JEWELS IN THE PACIFIC

[Music] so [Music] the first leg of our summer adventure takes us to japan japan is formed by an arc of islands laying east of the asian continent and consists of four main islands [Music] is the diet building in downtown tokyo the diet perched on a hill has its landmark a massive central tower materials produced only in japan the right half holds the house of counselors and the left the house of representatives [Music] this is the japanese imperial gardens in downtown tokyo [Music] this is the ashokasha shrine dedicated to the canon goddess of mercy you will notice the big paper lantern 14.8 feet high inside are beautiful paintings on the ceiling and a huge bronze incense burner out front these are all fascinating and many tokyoites come here to worship [Music] here is a view of the big paper lantern this is the beautiful shrine in nico it is both buddhist and shinto [Music] [Music] you will notice the little paper prayers hanging from all the entryways these are to keep the evil spirits out of the places of worship [Music] the glories of nico are two-fold it has magnificent mountain scenery with rivers waterfalls lakes and ancient trees and has one of the finest handiworks of man in the mausoleum of the first shogun japan's greatest feudal ruler [Music] this is one of the many entrance ways to the shrine one enters the shrine through cedar avenue the stately rolls of ancient japanese cedars in this area are an impressive site when the shrine was built leading feudal lords from all over the country were asked to give something to the memory of the god one lord could afford little and hit upon the idea of contributing thousands of sapling trees to line the avenue approaching the shrine the planting of these trees took more than 20 years ending in 1651 there are 16 000 of these cedars remaining today [Music] here all the tours are lined up to go into the sacred shrine temples and the art of shinto is still practiced in many of these [Music] one of the shrines has three shinto deities who are believed to have brought prosperity to the country [Music] this is a ceremonial litter still used today it takes 12 men to carry this [Music] the monks are always selling good luck charms and you can buy a prayer [Music] these are the beautiful mountains surrounding nico this is the kagan waterfall measuring 316 feet high 33 feet wide and has a drop of 60 66 feet [Music] this is one of our many tour guides through the area and here is the waterfall up close in the national park the water for this great fall surges out of lake shinzonzi dragon's head cascade a pretty series of cascades is also famous along with the kagan waterfall [Music] here is another beautiful vista of the mountains around nico [Music] this is the tocorono national park [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] these are the cascades in the national park [Music] [Applause] [Music] at a wayside stand in the national park we found these beautiful bonsai trees over 150 years old this is an ancient japanese art it is not dwarfing trees [Music] this was summer vacation for the japanese children and many of them would hike through the national park [Music] on our way out of tokyo we stopped to see this magnificent buddha so [Music] as it most shrines the people still are worshiping [Music] [Music] one gets a drink here to purify your soul before you go into worship this is the northern beach area on the way to hiconi hiconi is an ideal tourist resort of international fame it provides many vistas of natural beauty to delight your eyes with the crystal calm beauty of the fuji five lakes the inspiring peak of mount fuji and the warmth of the hot spring resort one can relax completely hikoni and its lake lie within the crater of an extinct volcano measuring about 25 miles in circumference [Music] here is a view of the lake at hiconi [Music] three principal mountain peaks laying with in the crater show traces of ancient as well as more recent eruptions there is a shrine nestled in the densely wooded hillside at the foot of one of the mountains it is said to have been founded by the priest and 751 of the largest shrines in japan [Music] [Music] this was a hotel built on the side of the lake and this is the resort area there is a cable car that goes up the side of the mountain and on a beautiful day you can see forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] here we are at the top of the cable car on a clear day you should be able to see mount fuji here is a shinto shrine on top of the mountain [Music] [Music] that was the bullet train japan's fastest and most modern mode of transportation travels at 130 miles an hour we took this train to kyoto the ancient capital of japan [Music] [Applause] [Music] all along the route we noticed ponds these ponds are where they rate big source of protein for the japanese people also much rice is grown in this area [Music] this is one of the many temples in kyoto which was the ancient capital of japan this is the golden pavilion which was originally designed as a villa for a court noble later it was turned into a buddhist temple [Music] the gorgeously gilded gold pavilion is set in a charming landscape garden of pines and maples and looks out upon a serene pond the pavilion was rebuilt in 1955 after the tragic fire that was set by a disrupt student [Music] this is a shot of an ancient ancient cypress tree that was made in to a boat using the bonsai method [Music] this pond and garden are an excellent example of the serenity of the japanese gardeners [Music] everything has its place in japanese gardens [Music] this is the old imperial palace called kyoto kosho by the japanese it shows you the traditional style of japanese architecture which is characterized by simplicity regularity and refinement the imperial pit family resided here until the meiji restoration when the seat of the imperial court was moved to tokyo it is still used for the most important ceremonies such as the enthronement of the emperor the main buildings represent the style of architecture of the hen period to enter the palace a permit is needed from the imperial household agency the application has to be made one month in advance [Music] these buildings that we are looking at now are where the courtiers wait for their audience [Music] and here is the beautiful serene garden within the palace grounds [Music] [Applause] [Music] here again we see the orderedness to the japanese life the beautiful simplicity