chests (3'40'')
Being an island nation where it was always easier to transport goods by water, Japan has long and proud seafaring tradition. Back in the days of sail, no other country developed such sophisticated techniques for making beautiful, sturdy sea chests to protect valuables and documents. With secret compartments and cunning locks, precisely designed to be watertight and floatable, beautifully decorated old funadansu are sought-after collectors items and there is still a demand for new chests, hand-made using traditional techniques.

Sweet Accessories (3'24'')
Right at this moment, there's a new trend sweeping the streets of Japan. Like women everywhere, Japanese women delight in sweet desserts and in fashion accessories, and now they've found a way to combine these two passions. On rings, pendants, cell phone straps, bracelets - the trend today is to wear tiny accessories that are perfect replicas of your favorite sweets. Top brands are even sold in stores resembling upscale confectionary boutiques.

Yamaga Lantern Festival (3'52'')
In one of Japan's oldest and best-known fire festivals, a parade of blazing pine torches commemorates a legendary imperial visit to Yamaga. This venerable Kyushu merchant town has a unique 500-year old tradition of making lanterns out of washi craft paper, and the highlight of the festival is the sight of 1,000 dancers circling in the slow Sen-nin Toro Odori, illuminated by the gentle flickering glow of the paper lanterns they wear on their heads. The procession ends with the offering of the lanterns at ancient Omiya Shrine.

Wagakki - Ancient Japanese Musical Instrument (4'18'')
When the Japanese adopted the ancient Chinese court music tradition called gagaku, they also imported a complete orchestra of musical instruments. These were the ancestors of instruments still played today, such as the 13-stringed koto harp, the shakuhachi bamboo flute and the three-stringed shamisen lute. Over many centuries, Japanese musicians not only modified the instruments, they also evolved a unique variation on the pentatonic scale used everywhere else, giving this music a sound only heard in Japan.