ARTE Distribution

These nine modules will immerse us in the very heart of Japanese society, in the very heart of Tokyo, its energy, its fantasy, its contradictions. The documentary series will decipher "Japan from inside out", in a fun, odd and offbeat way.

The gachappon is the equivalent of jukebox: a vending-machine for junk surprises, a spectacular mechanics like a pinball machine and addictive like a slot machine. But instead of delivering a plastic gift, a video capsule will emerge to help us discover this distant and fascinating country by its less known side: small daily realities!
Each of the nine episodes of the documentary web series Gacha Gacha is designed in a fun discovery mode, to dissect nine typically Japanese rites. Ways of doing things that are both millennial and hypermodern, disciplined bodies and lively minds, a very modest and suddenly exhibitionist daily life. Technological and spooky materials, sounds and colors.

In Japan, the “washlet” combine western toilets and Japanese hygiene. They are everywhere in Japan. Surprisingly, they are a concentrate of the most advanced technologies in the field of hygiene. 

Clever synthesis of comfort and cleanliness. They become indispensable to whoever tries them. 

Eating ramen in Japan is a unique sensory and auditory experience. Here, the noodles are sucked up, making a particular sound. This sound has a name: Zuru Zuru!

This is the Japanese way of breaking down the flavors compiled in the bowl to reveal the subtlety of the tastes of a dish far from ordinary.

Daruma is a lucky charm doll who watches over the wishes of Japanese people. A figure of Buddhism in the archipelago, Daruma is none other than the transfiguration of Bodhidharma, which instilled Zen worship on the island. 

Once a year, a ritual is dedicated to him during the “Matsuri” of Jindai-ji. The Japanese make their wishes for health, happiness, success and fortune.

“Point and check”! In Japan, finger pointing is a technique that standardizes and shapes security protocols. 

This practice is like a choreography of gestures that reassures and streamlines the movement of trains. Far from behaving like robots, the attendants are more like guardian angels of the rail system.

Women who come together to laugh and chat, nothing more banal ... But in Japan, this everyday act can take on overtones of the heart. 

Freeing one's word for a woman is not easy in a controlled society. In a club of "pompom girls", women practice this sport as a real group therapy.

On the rooftops of Tokyo, spaces dedicated to sports offer unexpected places for entertainment. Baseball, football or golf ... 

They are proof of the optimization of urban space but also of a compulsive need to decompress for the Japanese. In these atypical places far from the ground, slices of life emerge.

Beeps, bells, rhythms and melodies are part of everyday Japanese life. Music is everywhere in the city to direct, warn and alert.

A musical experience which extends in the jingles of train and metro stations. Behind these jingles are passionate composers.

Everything has a soul in Shinto, even dust. Public places are immaculate, little hands are busy every day to make the city sparkle. 

However, in the rough edges of Tokyo, there are dirty places. Like an ultimate expression of freedom. Places we call Fukidamari ... "heart of dust".

In Japan politeness is measured to the nearest degree. Relations between individuals are distinguished by codified bows. 

Inherited from Buddhism and taught since childhood, Ojigi is improved at adulthood with experts in good manners. A practice which is far from constraining the body and which harmoniously balances human relationships.

The imaginary worlds of fantasy irrigate literature, cinema, video and role-playing games. Illustrator John Howe, the concept artist of The Lord of the Rings series, takes us on a wonderful four-part journey to discover the artists who have crafted fantasy.

Over the past twenty years, our views on Fantasy have shifted tremendously. Long reduced to repetitive adventures in comic books or movies with kitschy settings and poor scenarios, Fantasy now faces higher expectations from readers and critics alike, who demand complex heroes, strong female characters, original universes, in tune with more modern issues.
From its distant origins in myths and legends to its emergence into popular culture in the second half of the 20th century, fantasy has gradually taken shape over a history spanning more than a century. From the romantic Germany of the Brothers Grimm to the Texas plains where Robert E. Howard gave birth to the character of Conan, from the socialist utopias of William Morris to the tortured and eccentric mind of HP Lovecraft, John Howe’s travels will be interspersed with animated sequences breathing life into the stories that laid the foundations of the genre. To understand what makes these works so relevant and prevalent today, John Howe will be assisted by renowned experts such as S. T. Joshi, author of a 1200-page biography of Lovecraft, and Patrice Louinet, editor and translator of Robert E. Howard.
 

Everyone knows the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, now discover the universe of Tolkien and the legends that inspired them, with John Howe, the famous illustrator of Tolkien’s novels.

From the enchanted forest of Brocéliande to the sets of the New Zealand studios, Looking for the Hobbit plunges us into a universe we could never imagine existed. A quest to the very roots of our imagination.