Stream It
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.
Aired: Jun 16, 2011 Genre: DocumentaryCasts: Peter BarakanDuration: 28m Rating: 0 Country: Japan, United Kingdom Production:
Episodes
01: Mochi Rice Cake02: Watches and Clocks03: Fugu Blowfish04: Haneda Airport05: Kagura Dances06: Snow07: Pollen Allergy08: Sashimono Woodwork09: Cranes10: Kitchen Knives11: Fishing12: Armour13: Judo14: The Life of Taro Okamoto15: The Life of Osamu Dazai16: The Life of Kenzo Tange17: The Life of Hideko Maehata18: Toilets19: Lifts20: Motorcycles21: Unagi Eel22: Japanophiles - Ilan Yanizky23: Japanophiles - Silvain Guignard24: Japanophiles - Stéphane Danton25: Japanophiles - Dorothy Feibleman26: Plastic Food Samples27: Insects28: Traditional Japanese Mathematics29: Bicycles30: Chusonji31: Seaweed32: Charcoal33: Rain34: Golf35: Shipbuilding36: Japanophiles - Bruce Huebner37: Japanophiles - Noelke Muho38: Japanophiles - Matt Alt39: Karaoke40: Holidays41: Red Sea Bream42: Shopping Streets43: Chickens and Eggs