Satoyama: Japan's Secret Watergarden

The Satoyama series, which won the Grand Prix at the 28th International Wildlife Film Festival 2005, is produced by NHK and distributed by MICO. It poetically portrays the close relationship between people and nature in traditional rural environments in Japan. The first program, which focuses on the agricultural cycle of rice paddies on hillsides in Japan, has been distributed to over 80 countries worldwide. The second program takes a look at a traditional water-supply system called a "kabata", which not only provides water to village households but also nurtures a vast diversity of fish, insects, birds, and other creatures. Both programs offer insights into environmentally sustainable living.

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Created By

Status

Returning Series

Original Name

Satoyama: Japan's Secret Watergarden

First Air Date

April 12, 1999

Last Air Date

April 12, 2004

Seasons

1

Episodes

2

Language

—

Production Companies

Networks

S01E02

Shiga

Imagine a realm where the seasons' rhythms rule - where centuries of agriculture and fishing have re-shaped the land, yet where people and nature remain in harmony. Sangoro Tanaka lives in just such a paradise. At 83, he's a guardian of one of Japan's secret water gardens. Here - over a thousand years - towns and villages have developed a unique system to make springs and water part of their homes. From inside these homes, the streams pour into Japan's largest freshwater lake, Lake Biwa - an area 5 times the size of Paris - near the ancient capital of Kyoto. This is a habitat so precious the Japanese have a special word for it: "Satoyama" - villages where mountains give way to plains. They are exceptional environments essential to both the people who maintain them and to the wildlife that now share them.

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