There's plenty of adventure, music and mystery for Big Bird and Barkely the Dog in Japan! The excitement begins when they're separated from their tour group in Tokyo and are befriended by a young-and mysterious-Japanese woman. Could she be the mythical "Bamboo Princess" of Japanese folklore? Come along as Big Bird searches for the true identity of his new friend and discovers the beauty of Japan and the Japanese people. Travel with him as he explores some of Japan's most famous sights, meets a Japanese family and learns some Japanese words and customs. Four original songs make Big Bird in Japan a magical musical trip!

In Japan, WWII Kamikaze are still revered as self-sacrificing heroes. Internationally, they remain a potent symbol of fanaticism. Until now, few outsiders knew that many Kamikaze survived their suicide missions. The candid, heartbreaking testimony of surviving Kamikaze conveys the true depth of war's travesty. Sixty years later, these humble men tell us about the horrors of the cockpit, their dramatic survival and the survivor's guilt still haunting them.

Combining the muckraking spirit of Michael Mooore with the confrontational comedy of Borat, THE RED CHAPEL is a one-of-a-kind documentary that reveals the in justices of North Korea with a hilariously dark wit. In this Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning film, a trio of Danish comedians, who call themselves "The Red Chapel", pretend to be regime sympathizers and mount an absurd variety show in Pyongynag. This stunt is led by the acerbic director Mads Brugger, and assisted by Simon Jul and Jacob Nossell, two performers of South Korean descent. Constatnly shadowed by their guide, Mrs. Pak, they fake allegiance to Kim Jong-il and hope for "One Korea". Only Jacob is allowed to speak his mind. Suffering from cerebral palsy, his halting speech is impossible to translate, so he insults his socialist hosts and receives smiles in return. THE RED CHAPEL is an unconventional, hilarious and damning peek into a totalitarian nightmare.

Jim Finn's THE JUCHE IDEA is an uproarious and provocative deconstruction of North Korean propaganda and philosophy. Mixing together eye-popping archival footage with deadpan re-enactments, Finn has created a complex docu-fiction that is equally thought-provoking and entertaining. Translated as self-reliane, 'Juche" is a hybrid of Confucian and Stalinist thought that Kim Jong-il adapted from his father and appllied to the entire culture. In THE JUCHE IDEAL, a sympathetic South Korean film-maker visits a North Korean artists' colony to bring Juche ideas in to the 21st century. She ends up producing hilariously stilted shorts, including a nonsensical sci-fi story and the enigmatic "Dentures of Imperalism". Inspired by the true story of how a South Korean director was kidnapped in the 70s to invigorate the North's movie industry, THE JUCHE IDEA is both sardonic staire and historical excavation, an exuberant collage that reveals the absurdity at the heart of Kim-Jong-il's regime.

This documentary, directed by Mei-juin Chen, focuses on the life of internationally renowned Peking Opera star Mei Lanfang. Famous by his late teens, Mei (1895-1961) was the toast of Shanghai in the 1930s. During his visit to Hollywood he was welcomed by Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford; while during his trip to the USSR, he was filmed by none other than Sergei Eisenstein. After refusing to play for Japanese troops and vocally supporting the Communists, Mei was treated as a VIP by Mao's government until his death in 1961.

Examining Long-Term Radiation Effects: Case Studies of the Atomic Bombings of Japan and the Chernobyl Power Plant Thermal Explosion explores issues pertaining to nuclear power and the long-term medical, psychological, and social effects of radiation. The unit consists of four lessons.

North Korea remains one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented countries in the United States. The problem is twofold. First, North Korea is a very isolated and closed society, which makes accurate and reliable information about the country difficult to obtain. Second, history and politics influence Western portrayal of North Korea, which is often one-sided and narrowly focused on negative issues such as the nuclear weapons program. While both challenges have eased in recent times, American students largely remain uneducated about North Korea, lacking the proper context with which to understand and interpret today's current events. Uncovering North Korea seeks to fill this gap and strives to bring more accurate information and objectivity to the study of North Korea in U.S. high schools and beyond.

Curricular Unit with CD-Rom: The drama of inter-Korean relations is a fascinating and instructive story of world affairs at large. The experiences of the two Koreas illustrate how conflict and the pursuit of peace are two dominant themes behind history. To underscore that fundamental fact, this curriculum approaches inter-Korean relations from the themes of rivalry, reconciliation, and reunification. While North and South Korea remain technically at war even to the present day, the decades of division since World War II have also witnessed periods of reconciliation, especially in more recent years, as the two Koreas have sought coexistence and mutual tolerance rather than outright rejection of each other's legitimacy. This curriculum unit explores this dynamic and provides students with a multifaceted view of inter-Korean relations

Why struggle with conjugations when you can take an intimate tour of modern Japan along the ancient Tokaido Road - and learn key signs and phrases along the way? Choose your own path through more than 150 lessons and quizzes on topics ranging from the bullet train to Japanese table manners. Underlined words are pronounced aloud, and male or female native speakers (your choice) guide you step by step as you record and replay your own voice. Useful kanji characters come to life in ingenious animations, while nineteenth-century wood-cuts, musical passages, and a traditional "snakes and ladders" game delight the eye and ear.

In this series, sixth grade Korean students describe what everyday life is like at home, at school, and at work around their country. Each video includes an extensive guide (approximately 50 pages) containing background material, an annotated script, and suggested activities. Recommended for grades 5 - 8.