A world of content

Songs, poems and modern mythology are all part of a growing catalogue of literary cross-border collaborations between writers, illustrators and China's leading publishers, Mei Jia reports.

The Spring in the North - or Kitaguni no Haru in the original Japanese - is probably the most well-known Japanese song in China and around Asia since it first released in 1977.

"It's said that about 1.5 billion people across the world can sing that song," says lyricist Haku Ide, 78, the man who penned the song over 40 years ago.