1 00:00:07,273 --> 00:00:08,672 In central Japan, 2 00:00:08,808 --> 00:00:12,972 a spider weaves her web in a field of growing rice. 3 00:00:20,653 --> 00:00:22,211 Rice has been a part of Japan 4 00:00:22,355 --> 00:00:25,381 for so long that it has shaped the land. 5 00:00:25,759 --> 00:00:29,456 Indeed, it has become so much a part of the Japanese landscape 6 00:00:29,596 --> 00:00:32,997 that it has created a unique environment essential to 7 00:00:33,133 --> 00:00:34,964 both the people who created it 8 00:00:35,201 --> 00:00:37,726 and the wild animals that now share it. 9 00:00:43,276 --> 00:00:45,938 Japan is a country of steep mountains 10 00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:48,343 surrounding wide flat plains 11 00:00:48,481 --> 00:00:51,075 where people have lived for thousands of years. 12 00:00:52,252 --> 00:00:55,653 The country's largest freshwater lake, Lake Biwa, 13 00:00:55,789 --> 00:00:59,156 lies not far from the ancient city of Kyoto. 14 00:01:09,836 --> 00:01:11,599 The slopes that stretch down towards 15 00:01:11,738 --> 00:01:13,535 the lake have been terraced. 16 00:01:13,940 --> 00:01:17,341 Rice seedlings need shallow water in which to grow 17 00:01:17,477 --> 00:01:19,342 and the neat meticulously constructed 18 00:01:19,479 --> 00:01:21,777 paddy fields provide just this. 19 00:01:22,482 --> 00:01:24,074 Some of them have been cultivated 20 00:01:24,217 --> 00:01:27,243 continuously for thousands of years. 21 00:01:29,122 --> 00:01:30,350 Alongside them stand 22 00:01:30,490 --> 00:01:33,186 patches of woodland where, for centuries, 23 00:01:33,326 --> 00:01:36,261 the people have found their fuel and their food. 24 00:01:37,230 --> 00:01:40,131 This is a land that has been touched by people, 25 00:01:40,266 --> 00:01:42,826 yet the people tread lightly upon it. 26 00:01:43,203 --> 00:01:44,636 It is a land that has been ruled 27 00:01:44,771 --> 00:01:47,501 for centuries by the demands of the rice, 28 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:48,834 yet it is still dominated 29 00:01:48,975 --> 00:01:50,966 by the rhythmic cycle of the seasons 30 00:01:51,111 --> 00:01:53,045 as they change throughout the year. 31 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,072 This is a landscape that the Japanese people hold 32 00:01:57,217 --> 00:01:58,946 so close to their hearts 33 00:01:59,085 --> 00:02:01,053 that they have a special word for it. 34 00:02:01,354 --> 00:02:03,822 They call these places where the forested mountains 35 00:02:03,957 --> 00:02:07,120 meet the terraces of rice - Satoyama. 36 00:02:21,407 --> 00:02:22,772 It's April now. 37 00:02:23,143 --> 00:02:25,907 The days are lengthening and it is getting warmer. 38 00:02:26,246 --> 00:02:28,146 Spring is on its way. 39 00:03:52,232 --> 00:03:55,827 As the progressing year brings changes to the country, 40 00:03:55,969 --> 00:03:58,961 there is also another rhythm which transforms the land, 41 00:03:59,105 --> 00:04:01,039 as it has done for centuries. 42 00:04:01,341 --> 00:04:02,501 Early in the spring 43 00:04:02,642 --> 00:04:06,043 the dry fields are turned into wetlands. 44 00:04:29,636 --> 00:04:32,935 The cold mountain water spreads over to the dry fields. 45 00:04:33,473 --> 00:04:34,565 As they slowly fill, 46 00:04:34,707 --> 00:04:38,666 the water once again links them both to the mountains above 47 00:04:38,811 --> 00:04:40,711 and to Lake Biwa. Below. 48 00:04:43,483 --> 00:04:45,576 Gradually it seeps into the earth, 49 00:04:45,718 --> 00:04:48,710 reawakening the soil after the frozen months of winter 50 00:04:49,055 --> 00:04:50,682 and rousing the small creatures 51 00:04:50,823 --> 00:04:53,155 that have lain dormant there since the autumn. 52 00:05:21,187 --> 00:05:23,621 Mountain water is rich in nutrients 53 00:05:23,756 --> 00:05:28,489 so each year its return enhances the fertility of the rice fields. 54 00:05:35,768 --> 00:05:38,168 Early spring is a time of intense work 55 00:05:38,304 --> 00:05:39,100 for the farmers, 56 00:05:39,238 --> 00:05:41,968 as they prepare their fields for the rice. 57 00:06:26,452 --> 00:06:28,317 Satoyama is an environment 58 00:06:28,454 --> 00:06:30,888 created by human beings, certainly; 59 00:06:31,157 --> 00:06:32,852 but it is also one that is in harmony 60 00:06:32,992 --> 00:06:35,017 with the natural world that surrounds it. 61 00:06:35,328 --> 00:06:39,560 Animals on all sides are awaiting the return of the water. 