of the lines in our architecture [Music] everyone has a place in japanese society these women are weeding on their hands and knees [Music] the egg architecture is simple straight and elegant [Music] so [Music] this was the shogun's castle in downtown kyoto the floors in the castle all squeaked so it would let the shogun know if there were any enemies present here is a view of downtown kyoto this city was spared bombing during world war ii because of all its art treasures and beautiful castles and pavilions [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] every hotel every home has its japanese garden and this was the garden at the mayako hotel serene and lovely a place where one can go out and gather their thoughts [Music] in most of the hotels in kyoto they have a section where a tourist can live as a japanese would this is that section of the mayako hotel where one would sleep on tatami's [Music] again a gorgeous view of the garden the mayako hotel in kyoto [Applause] [Music] so [Music] every japanese garden must have their koi and here are the beautiful koi in the garden of the hotel in kyoto [Music] [Music] from kyoto we went to nara japan's first capital was not kyoto but nara where from 710 to 784 this country's civilization flourished during the nara period chinese influence began to assert itself with the introduction of buddhism the chinese political system and the chinese attitudes towards art and language nara still has many shinto shrines and buddhist temples in which you can explore japan's distant background but today it is a sleepy town living in the glory of its past [Music] this is the toddagi temple one of the seven great temples of nara the present structure dates only from 1709 the original having been destroyed by fire the old temple was said to have been even bigger than the present one and this is the deer park the name is derived from the many deer roaming around it is the largest of its kind in japan the park is finely wooded with various trees including huge japanese cedars oaks and wisterias you can feed the tame deer with biscuits sold by the people nearby the deer are believed to be divine messengers [Music] the deer may be divine but they're very greedy for these biscuits here's another one of the beautiful shrines in nara this one has been called the shrine of the lanterns each family in the area dedicated a lantern so that they would be remembered forever and ever and now today descendants of these families come and put their prayers in their ancestral lanterns from japan we took a quanta 707 to australia [Music] [Music] to all australians the big city sydney has come a long way from the old convict colony of 1788 nearly three out of australia's 12 million people live here it has the robust hustling quality of a big cosmopolitan center with all the things you'd expect to find in it including overcrowded streets and traffic jams this is a view of the new sydney opera center [Music] [Music] there is a joke about this bridge and they say of course they had to build it once they discovered the nice little hub on the other side we are on our way to the tonga zoo in sydney here is a view of a hydrofoil [Music] australia is noted for its many funny animals they are only indigenous to the continent of australia here the wallabies and kangaroos [Music] a shy kangaroo in the park this is a wombat only found in australia [Music] he decided to perform for us [Music] this is a koala bear and i do believe that this particular koala bear was the one that posed for the qantas adds [Music] they eat eucalyptus only a certain kind of eucalyptus however and they only eat the new leaves [Music] we decided to be brave souls and rent a car of course in australia you drive on the left-hand side of the road here we are on our way to canberra the national capital of australia [Music] canberra is the garden city capital of australia with a population of 130 000 which is mostly relative to the diplomatic core politics and the ministries it is australia's answer to washington dc [Music] it was designed by an american walter burley griffin from chicago who won the 1911 competition [Music] this is the downtown shopping section of canberra and they have wars but in australia they call it woolies [Music] this is the one thing that caught my eye as a shopper chuck steak 65 cents a pound and it was becoming spring in australia and here are the beautiful flowering trees [Music] canberra is laid out in circles being pilots we decided to get a bird's eye view of australia's capital so we marched ourselves out to the airport and found an instructor that let us fly in a 172 skyhawk [Music] flying in australia is quite different than flying in the united states you are only allowed to have a certain practice area and you must be on a flight plan at all times this is a view of how the city is laid out in circles [Music] [Music] canberra leaves the impression of freshness cleanliness and orderliness [Music] so [Music] we decided to adventure further up into the mountains from canberra and here is the national product of australia the sheep [Music] and since it was winter in australia being below the equator we did have to find some snow this was the last good weekend for skiing and most of the australians were up in the mountains taking full advantage of the beautiful snow [Music] tasmania is an island off the southern end of australia it is one of the five states in australia with hobart as its capital hobart is much like a new england town the people are lovely very friendly and it was very cold here we are on the town top of mount wellington the wind was about 60 knots very very cold [Music] being from florida we had to find a snowball and here we are about ready to throw it at the camera man [Music] here is a view of the snow on the mountains all around us [Music] after the island of tasmania there's nothing except antarctica [Music] a big tanker one night decided to go off the beaten path and they broke the one bridge from the side from each side of hobart now you have to go all the way around the countryside to get back to the airport here is a view of the harbor in hobart very neat very clean very orderly because of the politics involved they say the bridge will not be rebuilt for five years tasmania boasts the only casino in australia many tasmanians dislike having it here because they say their populace on a cold winter's night has nothing to do but go gamble their money [Music] so [Music] you