Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that created the children's educational TV program "Sesame Street," has launched a Japanese version of its multilingual educational Web site for children around the world.
Popular "Sesame Street" characters including Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster don't appear in the virtual world, but Sesame Workshop has created a set of brand-new characters, including green monster Azibo and Athena the Owl.
Via the Web site, called Panwapa, children can explore many countries, learn foreign languages, exchange prepared messages with speakers of other languages and play lots of games, such as treasure hunting.