62 00:06:45,338 --> 00:06:46,737 Woken from her hibernation 63 00:06:46,873 --> 00:06:49,205 and attracted by the fresh scent of water, 64 00:06:49,342 --> 00:06:53,142 a pond turtle moves down into this new wetland. 65 00:06:53,613 --> 00:06:56,309 Here she will mate and in a few days time, 66 00:06:56,449 --> 00:06:59,316 she will lay her eggs on the terrace banks. 67 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,794 Tree frogs return to the flooded paddies 68 00:07:16,936 --> 00:07:18,995 to feed and to spawn. 69 00:07:23,910 --> 00:07:26,708 Insects of many kinds gradually appear. 70 00:07:27,180 --> 00:07:29,341 Over a thousand different species of them 71 00:07:29,482 --> 00:07:32,610 will eventually find what they need in the rice fields. 72 00:07:33,586 --> 00:07:36,612 A fire-bellied newt starts its search for food. 73 00:07:42,195 --> 00:07:44,527 Some creatures have come to the flooded fields 74 00:07:44,664 --> 00:07:46,962 from a considerable distance away, 75 00:07:47,099 --> 00:07:49,363 others have been here all through the year. 76 00:07:53,139 --> 00:07:55,505 This water scorpion spent the winter months 77 00:07:55,641 --> 00:07:57,199 buried in the dry earth. 78 00:07:57,677 --> 00:08:00,874 It too has been aroused by the cold mountain water. 79 00:08:07,487 --> 00:08:10,820 Many of these small creatures become prey for water birds 80 00:08:10,957 --> 00:08:13,221 which time their arrival to coincide 81 00:08:13,359 --> 00:08:15,224 with the flooding of the terraces. 82 00:08:33,713 --> 00:08:37,205 The rhythm of change - from wet to dry and back again... 83 00:08:37,350 --> 00:08:40,911 was imposed on this landscape by farmers so long ago 84 00:08:41,053 --> 00:08:42,987 that it has now become an integral part 85 00:08:43,122 --> 00:08:45,249 of the workings of the natural world. 86 00:08:54,734 --> 00:08:57,066 The people themselves are also governed 87 00:08:57,203 --> 00:08:58,761 by the rhythms of the seasons. 88 00:08:59,438 --> 00:09:01,429 At crucial times they hold festivals 89 00:09:01,574 --> 00:09:03,633 to ask the gods for a healthy crop 90 00:09:03,776 --> 00:09:05,641 and a bountiful harvest. 91 00:09:10,116 --> 00:09:12,243 They regularly pay their respects 92 00:09:12,385 --> 00:09:16,219 to the forces of nature that still control their fields. 93 00:09:41,614 --> 00:09:44,276 Irrigation canals, lined with cement, 94 00:09:44,417 --> 00:09:47,079 link these terraced fields to Lake Biwa, 95 00:09:48,521 --> 00:09:50,580 and on a spring night in May, 96 00:09:50,723 --> 00:09:53,954 catfish from the lake fight their way up them, 97 00:09:54,226 --> 00:09:56,558 struggling against the flow of the water. 98 00:10:00,566 --> 00:10:02,124 The flooding of the terraced fields, 99 00:10:02,268 --> 00:10:03,997 combined with seasonal rain, 100 00:10:04,136 --> 00:10:07,264 has created many waterways that lead down to the lake. 101 00:10:07,807 --> 00:10:10,298 For the catfish, the timing is crucial. 102 00:10:13,145 --> 00:10:14,077 One after another, 103 00:10:14,213 --> 00:10:16,681 they laboriously make their way up the channels 104 00:10:16,816 --> 00:10:19,216 into the newly planted rice paddies. 105 00:10:30,262 --> 00:10:33,322 They have spent the winter in the deep waters of the lake, 106 00:10:33,566 --> 00:10:35,466 but now they need shallow water 107 00:10:35,601 --> 00:10:37,728 and mud in which to lay their eggs. 108 00:10:38,471 --> 00:10:41,838 Satoyama provides them with exactly what they want. 109 00:10:57,256 --> 00:10:58,655 Just before dawn, 110 00:10:58,791 --> 00:11:02,227 adult fish congregate in one of the rice paddies 111 00:11:02,361 --> 00:11:06,491 and begin to court amongst the newly-planted rice seedlings. 112 00:11:18,911 --> 00:11:21,937 The female is large and heavy with eggs. 113 00:11:22,415 --> 00:11:24,315 A male, who is smaller, follows her, 114 00:11:24,450 --> 00:11:26,384 trying to attract her attention. 115 00:11:37,263 --> 00:11:41,097 Entwining his body around hers, he rubs her abdomen, 116 00:11:41,233 --> 00:11:44,964 stimulating her to lay her eggs which he will then fertilize. 