Begin Japanology
Season 4 Episode 19 - Lifts
Japan leads the world in building ever-faster and ever-quieter lifts, or elevators. In 2004, Japan's long history of engineering know-how was used to build the world's fastest elevator in Taipei 101, a 509-meter landmark skyscraper in Taiwan. The elevator travels at up to 60 km/h! At Tokyo's Roppongi Hills, one of Japan's largest multipurpose complexes, elevators serve two floors at once: an even and an odd floor. In other office buildings, cameras and ID cards connected to computers dispatch lifts automatically. Will "space elevators" someday carry people into orbit? The key may be carbon nanotubes, a material that was brought to the forefront of science in Japan. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, we look at the continued evolution of lifts and how they have become an indispensable daily convenience in Japan.
Episodes in Season 4
Mochi Rice Cake
28 min
Watches and Clocks
28 min
Fugu Blowfish
28 min
Haneda Airport
28 min
Kagura Dances
28 min
Snow
28 min
Pollen Allergy
28 min
Sashimono Woodwork
28 min
Cranes
28 min
Kitchen Knives
28 min
Fishing
28 min
Armour
28 min
Judo
28 min
The Life of Taro Okamoto
28 min
The Life of Osamu Dazai
28 min
The Life of Kenzo Tange
28 min
The Life of Hideko Maehata
28 min
Toilets
28 min
Lifts
28 min
Motorcycles
28 min
Unagi Eel
28 min
Japanophiles - Ilan Yanizky
28 min
Japanophiles - Silvain Guignard
28 min
Japanophiles - Stéphane Danton
28 min
Japanophiles - Dorothy Feibleman
28 min
Plastic Food Samples
28 min
Insects
28 min
Traditional Japanese Mathematics
28 min
Bicycles
28 min
Chusonji
28 min
Seaweed
28 min
Charcoal
28 min
Rain
28 min
Golf
28 min
Shipbuilding
28 min
Japanophiles - Bruce Huebner
28 min
Japanophiles - Noelke Muho
28 min
Japanophiles - Matt Alt
28 min
Karaoke
28 min
Holidays
28 min
Red Sea Bream
28 min
Shopping Streets
28 min
Chickens and Eggs
28 min
