Original subtitles

In central Japan,

a spider weaving a net in rice fields.

Rice has been a part of Japan for a long time,

It shaped this land.

Too real, it has become an important part of Japanese landscape.

It has created a unique environment

necessary for its creator

and share with other animals.

Nhat Ban is a country of steep hills and mountains

surrounded the flat plains,

where people have lived for thousands of years

The largest freshwater lake in the country

Lake Biwa

Not far from the ancient city of Kyoto

The slope toward the lake was made up of terraced fields.

Paddy rice needs a shallow water level to grow

and these elaborate terraced fields provide that

Some of them have been cultivated continuously for thousands of years.

Along with those pieces of forest,

where people have found fuel and food for centuries.

This is a land cleared by humans

but they only have a slight effect on it.

The land has been in operation for centuries

to meet the demand for rice

But it is still dominated by the four seasons

change in the year

This is the view that Japanese people hold in their hearts

They have a special word for it

They call it the place where the mountains combine with fields

Satoyama - 里 山

It is April now

The day is getting longer

and the weather is getting warmer

Spring is coming.

The years passed and brought about change for the country

Another thing is changing the land

as it has done for centuries

Early spring,

Water is led into the field.

Cold water from the mountains flows through the arid fields

Slowly flow through the fields,

Once again the water stream links it to

The mountain is above

and Lake Biwa below

Water gradually seeps down, waking the ground

after months of freezing in winter.

and wake up the little creature

Has hibernated here from the fall.

Water flows from the nutrient-rich mountains

so its annual return

Help to improve soil fertility.

Early spring is a busy time for farmers,

when they prepare fields to grow rice.

Satoyama is a place created by humans,

But it also harmonizes with the natural world around it.

The animals are also waiting for the return of the water.

Wake up after hibernation,

and be attracted by the fresh water

the turtle moves down the flooded fields

He will find a mate here,

and lay their eggs on the edge of the field in the next few days

The green frog returns to the flooded field,

to find food and lay eggs.

Many insects in turn appear,

Thousands of species

will turn to find what it wants

from the field.

Newts begin to search for food

Some purple species come to the field

from considerable distance

others have been here all year

The water scorpion has been buried in dry soil throughout the winter.

It was also awakened by cold water

Many of these small creatures become prey

for the water birds that have the right timing

flooding time of the field

Rhythm of change

from wet to dry

and vice versa

be affected on the landscape

by the farmers for a long time,

Make it part of the natural world

Humans are also dominated by crops

At the time of decision

they organize festivals

God bless the lush plants

and bumper crops

They show respect

to the power of nature

still controlling their fields

Irrigation canal is lined with cement

connecting these fields to Lake Biwa

and on a spring night in May

Catfish from the purple lake line pass it

Grapple with the flow

Water stream from the field

Combined with rainwater

created many streams of water flowing into the lake

For catfish, timing is critical

One by one, they work hard across the water

to enter the newly planted field

They spent the winter in deep water in the lake,

but now they need shallow water and mud to lay their eggs

Satoyama provides exactly what they need.

Before dawn,

Adult fishes gather in a rice field

and shot his head flirting in the middle of the newly planted rice field

The female is big and heavy with eggs.

The male is smaller, following him,

try to attract the attention of the children.

It wraps around, rubbing the female's belly

stimulate the female to lay eggs

so that it will fertilize the egg.

Their courtship sometimes is too strong

so they are often harmful to newly grown young rice

But farmers are willing to share their fields with them

Spawning time ends within 1 minute

The adults will follow the water back to the lake.

Leaving countless tiny glares in the field.

Two days after spawning

The embryo is moving inside the egg.

Day by day

because the earth's axis is tilted when flying around the sun

days last longer

and the shallows became warmer

The catfish eggs hatch

miraculously coincidence

with abundant food.

When it is dry, the field contains millions of small eggs

caused by water fleas born in the previous year.

