Big Bird in Japan is a follow-up special to Big Bird in China. Produced in association with NHK, Japan's public broadcaster, and filmed on location in Tokyo and Kyoto, the special debuted in Japan on NHK in the late fall of 1988, and on PBS in January 1989.
Big Bird and Barkley, having previously seen China independently, have signed up for a bus tour of Japan. The officious, hyper-organized guide has the trip organized to the detail, with little intended contact with the Japanese people. Wandering off, the pair are soon abandoned, but find aid from a friendly young woman, whose identity is eventually revealed through Japanese theater. The production included four original songs: "Homesick" and "Going to Kyoto" by Tony Geiss, and "Ichi, Ni, San" and "Moon, Moon" by Carol Hall.
The special was released on VHS in 1991, and on DVD in 2004.
Notes
Brian Muehl performs Barkley, but by the time the special was broadcast, Fred Garbo Garver had taken over the role on Sesame Street.
Big Bird would return to Japan 16 years later as part of the cast of a local adaptation of Sesame Street, along with Elmo and Cookie Monster.
Reviews
- --- John J. O'Connor, The New York Times. January 16, 1989.
Cast
- Caroll Spinney as Big Bird
- Brian Muehl as Barkley
- Maiko Kawakami as Young Woman/Kaguya-Hime
- and
- Masayuki Kato (加藤正之)
- Akira Murayama (村山明)
- Kumiko Hironaka (弘中くみ子)
- Hikojiro Matsumura (松村彦次郎)
- Fukami Harue (春江ふかみ)
- Mariko Hirano as Mariko Shimizu
- Akiko Nemoto as Akiko Shimizu
- Yoko Haruta as Tour Guide
- Pat Morita as "Bamboo Princess" Play Narrator (voice)
Crew
- Directed by: Jon Stone
- Written by: Jon Stone
- Producer: Sonia Rosario
- Associate Producer: Cheryl Ann Jung
- Editor: Ilene Merenstein
- Music composed and conducted by: Dick Lieb
- For Jim Henson's Muppets: Kermit Love, Caroly Wilcox, Richard Termine, Connie Peterson, Mark Zeszotek
- Executive Producer: Jon Stone