Dolls
From ritual charm to children's toy, from star of the stage to life companion, dolls play a wide range of roles in Japanese society. Japanese dolls have their origins in religious charms that absorbed misfortunes or diseases that would otherwise befall people. Over time, dolls became toys for children, works of art valued for their beauty, and even part of the performing arts. It is a traditional Japanese belief that a doll can have its own soul. When dolls become old and worn out, some people go to great lengths to give them a proper send-off. The United States and Japan once had a historic exchange of dolls. These dolls were sent as symbols of friendship, but war later twisted their original meaning. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, we look at dolls - the special roles they have played over the ages and the special affection the Japanese have always felt for them.
Trailer
Recently Updated Shows
Animal Control
Animal Control is a workplace comedy following a group of Animal Control workers whose lives are complicated by the fact that animals are simple, but humans are not.
The Bachelor
The Bachelor is an American dating and relationship reality television series, revolving around a single former bachelor, who starts with a pool of candidates from whom the bachelor is expected to select a wife through an elimination process.
The Floor
The Floor is a physical quiz show that sees 81 contestants face off in quiz duels on a giant LED floor divided into a 9×9 grid of squares, each representing its own field of knowledge.
The first challenger, selected at random, must choose one of his or her neighboring opponents to go head-to-head in an epic quiz duel in the opponent's category. The winner takes over the loser's square, gaining valuable ground as they expand their territory, while the loser exits the game. The winner must then choose – do they continue on and attempt to secure another square? Or do they let The Floor choose a new challenger? The last contestant standing who gains full control over The Floor takes home a life-changing $250,000 cash prize.
QI
Sandi Toksvig, Alan Davies and a host of comedy stars swap funny facts on every subject under the sun. It doesn't matter if they're right, as long as they're quite interesting.