While we were driving back towards the airport to return to Tokyo, the producer asked me to write a 'few words' sometime later for use on the program web page. I had my laptop with me though, and nothing else to do at the moment, so tapped it out and handed it over for her to read. She gave the OK ...

During the course of making this episode of Journeys in Japan, I was taken by a guide into the deep recesses of the beech forest, where we walked side by side among the old trees. I felt the rain on my upturned face, I saw how this water nourished the new soil that was being created from the fallen beech leaves by the action of many insects and small creatures, and I immersed my body in the fresh mountain stream.

I learned through my skin - through the contact with the rain, the soil, and the river - that I too am a living part of this process. When we came down from the mountains and saw the endless vista of rice paddies flourishing under the hot sun, we understood where their nourishment came from. And still further along our journey, out on the wide surface of the Sea of Japan, we saw that even there - far removed from the outstretched branches of the beech trees catching the rain - their effect was still being felt. The fish we ate that day had been nourished directly by the nutrients supplied by that forest.

And I - the big pink monkey who was your travel companion for this program - this animal drank the forest, ate it, swam in it, slept in it, and thus now directly understands in his bones the importance of such things. I hope that I and the program producers have helped the viewers understand what a wonderful place this is, and how important it is to preserve, protect and maintain it.

Thank you for coming along on this Journey. I hope you have enjoyed it!