NOVA Online | Japan's Secret Garden

Welcome to the companion Web site to "Japan's Secret Garden," originally broadcast on December 18, 2000. The program chronicles a year in the life of wildlife and people around Lake Biwa, Japan, a cycle that has continued unchanged for thousands of years. Here's what you'll find online:

Animal Transformations
Every spring, the most extraordinary metamorphoses of insects take place by the million-fold around the world. In five clips from the NOVA program "Japan's Secret Garden," watch five insect species transform into something utterly new.
Miracle of Rice
You've probably never stopped to consider rice for any longer than it takes to trap a piece of sushi between your chopsticks. But this humble grain is truly remarkable, and new advances are bringing it into the realm of the miraculous.
Secrets of Hibernation
Slumbering black bears may hold physiological clues that could benefit everything from organ preservation to kidney disorders, human hibernation to long-distance space travel.
Build a Rice Paddy (Hot Science)
Terraced rice paddies may look like they're carved out of hillsides, with the dug-up rock used to build the retaining walls. But looks can be deceiving. Learn why as you follow the evolution of a new paddy.

NOVA Online is produced for PBS by the WGBH Science Unit
Major funding for NOVA is provided by the Park Foundation, Sprint, and Microsoft.