Now the field is flooded again

These eggs also hatch

so there is an abundance of food in the country

Dragonfly larvae are hunting

Water fleas are simple prey

The young catfish also eat them, and grow up quickly

When the tree sprouted, the soil changed again

and turn green

Under the water

The battle between the hunter and the prey continues

The water beetle lurks

waiting for its prey to enter its range

And dragonfly larvae

was once a hunter

Now it becomes a victim

Water scorpions hide in the mud

catfish looks completely unaware

about the dangers that threaten them

Worms of blood

larvae of flies

is food for newt

Giant water beetles are really big

It is the largest insect in Japan

and a scary hunter

With enduring ferocity

Giant water beetle draws its nutrition from the frog

The dead body will be thrown aside

and will be absorbed into the mud

The black hawk prey on the small forest next to the field

Forests are an important element in the world of Satoyama

They are like water tanks,

absorb rain water

then slowly release it

so that it can seep into the ground, to the trees,

evaporate and return to the atmosphere

The forest has been used by locals for centuries,

they come here to find food, firewood and make charcoal.

Many oak trees have many straight trunks,

That is because they have been used by humans

to grow a favorite food in Japanese cuisine

Slender trunks and branches of an oak tree

often cut and piled up on top of each other

called "Hodagi"

They will be allowed to dry for about 1 month

Once dry, they will be drilled

The button is made from a mixture of sawdust and mushroom spores

will be closed into each hole

It will then be locked with a wooden button

Shiitake mushrooms will sprout

from wooden buttons

and Japanese chefs will pay dearly for them.

Despite the harsh treatment, oak trees do not die.

The stump will sprout again.

It will not be harvested in the next 18 years or more.

As the branches grow, they attract new guests.

Horned beetles come to suck the sap from the tree.

Silkworms like older branches.

After eating the leaves, it returns to the cocoon.

Their cocoons provide humans with another crop for centuries

They use delicate silk threads,

the car is only a thread,

to weave into the most gorgeous fabric.

For silkworms

silk is a veil

where it will transform into a butterfly

After 5 years, the "hodagi" logs are out of nutrition,

and will no longer be used to grow mushrooms

so they were dumped

and to the item

Sawdust from their decomposition

infiltrate back into the soil

where it re-feeds the living plants

and make food for other creatures

The beetle larva is one of them

Has lived for half a year as a larva

gobbled

Now it's transformed into a pupa

Its new casing is still soft

In Japanese

This insect is called "kabutomushi".

because its head reminds people of it

a fighting helmet worn by samurai

and its body

like the armor of medieval Japanese warriors

When spring gradually turns to summer

The flooded field is like a meadow

This is the time when giant water bugs lay their eggs

The female lays a litter of about 80 eggs

then it ignores them

But the male stayed and protected the egg for more than a week

Sometimes it leaves for a while to get water

to keep the eggs moist

A week later, at midnight

Eggs start to hatch

It is summer time,

Water from the forest continues to flow through the fields

It flows through the canal system and then into Lake Biwa

The catfish is now about 2 months old

This is the time when it is about to leave the warm, shallow water

to move into the cold and deep water in the lake

Say they will spend most of their lives

Their parents cross the waterways of farmers

to get to the rice field

Now their children use the same path

to go down to the lake

Without the farmers

and the method they built to grow rice

the catfish of Lake Biwa

there won't be nurseries like this

When they reached the lake,

They will grow up there in 2 to 3 years

until the time comes for them

to swim back to the canals to breed

Now, another species is also preparing to leave the rice field

It has another way to leave.

Nymph of the red dragonfly

after 2 months of growing up

Climb the rice where it will take off

To do that, it first changes its shape

and grow wings

The dragonfly will leave the field

and fly to nearby mountains during the summer months

It creates a connection between Satoyama

farming place

and the wild world surrounding it

Late June. It's midsummer.

The day is long and warm

People live in a small village next to the fields

their special contribution

into Satoyama's living landscape

Flowers in the garden are an important source of pollen

for many species

including swallowtail butterflies

In the corner of the garden,

Big spider is waiting on its web

In many parts of Japan

Spiders are welcome because of their good omen.

They feed on insects

which could be dangerous to humans and plants

On the Crane tree, another small creature is

into the Satoyama community

This is the "national" butterfly of Japan

called "oo-murasaki"

Purple on its wings

used to be a color reserved for the Emperor

and the high ranking sacrifices in ancient Japanese society

In the moth stage

It lives only on the crane

When it grows, it will fly away to eat sap from the forest

On warm summer nights,

Rice fields become more alive with another insect

Japanese people love it - Dom Dom

Using the language of light,

they send flirtatious signals to the others

Their lives are very short

Just about 7 days

Traditionally, Japanese families

Come and see the fireflies every year

to be amazed at the small specks of light flashing across the field

and to ponder the fragile lives of the creatures that make it up

Fireworks is another pleasure on a summer night

In the corner of the garden, behind the children and their fireworks

Another creature is undergoing dramatic change

For seven years, the cicada lived in the ground

Now they are present to live the last days of life

like a winged creature

hurriedly looking for a partner

There are many species of cicadas in Japan

Each species has its own call

Remind people of another season of the passing season.

