The Professionals (2006)

This episode focuses in on Paul Smither, a garden designer from England who's popular in Japan. Smither's gardens are filled with lively plants and trees, season by season. He uses no agrichemicals or chemical fertilizers, drawing instead on plants' natural strengths. As a result, his gardens have been praised as "more natural than nature itself".

Every year, 30,000 people in Japan die from liver cancer. Tadatoshi Takayama has performed more operations than any other liver surgeon in the country, completing 300 per year.

A global boom in Japanese cuisine has put the spotlight on Japan's super-premium wagyu, literally "Japanese beef". Many acclaim Miyazaki beef as the finest wagyu, and one producer of Miyazaki beef in particular has been hailed as the "god of wagyu": 52-year-old Hidetoshi Kamada.

Hitoshi Ishihara, a chef in Kyoto, has been awarded 3 Michelin stars in 6 of the past 7 years. His 15-course meals, prepared in the kaiseki tradition of Japanese haute cuisine, are a kaleidoscope of the finest ingredients, season by season.

Japan's publishing industry is slumping, but the country's number one women's fashion magazine still boasts a huge readership. Its editor-in-chief is Asako Imao. She revolutionized the market with special features for housewives and moms like "Fall Fashion for the Grocery Store" that offer realistic advice mixed with stylish tips. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how Imao, herself a mother of one, creates content Japanese moms love.

Removal expert Hideo Ito. He specializes in the complex operations of international moves. Everything is classed as an import, and every country has different restrictions on content and volume, so Ito needs a wealth of knowledge.

When elderly people already weakened by age suffer a stroke or develop aspiration pneumonia, they may be told by their doctors that eating is no longer an option. That's where a Japanese nurse named Tamami Koyama steps in. She's an expert in helping patients with difficulty swallowing recover the ability to eat.

Veteran childminder Chieko Nojima has won a lot of attention for her revolutionary methods. She is a leading proponent of inclusive childcare, a philosophy where children of all ages and abilities are grouped together. Her methods can also provide plenty of inspiration for firms looking for new ways to develop their human resources. Assigning children to a mixed group, she gently guides them towards their own solutions to whatever problems may arise. What happens at the start of a tough new term?

An NGO founded after the 1995 earthquake in Kobe Prefecture, Japan provides relief to disaster-hit areas overseas. The man leading these efforts is Masamichi Yoshitsubaki. He listens intently to people in areas that are difficult for aid to reach, to find out what they truly need.

Fumio Usui is Japan's top maker of prosthetic legs, and a key figure in the world of para sports. But Usui doesn't just cater to elite; he also crafts prosthetics to snugly fit the bodies, and lifestyles, of ordinary people. From limbs finely tuned to the needs of clients who want to play sports, to designs that enable their users to wear high heels with confidence, Usui has built his reputation on providing devices that turn amputees' hopes into reality.

Eiji Teramoto, an employee in the Ohnan Town Office in Shimane Prefecture, is drawing attention from local officials around Japan. More than 40% of the 11,000 townspeople are elderly. Depopulation is a serious concern, but he's helped keep the population stable for 3 years running. He's achieved this through local revitalization projects centered on the concept of gourmet dining. By highlighting the town's unique products and cuisine, he's attracted both tourists and new residents to Ohnan.

The seaside town of Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, is home to a remarkable care facility that has recently found its way into the national spotlight, as it specializes in helping sometimes-difficult dementia patients to enjoy rewarding lives.

39-year-old startup CEO Hiroshi Michiwaki is in constant demand from leading companies. His inventions cut through Gordian knots with a simple reexamination of the facts. A screw he invented stands up to any shock and there are hopes it will be used in space. Another product absorbs noise on a highway by using a series of carefully calculated angles to reflect sound.