Elmo Japan

Elmo has undergone something of a metamorphosis in Japan.

Sure, he still has his fuzzy red look, falsetto voice and hearty laugh in the country’s first local production of “Sesame Street.”

But unlike the Elmo loved by generations of American children, this Muppet wastes little time teaching reading or arithmetic.

In Japan, known for its reserve, Elmo is all about feelings.

“We’re going for a deeper kind of character with a wider range of emotions,” said Yasuo Kameyama, one of the local producers who works on the show with New York-based Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind “Sesame Street.”

The educational show has enjoyed more than 35 years of success in the United States by delivering fun-filled preschool learning. And so Elmo’s job was to teach basic learning like the alphabet and counting.

But in Japan, where the literacy rate stands at 100 percent and children are sent regularly to cram schools, the “Sesame Street” that started last fall is designed to be more emotional.

Japan’s Elmo cries more easily than the U.S. version. The American Elmo wept only once during the entire “Sesame Street” history, when a goldfish died, but Elmo has already had one bout of tears in the Japanese production – when a friend left without saying goodbye – and more are planned.

“We want to depict emotional conflict through Elmo,” Kameyama said.

The social and emotional development of children is also a key part of the U.S. show, but the version here is more about problem-solving and growing up. Much of the half-hour show is spent on a relatively complex story.

In one, Elmo stumbles during a track race and struggles with feelings of defeat, but gets up to make it to the finish line. In another, he dreams about becoming a baseball player and a superhero, but in the end decides his true love is dance.

Japan’s production is part of an effort by “Sesame Street” in recent years to spread its message globally. “Sesame Street” has been shown in 120 nations, and 20 are local productions.

In Japan, public TV broadcaster NHK used to show the American “Sesame Street” in the evenings, mostly to help adults learn English. NHK, which dominates children’s programming, refused to take part in the co-production, which airs Sunday mornings on a different channel.

“Sesame Street” has also made progressive inroads in other nations. In South Africa, there’s an HIV-positive Muppet. The Muppets are helping children learn cross-cultural respect in the Middle East through programs in Israel and the Palestinian territories. In Norway, a live birth was shown in an episode.

In developing nations such as Bangladesh, China, Mexico and Afghanistan, “Sesame Street” is still doing what it’s done best for years – mixing learning with tasteful Muppet entertainment.

But Daniel Victor, executive vice president of Sesame Workshop, knew “Sesame Street” had to offer something different in Japan.

“We’re quite aware that in terms of cognitive learning, Japan is probably way ahead of most of the world, if not all of the world,” Victor said during a recent visit to Tokyo.

Most Japanese are familiar with the Muppets because they have seen the American show. Muppet merchandise and toys have been around for years.

Still, the new show has yet to win over viewers, lagging at 2.9 percent ratings.

Children are being bombarded not only with educational shows, but also with doses of TV animation known as manga, as well as a lineup of mascot characters, including Hello Kitty, Pokemon and Mickey Mouse.

It hasn’t helped that a manga show is on another channel the same time slot as “Sesame Street,” although “Sesame Street” strategically airs between two manga on its channel.

What’s definitely the same – and special – with “Sesame Street” around the world is the authentic look of the Muppets.

The show isn’t dubbed, and the puppeteers for the Japanese show were trained by American Muppeteers to deliver their lines while moving the Muppets’ mouths in sync with their own voices, just as in the U.S. version.

Kevin Clash, the original Elmo who auditions and trains Muppeteers, believes the Japanese show will catch on – once word gets out.

“Elmo is there to teach. Elmo is there to say it’s wonderful to be happy about living and enjoying life and the simplest things in life,” he said in a telephone interview from Paris, where he is working on another “Sesame Street” co-production.

“I think that’s what Elmo represents. And that’s a great thing to teach a child.”