It is midsummer

Rice has grown steadily

But there is still much work to be done

The field needs to be cleaned of weeds

so that rice can grow

It is hard work

Farmers wading through shallow ponds

adjacent to the field

These artificial lakes store water year round

and people raise carp in it

They have their own special tool for catching fish

Each family brought home their catch.

This is a seasonal party that everyone enjoys every year.

Summer is a children's holiday

while their parents work in the fields

they make the most of the afternoon

Japanese love for insects

shown when they were little

Retired horns are especially popular

bigger the better

When males encounter each other

will fight naturally

to seize control of the territory

Retired beetles have sprung up from below the "hodagi" wooden pile.

When the night comes

they crawl out to suck the sap

During the night, the bugs fight

to scramble for the best position

But it's not just them that like sap

Where there is a lot of food also attracts females

Should be like the samurai

they fight

It is September

Summer is over, days are getting shorter

and the field is about to change again

The time for harvesting will soon come

150 days ago, these fields became swamps

when the water comes from the mountain

Since then, the field has slowly changed

according to the changing of the seasons

When the field changes

Different animals also come

some swim, others fly

to take advantage of the changing landscape

For farmers and rice

This year is a good year

The red dragonfly has returned from the mountains

to where they have hatched

This is the time when farmers harvest the fruits

of many months of labor

When the rice is dried in the autumn sunshine

The air was filled with the scent of straw

Now there's no room for the giant water beetle here anymore

Many other insects have also left the dry field

They fly in search of the water they still need

The lake is now a new home for water creatures

used to hunt in the rice fields

They will safely spend the winter here

When the land changed color

and fall leaves fall to the ground

the pace of life slows down

Green frogs are hatched from within the rice fields

Now return to the nearby forest

and prepare to hibernate

beneath the fallen leaf blanket

Before the last puddle

disappeared from the field

There is one final act of creation

Red dragonflies pair in a courtship ritual

the male squeezes the female

The females lower their bellies to the puddle to lay eggs

The eggs will lie dormant during the harsh winter cold

When spring returns and water comes from the mountains

back into the field

It will expand

and the next generation

of brutal larvae

will hunt in the waters of the field

For centuries, persimmon trees have been planted

along the fields

This is the autumn fruit

Japanese favorite

It is picked very carefully, one by one

Persimmon tree is very important

for damselfly

perched on a branch protruding from a field

Like the dragonfly,

The damselfly has also changed its behavior

to take advantage of man-made advantages

Dragonflies lay eggs on these branches

It bends the egg-laying organ

Its egg base is securely placed

under the bark

And then, they die

When spring comes and the field is filled with water

The larvae will fall straight into the water

On the harvested field

The red dragonflies are still infatuated with the last spawn

The peeled persimmons

are neatly hung at farmers' homes

These carefully dried persimmons,

Satoyama people used to be a valuable food in the winter

and also a source of income

Today, when food can be available year round

not many farmers pay attention to harvest persimmons

Despite this, the presence of dried fruits

Hang on the shelf carefully

viewed by the Japanese as a sign

of winter is approaching

When the land was frozen,

very little life is present in and around the field

is covered by snow

But there is still life here,

hide himself and wait silently

The rebirth will come

when the water returns to sunlight

Winter is also a time for farmers to rest

Their lives are in harmony with the rhythm of nature

In the corner of this field

A small pool of water still bubbled from the ground

It will still not freeze during the winter

and on the corner of the puddle

locals put flowers to give to the gods

because of this gift

Underneath the mud,

The water scorpion lay dormant, waiting

neither moving nor breathing

Winter makes up

In the corner of the way copper freezes

Farmer stand alone

But in the corner

There is a reminder that spring buying will come

Butterfly nymph.

February

Another year came

The feeble temperatures from the sun warm the earth

long enough for cold mist to rise from the melting snow

Winter is easing my grip

Work in the field will begin again soon

Again, the water from the mountain will flow

Rice will be planted

guests from the forest and from the lake will return

Once again

Satoyama will be full of life