Maniwa: Living from the Forest
Around 70 percent of Japan's landmass is covered by forest, and this has given rise to the country's distinctive wood-based culture. Nowhere is this more visible than around Maniwa, in northern Okayama Prefecture. For centuries, this area has been one of Japan's leading producers of timber, with extensive plantations devoted to Sugi (cedar) and hinoki (cypress) trees covering the surrounding mountains.
Wood merchants from all over the country gather in the historic Katsuyama district in the center of Maniwa, to attend the timber market held 3 times a month. In the old days, the logs used to be transported by boat down the Asahi River, and the former loading wharf can still be seen. The traditional townscape in Katsuyama has changed little over the past 2 centuries, and many shops line the scenic streets, each with its own traditional Noren shop curtain dyed from hinoki bark.
The town has also come up with creative new ways for using its timber. Wood chips generate electricity in a biomass power plant. And cross laminated timber (CLT) panels have been developed as an all-natural building material for contemporary architecture. In this episode of Journeys in Japan, Michael Keida visits Maniwa to explore the history and the future of Japan's wood culture.
Trailer
Recently Updated Shows
Outlander: Blood of My Blood
Outlander: Blood of My Blood explores the lives and relationship of Claire's parents, Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp, and Jamie's parents, Ellen MacKenzie and Brian Fraser. The series centers on these two parallel love stories set in two different time periods, with Jamie's parents in the early 18th-century Scottish Highlands and Claire's parents in WWI England.
The Block
The Block is an Australian reality television show. The show sees four couples compete against each other to renovate a home in an apartment block and sell it at auction for the highest price.
Austin
When much-loved children's author Julian Hartswood inadvertently causes a social media storm, his career and that of his illustrator wife Ingrid appears to be over. That is until Austin, the neurodivergent son that Julian never knew existed, turns up out of the blue. Could embracing this modern nuclear family be Julian's route back from cancellation? Will Ingrid forgive him for being such a pompous shit? One thing is for certain: if Julian thinks Austin is going to be a push over, he's in for a rude awakening.
Outlander
Outlander follows the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire's heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
The Outlander series, adapted from Diana Gabaldon's international best-selling books, spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history and adventure into one epic tale.
