NHK NHK is Japan ' s leading public broadcaster operating two television networks , with programs ranging from news , sports , emergency broadcasts , anime and children ' s educational programs , several featuring puppets influenced by the Muppet style of puppetry . " Sesame Street " has been one of NHK ' s most successful children ' s programs , and one of the first to be imported from overseas . " Sesame Street " first debuted in 1971 , but was taken off the lineup in the early 1980s , but resumed in 1988 , until the end of March in 2004 , when production on a local adaptation was announced , which NHK refused to be involved in . While " Sesame Street " is primarily designed for preschool children , teenagers and adults watched the program as a guide to learning English ( though much later on , a dubbed version was also available ) . " Big Bird in Japan " was produced in association with the broadcaster . NHK Episode Guides . When the American " Sesame Street " aired on NHK ' s Educational network , the channel produced episode guides for educational use . Some episode guide pages on this wiki use information from these NHK guides . In the early 1970s , the guides covered parts of every episode . They included transcripts and Japanese translations of selected scenes . By the late 1980s , the NHK guides changed format . They skipped over many episodes , but they had complete transcripts , Japanese translations , and screen shots for every scene in the episode . In these later years , although the NHK broadcasts were largely the same as the U . S . airings , NHK replaced Spanish language segments with other segments that were in English . The Sesame Street Episode Guides on this wiki created from the NHK guides reflect the Japanese airings and therefore may lack Spanish language segments originally in the episodes , and may include NHK ' s replacement segments which were not originally aired in the episode . The 1980s issues also include cartoon versions of scenes from the episodes , coloring pages , and local " Sesame Club " fan letters , news , and photos . The issues covering season 20 also include interviews and biographical sketches ( in Japanese ) of people who worked on Sesame Street . Segments and Closings . In the early 1980s , an original closing credit sequence ended each episode . The first one points out of a companion book / guide that is available , along with a mailing address and pricing options , followed by a cast list . These credits also depicted illustrations of the Muppets , some holding numbers and letters , and was accompanied by the theme ( one from the Original Cast album , though it cuts off to the last few notes of the closing harmonica solo ) . Characters seen include : The Count , Sherlock Hemlock , Professor Hastings , Big Bird , Oscar the Grouch , Cookie Monster , Ernie , Bert , Kermit the Frog , Grover , Roosevelt Franklin , Herry Monster , The Amazing Mumford , and an Anything Muppet old woman . The entire sequence ends with a shot illustration of Cookie , Ernie , Bert and Grover poking out of a curtain with the Sesame Street sign ( and its Japanese translation above ) and the NHK logo . ( This illustration was also used at the end of 1976 - 1977 episodes of " Sesamstraat " with the Sesamstraat sign and the BRT and NOS logos . ) At some point in the 1990s , each episode ended with a segment entitled " Sunny Day Club " , which began with a still illustration of Elmo and Grover walking in the park , and Elmo ' s voiceover introducing the segment . These segments , accompanied by a female voiceover , showcased original artwork sent in by viewers , with Sesame music playing in the background , including Honk Around the Clock and The Happiest Street in the World ) . Also included were brief clips of sketches and episodes . The segment ends with a shot illustration of several characters ( varied from time to time ) with the words " The End " . In the 2000s , when the show was available in both English and Japanese , " Sesame English " was interspersed within the program , first as a replacement for " Elmo ' s World " , but later in addition to .