In September, the programme of NHK WORLD TV comprises the following hightlights:
Orda Cave
A 300-million-year mystery of creation
Sep 9 Sat 15:10/ 21:10/ Sun 3:10/ 9:10 (UTC) <49 min.>
Nestled at the foot of Russia’s Ural Mountains, Orda Cave is said to be the site of the world’s most beautiful view. For the first time in history, the view has been recorded with a 4K camera, providing entrée to an underground world. The cave’s transparent water and white gypsum minerals lie beneath a field of snow. A specialist explains the mystery behind the cave’s origin, a tale of land and climate change that reaches back 300 million years.
Zhangjiajie’s Miracle Stone Forest
Bird’s-eye view of a Chinese World Heritage Site
Sep 16 Sat 23:10/ Sun 5:10/ 10:10/ 17:10 (UTC) <49 min.>
Thousands of 200-meter-high rock pillars jut out from Zhangjiajie’s Stone Forest. The UNESCO World Heritage Site is known as the inspiration for the world of the movie Avatar. Much of the area is not open to the public, but NHK obtained permission to document its unparalleled beauty using a 4K drone camera. Close-up images of the pillars, along with a perspective on the lives of the inhabitants, reveal the magic of this secluded treasure.
A Tale of Love and Honor
Life in Gion
Sep 23 Sat 15:10/ 21:10/ Sun 3:10/ 9:10 (UTC) <49 min.>
The doors to the 200-year-old Tomiyo tea house open to our cameras to provide a glimpse of the lives of geisha, or geiko as they are known in Kyoto. 77-year-old Kimi is Tomiyo’s eighth generation okami proprietress. She faces the difficult decision of when to pass on her responsibilities to her 45-year-old daughter, who also has outside interests. Tradition and modernity converge in this candid portrait of a rarefied world.
CYCLE AROUND JAPAN
A Summer Journey in Southern Hokkaido
Sep 30 Sat 0:10/ 6:10/ 12:10/ 18:10 (UTC) <49 min. 30 sec.>
This is a 500-kilometer bike ride through the grand scenery of Japan’s northernmost prefecture. The city of Hakodate offers a mix of cultural influences from East and West. Down the road, a port city keeps busy in summertime with kombu kelp drying. The trip includes stops at a dairy farm and a watermelon patch, evidence of the close connection between the people and the land.