Futons and martial arts-trained police play a part in Japan's low gun crime. Just one person was killed with a gun in 2015 – a mob crime boss – and in the same year, just six shots were fired by the nation's law enforcers.

A pacifist culture and stringent tests, inspections and penalties also contribute to the absence of gun violence.

Find more innovative ideas from the first series go to www.bbcworldservice.com/perfectcountry

A Muslim country with a cosmopolitan outlook, Tunisia is both liberal and conservative. The code of personal status introduced by Tunisia's first president Habib Bourguiba established equality laws for women after Tunisia's independence.

But inequalities and violence towards women persist. How long will it be before there is true equality?

Find more innovative ideas from the first series go to www.bbcworldservice.com/perfectcountry

Becoming a maths master is within reach for every pupil taught the Shanghai model for teaching maths.

There is no streaming according to ability, a highly trained, specialist teacher moves slowly through topics and does not move on until every single pupil gets it.

But does the method come with too much pressure?

Find more innovative ideas from the first series go to www.bbcworldservice.com/perfectcountry

Bollards disguised as cigarette butts indicating smoking areas, high prices, compulsory plain packaging, advertising campaigns showing how smoking damages your health, an app to support giving up, and a culture of shame: anti-smoking messages come at Australians from all angles. Only around 13% of Australians smoke.

Find more innovative ideas from the first series go to www.bbcworldservice.com/perfectcountry

Did a white US police officer break the law by shooting dead an unarmed black youth?

The BBC exposes the illegal trade in baby chimpanzees, captured in Africa and exported to the Gulf or Asia as pets or for private zoos. Capturing a baby chimp means killing the parents and often other adult chimpanzees. The trade is starting to threaten chimp populations in the wild. Reporter David Shukman infiltrates a smuggling ring based in Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast, and discovers the scale of this illegal trade which crosses several continents.

Photo: A captured baby chimpanzee is freed during the police raid of an illegal wildlife smuggling ring, Credit: BBC

Former US Secretary of Defence William J Perry has spent his entire seven-decade career on the nuclear brink. A brilliant mathematician, he became involved in the development of weapons-related technology in the aftermath of World War Two. He reflects on the nuclear nightmare, and lays out his formula for nuclear security in our changing world.

RB Leipzig, the saviour of a city or the unacceptable commercial face of football?

Malawi’s parliament is now poised to vote on a controversial Termination of Pregnancy Bill after more than two years of fierce debate and consultation. But, as Chipiliro Kansilanga reports, the issue has split Malawian society and put many politicians and health officials at odds with religious leaders.

For just a few hours on Friday mornings, Majeed and his friends feel completely at home. Despite the often sweltering conditions in Dubai, the rough, uneven pitch and the stark surroundings, the moment the players walk up to the wicket, they are taken back to their home in Kerala, India - to their childhood, community and families. This is their story - a story of migration and opportunity, loneliness and brotherhood.