Encounter with Japan

Duration: 8:00

Year Published: 1987

Creator: Japan National Tourist Organization

Complete Record: “Encounter with Japan” 1987, 16mm, color/sound, 20 mins. This film was created to encourage tourism in Japan and it features narration in English. The film shows a man and a woman traveling separately to different regions of Japan and the sights they see. It begins with the man, “Carl,” walking into a tourist info center. We see scenes inside what appears to be a Samurai temple. Landscapes. Carl goes north of Tokyo by train to a town of castles. Scenes in a Samurai type school (bamboo sword training). A shop with folk toys and candies. A rice farm and countryside. The farm people harvesting rice and making sake wine in vats. A boat trip on the bay, fish pulled from the sea and the sale of fish in a local market. Countryside by train and the train station. A trip to a small town filled with guest Inns. Carl has a meal and sake with the locals and then enjoys the hot springs. The film then presents “Angelina,” a woman tourist traveling alone in western regions of Japan. Beautiful autumn leaves in the temples and gardens of Kyoto. In another town we see candies make by hand that look like flowers. A tea house, gardens with flowing waters. A Kimono fabric on display, an artisan painting fabrics by hand. Pottery making and the fine art of lacquerware (woodworking with intricate designs) are shown. Walking among temples and gardens. A Noh Theater performance. A toll free call enables the tourist to arrange meeting everyday Japanese families. In a family home, calligraphy and an incense ceremony. Landscapes. Festivals are held everywhere all year. In a country town, a festival with floats and costumed people moves down a street surrounded by a crowd. Another festival with a crowd of people. The film moves to Tokyo - skyscrapers, modern building interiors, city street scenes, shopping in big department stores, things to buy, window displays of food of all kinds, more street scenes. A technology demonstration - the tourist Carl is in a media center/computer lab and talks to someone in another town via computer. A moat around the Imperial Palace. Restaurants at night. A lake. A recap of earlier scenes stressing the many experiences offered to tourists.