Surprisingly, an important part of learning Japanese language and society is the visual landscape and all the cultural cues and clues found there.
Without exposure to ordinary city and countryside settings, a new arrival spends a lot of brain energy collecting and organizing visual information!
So there is value in browsing photos and video of places, people, and events.
Of course, if the instructor first prepares a few prompts (for writing or discussion or just paying attention), then the viewing experience gains more value by engaging the student.
cf. the youtube channel with scores of "walking around Japan" in city and countryside, at events and in daily life,