117 00:11:58,684 --> 00:12:00,743 Their coupling is sometimes so vigorous 118 00:12:00,886 --> 00:12:04,413 that they often damage the newly planted rice seedlings - 119 00:12:04,557 --> 00:12:07,617 but the farmers nonetheless gladly share their fields 120 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,024 with such wild creatures as these. 121 00:12:17,903 --> 00:12:20,929 The spawning is all over within a single day. 122 00:12:21,674 --> 00:12:24,871 The adult fish then return down the waterways to the lake, 123 00:12:25,010 --> 00:12:27,945 leaving behind them countless tiny eggs 124 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:29,809 in the flooded fields. 125 00:12:44,263 --> 00:12:45,855 Two days after spawning, 126 00:12:45,998 --> 00:12:49,229 the embryonic fish are moving inside the security 127 00:12:49,368 --> 00:12:51,495 of their tiny egg capsules. 128 00:13:35,414 --> 00:13:38,212 Day by day, as the earth tilts fractionally 129 00:13:38,350 --> 00:13:39,874 more towards the sun, 130 00:13:40,019 --> 00:13:41,247 day-light lasts longer 131 00:13:41,387 --> 00:13:43,617 and the shallow water becomes warmer. 132 00:13:44,423 --> 00:13:47,859 The emergence of the catfish has coincided miraculously 133 00:13:47,993 --> 00:13:50,484 with a sudden abundance of food. 134 00:14:00,306 --> 00:14:02,638 The earth of the paddy fields when they were dry 135 00:14:02,775 --> 00:14:05,573 contained millions of microscopic eggs, 136 00:14:05,711 --> 00:14:08,111 laid the previous year by water fleas. 137 00:14:08,781 --> 00:14:10,715 Now that the paddies are flooded once again, 138 00:14:10,850 --> 00:14:12,841 these eggs also hatch. 139 00:14:13,185 --> 00:14:16,052 So the waters have become rich with food. 140 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,727 A dragonfly larva is hunting. 141 00:14:30,269 --> 00:14:32,760 The water fleas are an easy prey. 142 00:14:55,361 --> 00:14:57,795 The young catfish are also feeding on them 143 00:14:57,930 --> 00:14:59,420 and growing quickly. 144 00:15:19,218 --> 00:15:20,810 As the seedlings sprout, 145 00:15:20,953 --> 00:15:24,946 the land is transformed yet again and turns green. 146 00:15:25,724 --> 00:15:29,023 Beneath the surface of the water the duels between the hunters 147 00:15:29,161 --> 00:15:30,628 and the hunted continue. 148 00:15:33,399 --> 00:15:35,924 A water stick-insect sits, poised, 149 00:15:36,168 --> 00:15:38,659 waiting for its prey to come within range. 150 00:15:50,749 --> 00:15:53,343 And a dragonfly larva, once a hunter, 151 00:15:53,485 --> 00:15:56,079 now itself becomes a victim. 152 00:16:15,140 --> 00:16:17,836 A water scorpion conceals itself in the mud. 153 00:16:18,010 --> 00:16:20,376 The young catfish seem totally unaware 154 00:16:20,512 --> 00:16:22,377 of the danger that threatens them. 155 00:16:34,593 --> 00:16:36,857 A blood-worm - the larva of a midge - 156 00:16:36,996 --> 00:16:38,987 is food for a fire-bellied newt. 157 00:16:57,349 --> 00:16:59,817 The giant water-bug is a giant indeed 158 00:16:59,885 --> 00:17:02,012 - it's the largest insect in Japan 159 00:17:02,388 --> 00:17:04,015 and a formidable hunter. 160 00:17:43,896 --> 00:17:45,124 With grim persistence, 161 00:17:45,264 --> 00:17:48,233 the giant water-bug sucks out the nutritious fluids 162 00:17:48,367 --> 00:17:49,527 from the frog's body. 163 00:17:50,135 --> 00:17:52,865 The empty husk will then be cast aside 164 00:17:53,005 --> 00:17:54,973 and be absorbed into the mud. 165 00:18:05,851 --> 00:18:07,079 A black kite hunts 166 00:18:07,219 --> 00:18:09,380 above one of the small patches of woodland 167 00:18:09,521 --> 00:18:12,149 that grow alongside the terraced fields. 168 00:18:19,098 --> 00:18:23,194 These woods are a vital element in the complex world of satoyama. 169 00:18:23,669 --> 00:18:25,762 They act as water reservoirs, 170 00:18:25,904 --> 00:18:27,269 absorbing the falling rain 171 00:18:27,406 --> 00:18:30,500 and then gradually releasing it so that it can seep down 172 00:18:30,642 --> 00:18:32,735 through the soil to the plains there, 173 00:18:32,878 --> 00:18:36,006 to evaporate and so to return to the atmosphere. 174 00:18:38,150 --> 00:18:39,913 The woods have been used for centuries 175 00:18:40,052 --> 00:18:43,385 by the local people who come here to forage for food, 176 00:18:43,522 --> 00:18:46,047 to gather firewood and to make charcoal. 