Tokyo Girls Collection  (03:22)
Like many aspects of Japanese youth culture, its street fashion is influencing trends worldwide. At Tokyo Girls Collection, top models walk the runway just as they do in the Paris haute couture collections, but there's an important difference - these fashions are all meant to be worn on the street, and the audience are normal young women rather than exclusive industry insiders. In a format likely to be adopted for fashion-conscious youth in other countries too, the show, open to anyone who can buy a ticket, also uses an innovative high tech system (via the audience's mobile phones) for placing orders in real time as the products are displayed.

High-Tech Hairpieces  (03:29)
Japan has a long tradition of making fine wigs, and their quality is world-renowned even today. In contrast to the focus on fun and fashion that dominates many overseas wig markets, Japanese wigmakers have focused very strongly on total realism and comfort. Each client's head shape and remaining hairline are precisely mapped to allow the factory to produce a custom wig that fits perfectly and looks just the way the client wants. And a high tech solution that creates microscopic irregularities in the fiber surfaces now allows wigs made of synthetic fibers that behave and look just like real hair under all conditions.

Railway Country  (03:34)
Railways were introduced into Japan quite early - in the 1860s - and the nation would go on to develop one of the world's most intensive passenger rail networks, with 27,000 km of track reaching into every part of the country. When you add the comprehensive subway systems found in most major cities, it's no exaggeration to say that rail travel forms a close and familiar part of every Japanese person's life from their earliest childhood. Fast, extremely punctual, high-tech and safe, trains carry the Japanese to work, to school and on vacation. As a result, the nation has huge numbers of train lovers of all ages, and a new railway museum - where you can actually drive a train - is proving a big hit.

Tree Surgeons at Work  (03:53)
Japan has one of the world's strongest traditions of communities caring for their surrounding nature. This is especially true for old trees, partly due to an ancient belief that nature gods reside in certain vigorous long-lived trees. As a result, everywhere you go in Japan you can find magnificent specimens, many over 1,000 years old. Today, these traditions are being given a modern technological boost by tree surgeons, who complement their human skills with the latest equipment for diagnosing and treating elderly or diseased trees.

World's Biggest Comic Convention  (03:49)
Comic Market, known to fans as Comiket, is the world's largest comic convention, a 3-day event that attracts a huge crowd of over 500,000 visitors. Held twice a year since 1975, Comiket was created as a place for Japan's countless amateur manga comic book writers and artists to sell and promote their privately produced fanzines known as doujinshi. Also providing a space for cosplayers to act out their costumed homage to anime and manga characters, Comiket continues to play a major role in promoting this Japanese pop culture that now has fans all around the globe.

Traditional Art Meets Pop Culture  (03:07)
Noh is one of Japan's oldest and most famous dramatic arts, while manga cartoon books are currently at the leading edge of pop culture world wide. In a curious twist, a new Noh play has recently been composed that takes its theme from a popular manga. The Crimson Goddess was inspired by a play within the manga The Glass Mask, a long-running serial story that has topped the charts for 30 years. The outcome of the play in the manga is still undecided, just like a Noh play, where storylines grow and change over generations.

A Challenge of Skills  (03:46)
The 39th WorldSkills Competition was held in Shizuoka in November 2007. It's completely fitting that Japan should be host for this international contest of technical and vocational skills for youths under 23, since Japan built its current prosperity on a long tradition of nurturing and respecting the old craft industries that formed the foundation for its modern manufacturing base. We see two young Japanese landscape gardeners as they train hard for the contest, and eventually win the Gold medal in their category.

Never Too Old to Play  (03:37)
It used to be true that Japanese workers focused on their careers to the exclusion of almost everything else, but times have changed and many middle-aged workers are now devoting serious amounts of spare time to hobbies such as making music. Across the nation, "jukunen" (middle-aged) groups of people in their 50s and up are forming bands and discovering the rewards and excitement of performing just for pleasure. There are also those who become professionals in mid life, determined not to waste their musical talents.

The Miniature World of Omake   (03:50)
It's a traditional aspect of the Japanese character to enjoy the skilful creation of miniature worlds, and we see this again today in the omake boom. From their origin as small toys included in packets of candy to promote sales, omake are now a large business in Japan that may follow other Japanese subcultures like anime and manga and spread in popularity worldwide. Produced for a limited period, omake recreate entire detailed worlds with anything from cartoon characters to wild animals, food and home appliances, and have a large following of collectors.

"Eco" - The New Brand Image   (03:38)
Companies today are investing in recycling and reuse systems not just because it makes economic and ethical sense, but also because it appeals to consumers and enhances their brand image. In two examples, a chain store network saw it was wasteful to just discard unsold food items and is testing a program to reprocess them into food for pigs who will eventually provide meat for the store's own eco brand of pork. And a major brewing company is pioneering systems for reprocessing beer by-products into cow feed, as well as recycling almost all items used at the brewery.

Eating on the train - ekiben boxed meals   (03:00)
No Japanese holiday trip by train feels complete without enjoying an ekiben, the special boxed lunches sold on trains and platforms and at station stores. Eating a delicious ekiben as the scenery glides past is guaranteed to get anyone into a holiday mood. And since these boxed meals are always produced locally with fresh regional ingredients, they make an excellent and inexpensive introduction to the cuisine of the areas you visit.