JDM Insider

This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in northern Japan, portraying people from tightly knit communities. They feel deeply connected by their culture and tradition. With gorgeous pictures, the directors explore how different generations of Ainu reflect on their identity after centuries of oppression.

The bonus documentary with the Taschen book "Manga Design" features interviews of three top manga artists (Usaruara Furuya, Naoki Urasawa and Reko Okano), a Tokyo manga shop tour, and 900 manga covers.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a legend in the sport of NASCAR. This special looks back on that fateful day, February 18th, 2001, when the world lost one of the greatest drivers of all time.

Profiling Dale Earnhardt, one of five inaugural inductees. The seven-time Cup Series champ known as "The Intimidator" won 76 races before his tragic death in the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt's No. 3 was retired from the circuit.

In June 1942, Japanese bombers tried to level the American presence on Midway Island in a bid to steam unimpeded toward the U.S. mainland. Yet the U.S. Navy had two aces up its sleeve: advance knowledge of Japanese plans and a dive-bomber that was nearly invulnerable to attack. When the smoke cleared after the U.S. ambush, four Japanese aircraft carriers -- the Kaga, the Soryu, the Hiryu and the Akagi -- lay on the ocean floor. The program shows how the U.S. Navy and private enterprise teamed up on a 1999 expedition that solved a half-century of military mystery: where exactly did the Japanese ships go down?

Top Gear: Festival Sydney was a special episode of the BBC motoring show Top Gear, featuring the regular presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May alongside Top Gear Australia presenters Steve Pizzati and Shane Jacobson.

Documentary about the photo session for the photobook "Castella", filmed in Portugal.

Explore the life and legacy of actor Paul Walker, the Southern California native who cut his teeth as a child actor before breaking out in the blockbuster Fast and Furious movie franchise.

Just after midnight on 10 March 1945, the US launched an air-based attack on eastern Tokyo; continuing until morning, the raid left more than 100,000 people dead and a quarter of the city eradicated. Unlike their loved ones, Hiroshi Hoshino, Michiko Kiyooka and Minoru Tsukiyama managed to emerge from the bombings. Now in their twilight years, they wish for nothing more than recognition and reparations for those who, like them, had been indelibly harmed by the war – but the Japanese government and even their fellow citizens seem disinclined to acknowledge the past.

Popcult Japan

Women getting onto a rickshaw.

This short documentary from 1950 captures the thrill of harness racing on Prince Edward Island. We follow Bellhop's career as a pacer, from his unwilling introduction to harness through trials with a bicycle sulky (or 2-wheel cart) to his first big race. The film culminates with scenes of trotters and pacers at Charlottetown's Old Home Week.

Tom Weeden, 23 from Kent, England, is a motorbike racer in the search for victory at the most challenging road circuit in the world, the Isle of Man TT. Follow Tom, along with Steve, his Dad, come race mechanic, and discover the risk and reward lifestyle of those who ride on the ragged edge in the pursuit of glory. Climbing mountains, skimming kerbs, dodging stone walls and trees, at over 200mph.

Hidden in the wooded mountains on the west coast of Japan lies the small Zen monastery Antaiji. A young woman sets off to immerse herself through autumn, winter and spring in the adventures of monastic life. The young woman is Sabine Timoteo from Switzerland. The abbot of the monastery is Muho Noelke, born in Berlin. An interplay between the philosophy of the Japanese Zen master Kodo Sawaki and the surprises brought forth by everyday life.

Tracing the Future follows In the Wake exhibition artist Naoya Hatakeyama as he photographs the devastated landscape of his hometown of Rikuzentakada after 3/11. Hatakeyama, who represented Japan in the 2001 Venice Biennale and is renowned for meticulous photographs that explore the relationship between humankind and nature, suffered enormous losses on 3/11: his family home was washed away in the tsunami and his mother lost her life. Tracing the Future delves into the artist’s deeply personal response to the disaster and explores his four-year-long mission of documenting the place of his upbringing.

A journey back through Dacia Maraini's and her trips around the world with her close friends cinema director Pier Paolo Pasolini and opera singer Maria Callas. An in-depth story of this fascinating woman's life. Maraini's memories come alive through personal photographs taken on the road as well as her own Super 8 films shot almost thirty years ago.

A renowned old hotel near Nagoya Station has been in the red for four consecutive fiscal terms. When the old management stepped down, Akio Shibata, who has long been in the board of the labor union, is appointed its new general manager. Shibata's method for reviving the hotel consists of neither the laying off of the staff nor the introduction of performance-based system. He wants everyone to take part in the making of new management plans and for all employees to lodge together and engage in heated discussions about their management dreams all night. Yes, his management ideal is to "have the happiest employees in Japan" working in their hotel. He throws birthday parties for employees and has company cafeteria remodeled. All these changes bring about yet another change in the mind of everyone.

Kunashir, one of the biggest islands of the Kuril Archipelago, is situated 16 kilometers from Japan. It was occupied by the Soviet army in 1945. One year later, after a short period of cohabitation, 17.000 Japanese and Ainu people who were living in the Kurils and on Sakhalin were deported to the island of Hokkaido. Since that time Japan has been demanding the return of the Kuril Islands. A peace treaty between the two countries still has not been signed.

By following the lives of five Japanese individuals this documentary explores the problem of depression in Japan and how the marketing of anti-depressant drugs has changed the way the Japanese view depression. Marketing of anti-depressants did not begin in Japan until the late 1990s and prior to this, depression was not widely recognized as a problem by the Japanese public. Since then, use of anti-depressants has sky-rocketed and use of the Japanese word "utsu" to describe depression has become commonplace, having previously been used only by psychiatric professionals.

Becky's Music Story features all her released music videos and a documentary that includes live footage and her tv program Becky Music Life.