177 00:18:47,726 --> 00:18:51,218 Many of the oaks have strange multiple trunks. 178 00:18:51,663 --> 00:18:53,756 This is because they have been used by the people 179 00:18:53,899 --> 00:18:58,233 to grow a delicacy that is much relished by Japanese gourmets. 180 00:19:10,082 --> 00:19:12,209 The slender trunks and branches of oaks 181 00:19:12,351 --> 00:19:15,377 are regularly cut and then stacked in piles 182 00:19:15,521 --> 00:19:16,818 called 'hodagi.' 183 00:19:24,263 --> 00:19:27,528 They are then left for about a month to dry out. 184 00:19:35,307 --> 00:19:38,743 When the sap has all gone, holes are bored into them. 185 00:19:40,546 --> 00:19:44,107 Plugs, made of a mixture of sawdust and mushroom spawn 186 00:19:44,249 --> 00:19:48,515 are then hammered into each hole and sealed with a plug of wood. 187 00:19:53,992 --> 00:19:56,256 'Shiitake' mushrooms eventually sprout 188 00:19:56,395 --> 00:19:57,555 from the plugs of wood - 189 00:19:57,696 --> 00:20:00,563 and Japanese cooks will pay high prices for them. 190 00:20:04,937 --> 00:20:07,462 The oak tree - in spite of its harsh treatment- 191 00:20:07,606 --> 00:20:08,664 does not die. 192 00:20:09,107 --> 00:20:11,268 Its stump sprouts once more. 193 00:20:16,148 --> 00:20:19,447 It will not be cropped again for eighteen years or so. 194 00:20:27,259 --> 00:20:31,286 As the young branches grow, they attract new visitors. 195 00:20:31,597 --> 00:20:34,794 Longicorn beetles come to drink their sap. 196 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,420 The larvae of the silkworm moth prefer more aged branches. 197 00:21:04,763 --> 00:21:07,891 Having fed on the leaves, they spin their cocoons. 198 00:21:08,367 --> 00:21:09,231 The silk from these 199 00:21:09,368 --> 00:21:11,427 provides another crop for the people 200 00:21:11,570 --> 00:21:13,731 and has done so for centuries. 201 00:21:14,206 --> 00:21:16,231 They use its thin delicate filaments, 202 00:21:16,375 --> 00:21:18,240 spun together into a thread 203 00:21:18,377 --> 00:21:20,902 to weave the most sumptuous of fabrics. 204 00:21:21,546 --> 00:21:22,410 For the caterpillar, 205 00:21:22,547 --> 00:21:25,243 the silk will serve as a shroud beneath 206 00:21:25,384 --> 00:21:28,911 which it will transform itself into a winged adult. 207 00:21:49,975 --> 00:21:53,342 So the long rhythms of the forest repeat themselves. 208 00:21:53,779 --> 00:21:56,873 After five years the hodagi logs are exhausted 209 00:21:57,015 --> 00:21:59,813 and of no further use for growing mushrooms, 210 00:21:59,951 --> 00:22:03,352 so they are dumped and left to rot. 211 00:22:03,955 --> 00:22:07,482 The humus produced by their decay seeps back into the ground 212 00:22:07,626 --> 00:22:10,891 where it is reclaimed by the roots of living trees 213 00:22:11,029 --> 00:22:13,463 and provides food for other creatures. 214 00:22:16,935 --> 00:22:19,369 The larva of the scarab beetle is one of them. 215 00:22:19,838 --> 00:22:22,068 Having spent half a year as a grub, 216 00:22:22,207 --> 00:22:23,834 feeding voraciously, 217 00:22:23,975 --> 00:22:25,966 it has now turned into a pupa. 218 00:22:26,345 --> 00:22:29,610 Its newly formed shell is still soft. 219 00:22:39,558 --> 00:22:43,517 In Japanese, this insect is called 'kabutomushi,' 220 00:22:43,662 --> 00:22:44,754 as the shape of its head 221 00:22:44,896 --> 00:22:47,262 reminds people of the war helmet worn 222 00:22:47,399 --> 00:22:48,491 by the Samurai 223 00:22:48,867 --> 00:22:50,129 and the plates of its body 224 00:22:50,268 --> 00:22:53,032 of the armor of those ancient warriors 225 00:22:53,171 --> 00:22:54,638 of medieval Japan. 226 00:23:10,155 --> 00:23:11,884 As spring changes to summer, 227 00:23:12,157 --> 00:23:15,149 so the flooded fields become grasslands. 228 00:23:23,635 --> 00:23:24,397 This is the time 229 00:23:24,536 --> 00:23:26,834 when the giant water-bug lays its eggs. 230 00:23:27,406 --> 00:23:30,739 The female produces as many as eighty in one batch. 231 00:23:31,076 --> 00:23:33,408 Having done so, she abandons them. 232 00:23:36,081 --> 00:23:38,174 But the male remains on guard 233 00:23:38,316 --> 00:23:41,012 and stays with them for over a week. 234 00:23:49,161 --> 00:23:49,923 Every now and then, 235 00:23:50,061 --> 00:23:51,824 he leaves them briefly to collect 236 00:23:51,963 --> 00:23:54,557 the water necessary to keep them moist. 