Japan Video Topics 2015/16
Harie:A Community Centered on Water (4’21”)
The old village of Harie sits on the west bank of Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake. Water runs throughout this village from springs fed from the surrounding mountains, and has always been the focus of life in Harie. Each house has its own spring, which supplies what the locals call a kabata. Centuries of thought have gone into the layout of these kabata, which provide water for everything from kitchen chores to drinking. The village water is kept pure by various ingenious natural means, such as breeding fish in the kabata to eat dirt and scraps.
Kaizen:The Secret behind Japanese Productivity (4’16”)
Kaizen means to improve the way something is done. It acquired its modern meaning during Japan’s economic growth in the 1960s, from techniques used in factories to improve productivity, quality and work safety, and has been adopted by industry worldwide. We’ll show how the kaizen approach can produce significant results through minor changes, using two examples – how the female workforce at a sandwich factory boosted their productivity, and in another plant how improvements made for the benefit of workers with disabilities simplified everyone’s work.
Safer Japanese Methods for Deterring Insects (3’42”)
People in every country have sought ways to stay safe from the biting insects that spread deadly infectious diseases. Japan has a long history of developing natural insect deterrents, and today’s advanced technological solutions still often follow the old Japanese principle of preferring to deter and protect rather than to kill the offending insect. We will see examples of this approach, such as clothing impregnated with just enough chemical to stun or drive away insects, and a factory door that recycles air to blow invading creatures away.
Uji: Birthplace of Matcha Green Tea (4’01”)
The Japanese have loved green tea since ancient times. The importance of this beverage in Japanese hospitality and culture is highlighted by the tea ceremony, or chanoyu, which uses a special powdered green tea called matcha. This style of tea became popular in the 16th century after tea growers in Uji, near Kyoto, developed a special cultivation method. The skill of Uji’s tea blenders, known as chashi, increased the reputation of Uji matcha over the years, and today, matcha is so popular it’s eaten in foods and desserts as well as drunk as tea.
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