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Island of the Spirits
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Program Overview
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In the far north of Japan, thrust out into the north Pacific, is the
remote island of Hokkaido. It's a land of towering volcanoes and
steaming lakes, marshy valleys and fairy tale forests. Among this
magical scenery, where summers are brief and winters are fierce,
lives an extraordinary spectrum of life, found nowhere else in
Japan. Here among the coastal lowlands, grizzly bears plunge into
icy streams for salmon, Japanese cranes perform balletic courtship
dances to one another, the rare and enormous Blakistons fish owl
swoops on flying squirrels, and white-tailed eagles scan the rugged
ocean cliffs for unsuspecting seabirds. HIgh on the mountains
Asiatic pikas, arctic hares and Siberian chipmunks gather food,
ever-watchful for the predatory sable. We think of Japan as a
highly-populated, ultra modern society, and yet it remains a highly
spiritual place where wildlife is treasured and carefully protected.
Weaving Ainu legend with fascinating natural behavior, this film
will follow the lives of Hokkaido's special creatures through the
seasons, to capture the true essence and beauty of this
other-worldly place.
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