237 00:24:22,828 --> 00:24:25,296 One week later - in the middle of the night - 238 00:24:25,430 --> 00:24:28,627 the giant water-bugs begin to hatch. 239 00:25:25,557 --> 00:25:27,718 It's summer and water from the forest 240 00:25:27,859 --> 00:25:30,589 continues to flow down into the rice fields. 241 00:25:30,729 --> 00:25:33,129 It travels along their network of channels 242 00:25:33,265 --> 00:25:36,132 and then goes on down to Lake Biwa. 243 00:25:37,969 --> 00:25:40,870 The young catfish are now about two months old. 244 00:25:41,106 --> 00:25:44,075 It's time for them to prepare to leave these warm shallows 245 00:25:44,209 --> 00:25:45,437 and to make their way down 246 00:25:45,577 --> 00:25:47,943 to the deeper colder waters of the lake 247 00:25:48,079 --> 00:25:50,741 where they will spend most of their adult lives. 248 00:26:00,592 --> 00:26:02,992 Their parents came up through the farmer's waterways 249 00:26:03,128 --> 00:26:04,720 to reach these rice fields. 250 00:26:05,330 --> 00:26:07,457 Now their offspring use the same channels 251 00:26:07,599 --> 00:26:09,260 to take them down to the lake. 252 00:26:09,868 --> 00:26:11,392 Without the work of the farmers 253 00:26:11,536 --> 00:26:12,935 and the methods they have developed 254 00:26:13,071 --> 00:26:14,129 to grow their rice, 255 00:26:14,472 --> 00:26:15,996 the catfish of Lake Biwa 256 00:26:16,141 --> 00:26:19,110 would not have these extensive nurseries. 257 00:26:30,021 --> 00:26:31,784 Once they reach the safety of the lake, 258 00:26:31,923 --> 00:26:35,689 they will stay for 2-3 years, feeding and growing, 259 00:26:35,827 --> 00:26:39,126 until the time comes for them too to swim back up 260 00:26:39,264 --> 00:26:41,698 the very same channels to spawn. 261 00:26:45,637 --> 00:26:47,400 Now another small creature 262 00:26:47,539 --> 00:26:49,666 is preparing to leave the rice fields. 263 00:26:49,908 --> 00:26:52,376 It uses a different exit. 264 00:26:52,644 --> 00:26:54,509 The larva of the red dragonfly, 265 00:26:54,646 --> 00:26:57,945 after two months of feeding crawls up the rice stems 266 00:26:58,083 --> 00:27:00,551 from which it will launch itself into the air. 267 00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,020 To do that it must first change its shape 268 00:27:04,155 --> 00:27:06,146 and acquire wings. 269 00:29:28,366 --> 00:29:30,891 The dragonfly will leave these terraced fields 270 00:29:31,035 --> 00:29:33,265 and fly away to the nearby mountains 271 00:29:33,404 --> 00:29:34,462 for the summer months. 272 00:29:34,773 --> 00:29:37,936 So it forms a link between the world of satoyama - 273 00:29:38,076 --> 00:29:39,304 the cultivated land - 274 00:29:39,444 --> 00:29:41,469 and the wilderness that surrounds it. 275 00:30:24,856 --> 00:30:26,050 The end of June. 276 00:30:26,191 --> 00:30:27,488 It is midsummer. 277 00:30:27,625 --> 00:30:29,786 The days are long and warm. 278 00:30:32,697 --> 00:30:34,221 The people living in the small villages 279 00:30:34,365 --> 00:30:35,923 alongside the rice fields 280 00:30:36,067 --> 00:30:38,058 make their own special contributions 281 00:30:38,203 --> 00:30:40,728 to the living landscape of satoyama. 282 00:30:45,176 --> 00:30:48,577 The flowers in the gardens are an important source of nectar 283 00:30:48,713 --> 00:30:49,873 for many species - 284 00:30:52,984 --> 00:30:55,452 including swallowtail butterflies. 285 00:31:03,194 --> 00:31:07,392 In the corner of a village garden, a large spider waits on its web. 286 00:31:07,665 --> 00:31:09,360 As in many parts of Japan, 287 00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:11,593 spiders are welcomed and encouraged 288 00:31:11,736 --> 00:31:13,897 to stay as a sign of good fortune. 289 00:31:14,472 --> 00:31:17,339 They do, after all, feed on insects which may be harmful 290 00:31:17,475 --> 00:31:18,965 to both people and crops. 291 00:31:21,079 --> 00:31:22,410 In a hackberry tree, 292 00:31:22,547 --> 00:31:25,072 another small life is about to take its place 293 00:31:25,216 --> 00:31:26,979 in the satoyama community. 294 00:31:42,934 --> 00:31:45,266 This is Japan's national butterfly, 295 00:31:45,403 --> 00:31:47,098 called "oo-murasaki." 