Season 1

Kariyasu, kuchinashi, and moegi -all are Japanese words for colors. The Japanese language has a lot of words for expressing subtle tints. Many have their origin in Kyoto and are still very much alive in the speech of th…

Kakunodate is the "Little Kyoto" of Tohoku, a castle town and popular tourist destination where the streets are lined with traditional-style buildings dating from the Edo Period (17th to mid-19th century). We meet peopl…

The folklorist, Kunio Yanagita, wrote his "Tono Monogatari" (Tales of Tono) about a century ago. The book related how mysterious beings such as the kappa river goblins, the zashikiwarashi child spirits, mountain gods an…

Towers that reach to the skies. Towering tourist attractions around the country have precursors in the stupas of Buddhism. Since the late nineteenth century, they have been built as windows on the new age and symbols of…

The beautiful islands of Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture are known as one of the three great scenic spots of Japan. The view of the more than 260 islands dotting the placid waters was left amazingly unspoiled even by th…

Suwa was a center of culture in Japan in the Jomon period before rice cultivation arrived. It is said that in those ancient times, too, people transported many great tree trunks for erection at their sacred places in mu…

With its glass-like translucency, the River Niyodo on Shikoku is renowned for possessing the clearest water in Japan. 124km long, it has its source in the highest mountains of Western Japan and, swelled by many tributar…

Mt. Fuji is Japan's highest peak at 3776m. Its magnificence and beauty have impressed the Japanese over the millennia. Climbers flock there each night once it has been formally opened for climbing in July each year and …

The Awa Odori dance is the highlight of the 4-day Obon Festival of the Dead in Tokushima, Shikoku, in August each year. About 100,000 people join in the dancing and 1.3 million come to watch this most popular of all Bon…

Kamakura, like the two old capital cities of Nara and Kyoto, also served at one stage as the nation's political center. Minamoto no Yoritomo chose Kamakura as the seat of Japan's first shogunate or military government i…

Miyajima, an island 30 km around in the Seto Inland Sea, is known as one of the 3 most beautiful spots in Japan. It has been thronging with more than 3.4 million tourists a year ever since the Itsukushima Shrine was reg…

Our theme this time is traditional crafts. The Japanese have a long history of making good handicraft use of natural materials. From pottery and woodwork to textiles and metalwork, the Japanese have employed fire, water…

The Japanese fascination with dolls extends through Neolithic clay figures to Girls' Day festival dolls, puppets and now cartoon character figurines as well. The dolls embody diverse local traditions and beliefs, servin…

Rice is special to the Japanese. Since rice cultivation arrived here millennia ago, it has molded Japanese society, the landscape and religious beliefs. That history is reflected in archaeological sites and other remain…

The blowfish is an expensive delicacy in Japan that has been eaten here for thousands of years, judging from the presence of blowfish bones in prehistoric remains. The flesh is firm with almost no fat and mostly ignored…

Kyoto is a treasure house of Buddhist statuary. The many statues there include 37 designated national treasures and 416 important cultural properties, second only in number to those of Nara. Jizo, the bodhisattva Ksitig…

Areas of Japan experience the heaviest snowfall in the world. The people there have come up with various ways to spend those cold, silent, fearful winter nights when human companionship becomes so important, not to ment…