Japanese Culture: Children's Educational TV programs

In 2002 when Breksa Shimai spent 3 months living in Okitzu, she enjoyed Educational Japanese children's TV programs.  

The children's programs in Japan were colorful, for example one showed toddlers on a brightly colored set dancing and running around to a specific music beat. 

Other shows were about basic skills (including Japanese, English, and cooking) and Japanese culture.  There was  a documentary-like show on how noodles are made and another than explained and displayed chestnut season and preparation. More about the importance of the chestnut to Japanese people in a future post.

Notice how low the TV cart was...the Japanese sit on the floor a lot.  The fabric that Breksa Shimai (she was 9) is leaning on is actually a futon.
More about futons in another post.

The photo below is from a show that had a segment called "Hi Eric!"  The segment would have Eric going around playing his guitar and singing songs that taught English to one or two kids.  He was wild with his orange clothes, enthusiasm, and his volume - he was loud.