296 00:31:51,342 --> 00:31:52,969 The purple of its wings is the color 297 00:31:53,111 --> 00:31:56,171 that once could be used only by the Emperors 298 00:31:56,314 --> 00:31:58,680 and the high priests of ancient Japan. 299 00:32:05,590 --> 00:32:07,387 In its caterpillar stage, 300 00:32:07,525 --> 00:32:10,255 it lives only on these hackberry trees. 301 00:32:11,663 --> 00:32:12,595 As an adult, 302 00:32:12,730 --> 00:32:17,531 it will fly away to feed on the sap of trees in the woodlands 303 00:32:31,783 --> 00:32:33,648 During the warm summer nights, 304 00:32:33,785 --> 00:32:37,346 the rice paddies become alive with another insect 305 00:32:37,488 --> 00:32:41,515 much loved by the Japanese - fireflies. 306 00:32:45,797 --> 00:32:47,321 Using the language of light, 307 00:32:47,465 --> 00:32:50,093 they signal courtship messages to one another. 308 00:32:55,907 --> 00:32:59,343 Their adult lives are brief - a mere seven days or so. 309 00:33:00,111 --> 00:33:01,772 Japanese families, by tradition, 310 00:33:01,913 --> 00:33:05,041 come to watch the fireflies every year at this season - 311 00:33:05,183 --> 00:33:08,812 to marvel at the tiny lights winking over the rice fields 312 00:33:08,953 --> 00:33:11,820 and to ponder on the fragility of the lives 313 00:33:11,956 --> 00:33:13,423 of those that produce them. 314 00:33:33,344 --> 00:33:36,643 Fireworks are a special treat on these summer evenings. 315 00:33:36,781 --> 00:33:37,975 In a corner of the garden, 316 00:33:38,116 --> 00:33:40,107 behind the children and their fireworks, 317 00:33:40,251 --> 00:33:43,015 another life is undergoing dramatic change. 318 00:33:43,621 --> 00:33:44,383 For seven years, 319 00:33:44,522 --> 00:33:46,820 this cicada has remained underground. 320 00:33:47,125 --> 00:33:50,720 Now it is emerging to spend the last few days of its life 321 00:33:50,862 --> 00:33:54,559 as a winged creature in urgent search of a mate. 322 00:33:55,233 --> 00:33:57,599 There are many species of cicada in Japan. 323 00:33:57,735 --> 00:34:00,101 Each has its own characteristic song 324 00:34:00,238 --> 00:34:01,967 and each is a reminder to the people 325 00:34:02,106 --> 00:34:05,166 of another stage in the passing seasons. 326 00:34:29,434 --> 00:34:30,924 It is high summer. 327 00:34:31,536 --> 00:34:33,800 The rice has been growing steadily. 328 00:34:36,007 --> 00:34:38,635 But there is still a great deal of work to be done. 329 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:44,544 The terraces must be kept free of weeds 330 00:34:44,682 --> 00:34:46,707 to allow the rice to grow freely. 331 00:34:51,122 --> 00:34:53,386 It's hot hard labor. 332 00:35:04,235 --> 00:35:06,396 The farmers wade out into the shallow ponds 333 00:35:06,537 --> 00:35:08,095 that adjoin their rice fields. 334 00:35:08,372 --> 00:35:11,830 These man-made reservoirs hold water throughout the year 335 00:35:11,976 --> 00:35:14,035 and the people stock them with carp. 336 00:35:14,445 --> 00:35:17,437 Now that harvest can also be gathered. 337 00:35:19,917 --> 00:35:21,908 They have their own special devices 338 00:35:22,053 --> 00:35:23,714 with which to collect it. 339 00:36:10,668 --> 00:36:13,432 Each family takes home its own catch. 340 00:36:13,871 --> 00:36:17,705 It's an annual seasonal feast that everyone enjoys. 341 00:36:30,354 --> 00:36:32,549 Summer is a holiday time for the children 342 00:36:32,690 --> 00:36:35,056 and while their parents work in the fields, 343 00:36:35,193 --> 00:36:38,128 they make the most of the long evenings. 344 00:36:51,008 --> 00:36:52,532 The pleasure and fascination 345 00:36:52,677 --> 00:36:55,009 that so many Japanese find in insects 346 00:36:55,146 --> 00:36:57,637 shows itself early in life. 347 00:37:21,539 --> 00:37:23,905 Stag beetles are particular favorites. 348 00:37:24,075 --> 00:37:25,201 The larger the better. 349 00:37:25,610 --> 00:37:28,306 The male beetles when confronted with one another, 350 00:37:28,446 --> 00:37:30,311 will do what comes naturally... 351 00:37:30,581 --> 00:37:33,243 they will fight for control of a territory. 