Pickups from new acquisitions - August 2010

Exploring Japan [videorecording] : a visual journey / [produced by Visual Education Media]. Auckland, N.Z. : Visual Education Media, c2007.
1 videodisc (DVD) (ca. 45 min. : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in.) + 1 CD-ROM (4 3/4 in.).
System requirements for CD-ROM: Adobe reader, Microsoft PowerPoint.
Call # 382.1 EXP

This is a teaching aide that provides an organised collection of video, images and teaching suggestions.

The main DVD contains roughly 45 minutes of video organised into 18 chapters. Chapters are differentiated by theme or subject and vary in length from less than a minute to several minutes. The video footage dates from approximately 2004 and appears to have undergone minimal processing. There is no narration and audio consists only of live sounds and coincidental speech from the site of recording.

Each chapter consists of short, related scenes. For example, the "Underground railway" chapter displays a few seconds of footage of the ticket booths then jumping to a view of the subway concourse then a carriage interior and then an exterior view, etc. The "bonus chapter" is noticeably more substantial at 8 minutes long and covers the New Year's period.

The CD-ROM contains Powerpoint slides that are essentially stills from the video. There is also a standalone slide index and substantial teaching notes that provide discussion points and basic background information for each DVD chapter. There are also endnotes that highlight the relevance of the video to New Zealand social studies curriculum.

DVD chapters: Osaka – Covered shopping, Osaka – Pachinko – Car parking – Residential buildings – Koto music – Osaka Castle – Judo, kendo – Food – Gyoza-making – Underground rail – Kyoto – Gion Matsuri Festival – Kinkakuji Temple – Shoren’in Temple – Kiyomizudera Temple, Kyoto – Nagoya – New year festival, Osu Kannon Temple, Nagoya – Sunday afternoon, Nagoya Tower – New year at Narita Temple.

The little travellers. Episode 1, Japan [videorecording] / [produced by Little Travelers]. [U.S.?] : Little Travelers, c2007.
1 videodisc (DVD) (ca. 58 min. : col. sd., ; 4 3/4 in.).
Call #: 382.1 LIT

This is a travel documentary aimed at children and is veritably bursting with introductory Japanese lifestyle and cultural content.

The main video follows two, preschoolage sisters on their three month visit to Japan. Initially the girls discover domestic differences such as living rooms converting into sleeping areas, diminutive furniture, the prevalence of bicycle transport, advanced toilets, prices of groceries and fruit and so forth. Daily life is varied with department shopping, excursions to preschools, festivals and cultural demonstrations. Certain activities feature repetitively for reinforcement such as sushi consumption (in various different settings) and visiting shrines. In combination the various scenes touch upon many aspects of Japanese culture such as bathing, clothing, cherry blossom season, pottery, calligraphy and ninja. Finer nuances are also present such as encounters with maiko, Jizo statues and a scene explaining a household altar for the deceased.

The sisters themselves have suitably engaging and entertaining personalities. It should be noted, that the audio dialogue consists primarily of narrative spoken by the two protagonists. As such, it retains somewhat nasally accents and childish enunciations. However the effect is appropriate and remains clear and intelligible.

The supplementary features include a rendition of the Momotaro (Peach boy) fable using wooden toys and makeshift scenery. The language supplementary feature consists of a handful of simple Japanese phrases.

New Library Books - August 2010