352 00:38:07,985 --> 00:38:09,680 A scarab beetle has emerged 353 00:38:09,820 --> 00:38:12,254 from under its pile of hodagi logs. 354 00:38:13,024 --> 00:38:14,355 As night begins to fall, 355 00:38:14,492 --> 00:38:17,484 it climbs out to look for the sap it feeds on. 356 00:38:18,362 --> 00:38:19,021 Through the night, 357 00:38:19,163 --> 00:38:22,724 battles will be fought and lost as each beetle strives 358 00:38:22,867 --> 00:38:24,767 for the control of the best places. 359 00:38:25,269 --> 00:38:28,295 And it's not just that they themselves want the sap. 360 00:38:28,739 --> 00:38:31,435 Good feeding spots also attract females. 361 00:38:31,742 --> 00:38:34,711 So, like the samurai they so resemble, 362 00:38:34,845 --> 00:38:36,107 they do battle. 363 00:39:33,471 --> 00:39:34,802 It is September. 364 00:39:34,939 --> 00:39:37,635 Summer is vanishing with the shortening days 365 00:39:37,775 --> 00:39:41,108 and the rice fields are about to change yet again. 366 00:39:41,445 --> 00:39:44,073 Soon it will be time for the harvest. 367 00:39:47,551 --> 00:39:49,212 One hundred and fifty days ago, 368 00:39:49,353 --> 00:39:51,412 these terraced fields became wetlands 369 00:39:51,555 --> 00:39:54,046 as water from the mountains flowed into them. 370 00:39:55,092 --> 00:39:57,652 Since then they have been slowly changing 371 00:39:57,795 --> 00:39:59,695 in time with the seasons. 372 00:40:00,731 --> 00:40:04,895 As each field was transformed, different species arrived - 373 00:40:05,102 --> 00:40:06,933 some swimming, some flying... 374 00:40:07,338 --> 00:40:10,239 to take advantage of the changing scene. 375 00:40:24,722 --> 00:40:27,213 For the farmers - and for the rice - 376 00:40:27,358 --> 00:40:29,019 this year has been a good one. 377 00:40:43,941 --> 00:40:46,637 The red dragonfly returns from the mountains 378 00:40:46,777 --> 00:40:48,438 to the land where it hatched. 379 00:40:57,521 --> 00:40:59,421 It is time for the people to collect 380 00:40:59,557 --> 00:41:02,253 the rewards of so many months of labor. 381 00:41:15,372 --> 00:41:17,636 As the rice dries in the autumn sun, 382 00:41:17,775 --> 00:41:20,938 the air is full of the scent of hay. 383 00:41:23,848 --> 00:41:27,807 There is now no place here for the giant water-bug. 384 00:41:51,976 --> 00:41:55,343 Other insects are also abandoning the drying fields. 385 00:41:55,679 --> 00:41:57,840 They take to the wing and fly away 386 00:41:57,982 --> 00:42:00,780 in search of the water that they still need. 387 00:42:06,590 --> 00:42:09,889 The reservoirs provide a new home for those water creatures 388 00:42:10,027 --> 00:42:12,018 that once hunted through the rice paddies. 389 00:42:12,162 --> 00:42:15,654 Here they will be able to spend the winter in safety. 390 00:42:50,467 --> 00:42:52,128 As the land changes color 391 00:42:52,269 --> 00:42:54,635 and the autumn leaves fall to the ground, 392 00:42:54,772 --> 00:42:57,240 the pace of life slows. 393 00:43:05,616 --> 00:43:08,244 Tree frogs that hatched out in the rice paddies 394 00:43:08,385 --> 00:43:11,115 have now returned to the nearby woodlands 395 00:43:11,255 --> 00:43:15,157 and prepare to hibernate under a blanket of fallen leaves. 396 00:43:26,470 --> 00:43:27,801 Before the very last puddles 397 00:43:27,938 --> 00:43:30,099 disappear from the harvested fields, 398 00:43:30,240 --> 00:43:33,368 there is one final act of creation. 399 00:43:35,713 --> 00:43:39,649 In a ritual courtship flight, the red dragonflies mate. 400 00:43:40,351 --> 00:43:42,046 The male clasps the female 401 00:43:42,186 --> 00:43:46,384 and she repeatedly dips the tip of her abdomen into the puddles, 402 00:43:46,523 --> 00:43:48,081 depositing her eggs. 403 00:44:07,077 --> 00:44:10,740 The eggs will remain dormant through the bitter cold of winter. 404 00:44:11,415 --> 00:44:13,975 When spring returns and the mountain water flows 405 00:44:14,118 --> 00:44:16,109 once again into these fields, 406 00:44:16,253 --> 00:44:17,413 they will hatch out 407 00:44:17,755 --> 00:44:20,519 and a new generation of savage larva 408 00:44:20,658 --> 00:44:23,183 will prowl through the waters of the paddies. 409 00:44:26,196 --> 00:44:26,855 For centuries, 410 00:44:26,997 --> 00:44:30,728 persimmon trees have been planted along the rice terraces. 411 00:44:31,135 --> 00:44:34,935 They are an autumn fruit much loved by the Japanese. 412 00:44:38,008 --> 00:44:40,738 They are gathered singly and with great care. 413 00:44:55,392 --> 00:44:59,294 The persimmon trees are essential for the many damselflies 414 00:44:59,430 --> 00:45:01,523 that now gather around their branches 415 00:45:01,665 --> 00:45:03,496 overhanging the rice paddies. 416 00:45:12,609 --> 00:45:13,633 Like the dragonfly, 417 00:45:13,777 --> 00:45:16,439 the damsel too has changed its behavior 418 00:45:16,580 --> 00:45:20,710 to take advantage of the landscape created by humanity. 419 00:45:32,196 --> 00:45:34,892 The damselflies lay on these branches, 420 00:45:35,032 --> 00:45:38,365 twisting their ovipositors so that their eggs will be placed 421 00:45:38,502 --> 00:45:40,800 in safety beneath the bark. 422 00:45:57,788 --> 00:45:59,847 And then they die. 423 00:46:00,624 --> 00:46:02,353 When spring comes and the rice paddies 424 00:46:02,493 --> 00:46:03,517 fill once again. 425 00:46:03,660 --> 00:46:05,457 The damselfly larvae 426 00:46:05,596 --> 00:46:07,860 will drop directly into the waters. 427 00:46:14,037 --> 00:46:15,436 In the harvested fields, 428 00:46:15,572 --> 00:46:19,736 the dragonflies indulge in a final bout of egg-laying. 429 00:46:44,368 --> 00:46:46,063 The skinned persimmon fruits 430 00:46:46,203 --> 00:46:48,728 are neatly hung by the farmers' houses. 431 00:46:52,876 --> 00:46:54,639 These fruits, carefully dried, 432 00:46:54,778 --> 00:46:58,578 used to be a valuable winter food for the people of satoyama - 433 00:46:58,849 --> 00:47:01,181 and also a source of much-needed cash. 434 00:47:06,924 --> 00:47:09,154 Today, when food of one kind or another 435 00:47:09,293 --> 00:47:11,727 is easily available all the year round, 436 00:47:11,862 --> 00:47:14,797 fewer farmers bother with the persimmon crop. 437 00:47:22,773 --> 00:47:25,469 Even so, the appearance of the drying fruit 438 00:47:25,609 --> 00:47:27,543 so carefully placed on their racks 439 00:47:27,678 --> 00:47:30,670 is recognized by all Japanese as a sign 440 00:47:30,814 --> 00:47:33,282 that winter is fast approaching. 441 00:47:45,462 --> 00:47:46,895 As the land freezes, 442 00:47:47,030 --> 00:47:50,557 little life is visible in and around the rice fields 443 00:47:50,701 --> 00:47:53,067 which are now covered by a blanket of snow. 444 00:47:54,004 --> 00:47:55,665 Yet there is life there, 445 00:47:55,806 --> 00:47:59,003 hidden and quietly waiting for the renewal that will come 446 00:47:59,142 --> 00:48:01,975 when the waters return once again with the sun. 447 00:48:03,380 --> 00:48:06,781 Winter is also a time of rest for the farmers. 448 00:48:07,184 --> 00:48:10,119 For their lives too are - perforce - attuned 449 00:48:10,254 --> 00:48:12,245 to the natural rhythm around them. 450 00:48:18,495 --> 00:48:20,360 At the edge of this rice field 451 00:48:20,497 --> 00:48:24,524 a small natural spring bubbles out from the ground. 452 00:48:25,068 --> 00:48:27,434 It will remain unfrozen throughout the winter 453 00:48:27,571 --> 00:48:29,596 and at its edge, the local people 454 00:48:29,740 --> 00:48:33,801 place floral offerings to the gods for this gift. 455 00:48:48,191 --> 00:48:52,093 In a muddy bottom, a water scorpion waits asleep, 456 00:48:52,362 --> 00:48:54,592 neither moving nor breathing. 457 00:49:17,721 --> 00:49:19,211 Winter settles in. 458 00:49:19,790 --> 00:49:21,985 On the edge of a frozen rice paddy, 459 00:49:22,125 --> 00:49:24,992 a farmer's hut stands deserted. 460 00:49:36,206 --> 00:49:37,537 But in a corner, 461 00:49:38,075 --> 00:49:41,670 there is a reminder of the spring that will come. 462 00:49:50,420 --> 00:49:53,685 The chrysalis of a cabbage butterfly. 463 00:50:01,999 --> 00:50:04,900 February. The year has turned. 464 00:50:05,102 --> 00:50:08,435 The faint heat of the distant sun warms the land long enough 465 00:50:08,572 --> 00:50:12,269 for a cold mist to rise from the thawing fields. 466 00:50:12,609 --> 00:50:14,873 Winter is loosening its grip. 467 00:50:16,313 --> 00:50:19,009 Soon work in these fields will resume. 468 00:50:19,449 --> 00:50:21,007 Once again, the mountain water 469 00:50:21,151 --> 00:50:23,415 will flow the rice will be planted 470 00:50:23,553 --> 00:50:27,580 and visitors from the woods above and the lake below will come back. 471 00:50:27,958 --> 00:50:31,689 Once again, satoyama will be filled with life.