Seasoning the Seasons

The stark, beautiful, volcanic mountains of Zao are a natural wonder of the Tohoku region. They have brought great blessings to the local population and also fostered fierce endurance. The striking Okama crater, frozen trees of winter, hot springs and other natural glories draw 1.2 million people annually to their famed resorts. The cool air of late autumn is meanwhile perfect for drying persimmons. We also introduce the fabulous ski slopes leading through those frozen trees, depicting the distinctive attractions of the people and their customs and the stunning scenery.

Osaka's Ikuno district has one of Japan's largest Koreatowns - one in every five Ikuno residents is an ethnic Korean and the town is full of Korean delicacies, too. We visit an old barbeque restaurant renowned for its cooking smoke. We also have a look at extraordinary pork dishes handed down over the years, review the history which gave birth to this community, and follow a day in the life of an old woman who crossed the sea to Japan and has been making kimchi pickles for family and friends ever since. The people of this town exude a warmth which reaches across all ethnic barriers.

Tales of the Tokyo Night. Some 15 million people are said to come and go daily in the great Tokyo metropolis. Evening is a particularly brilliant time and the Japanese people have loved the unique space created by those bright lights, so different from the daytime, ever since modernization began in the city back in the 19th century. We converse with a taxi driver who watches over fond lovers, feel the bonds that grow between inebriated customers as they drink beneath naked lights, and meet a lighting designer who produces those big city effects, touching the hopes, dreams and tensions of the Tokyo night.

Cherry Blossoms... People wait eagerly for their blossoms, love the famous scenes of cherry trees in bloom, sense the transience of things as the petals flutter down and then look forward to them just as eagerly again the following spring. Why are the Japanese people so attached to these flowers which announce the coming of spring? A man is so enthusiastic that he gives up his job to follow the blossoms on their half-year, south-north path up the archipelago. A thousand-year old cherry tree, worshipped as a tutelary god, has been treasured over many generations in a humble mountain village. And so it goes on... Every Japanese person has a special, personal recollection of the blossoms. From when the first trees bloom in Okinawa until the last flower in Hokkaido, we follow the cherry blossom front as it moves north across Japan, visiting famous viewing sites in each Prefecture. We hear, too, the stories of Japanese people and their cherry blossoms along the way.

Tokyo's old downtown district, where the TOKYO SKYTREE tower was opened last year, has always been a welcoming place for strangers and novelties. It also retains an old human warmth and vitality, not to mention great food at cheap prices. Those downtown flavors, too, produce chance encounters and bond people across the generations. Join us for a trip to old Tokyo in the springtime to enjoy the treats of the season and the particular downtown friendliness.

The Randen is the Kyotoites' pet name for a little, well-loved streetcar service. The Keifuku Electric Railroad's Arashiyama and Kitano Lines are more than a 100 years old and have a combined length of only 11km. The Randen was originally built to carry Kyoto residents to the western capital's famed beauty spot of Arashiyama. Besides the scenic delights of Arashiyama and Sagano, it also passes many famous Buddhist and Shinto treasures now listed as World Heritage sites, including the Ninnaji Temple in Omuro and much-acclaimed stone garden of Ryuanji. Above all, the Randen is loved for its popular flavor. We take a trip through western Kyoto on the little Randen at the most dazzling and invigorating time of the year, from the time of cherry blossoms into the season of new leaves.

The Asakusa district has a long history. It grew up around Senso-ji Temple, and still retains much of the flavor of Tokyo back in the days when it was still known as Edo.

Japan has many sorts of flower garden. They are a place of relaxation, solace and encouragement through the changing seasons. One lone gardener spent half a century planting flowers across a broad wasteland. Another has sown a floral oasis in a gap in a concrete jungle. Garden visits are also a time to reflect on precious moments in their creators' lives and those of their families. With glorious images, the program addresses the Japanese people's feelings and sense of beauty through how they view flowers.

Konpira-san, the Kotohira-gu Shrine in Kagawa Prefecture, Shikoku, is a place to pray for anything from good health to success in exams or love and draws 3 million visitors a year. It stands on Mt. Zozu, a peak once revered by seafarers of the Seto Inland Sea, and became a holy place for everyone during the Edo Period. It is also a place of culture and entertainment with a collection of artworks by Maruyama Okyo, Itoh Jakuchu and other famous painters and Japan's oldest extant kabuki theater, Kanamaru-za. We discover the varied history of the Kotohira Shrine, a place of both faith and desire, through its rituals and customs.

The Chugoku mountains of western Japan were the setting for various stories about the Japanese gods in Japan's ancient chronicle, the Kojiki, which was compiled 1,300 years ago. The people there also preserve the ancient kagura dances for the gods. We visit the villages to discover some examples, including a secret kagura that is presented only once every few years just for the villagers' own eyes, a mysterious kagura staged only once in 33 years in order to send the spirits of their dead to the afterlife, and a colorful new kagura which makes the young go wild. This is a glimpse into the world of the people of the Chugoku mountains, who still live close to their gods.

The mountain hinterlands of Shikoku are dotted with tiny, almost hidden communities. One such place is the Iya Oboke district of Tokushima Prefecture, where the houses cling to the mountainside on a steep slope with an altitude difference of 400m from top to bottom. The people there cultivate fields where the potatoes they dig up could almost roll down the hillside. They feed spring water to their homes and provide for most of their own needs from the blessings of the fields and mountains. Time passes quietly. We discover the people who have built their life on this steep mountainside over the years and the beauties of their four seasons.

Listed as a Natural Heritage site, Shiretoko is a treasure trove of flora and fauna. A remote land, closed by snow and ice in winter, it was embraced by pioneers who came to find new lives on land wrestled from nature. This program showcases the beauty of Shiretoko's transition through the seasons, and offers a glimpse of the lives of those who have reached a hard-won yet delicate accord with nature.

Kusatsu has the largest natural spring water flow of any spa in Japan. It is popular among tourists, attracting 2.7 million visitors annually. Waters are extremely hot and strongly acidic. For centuries, people have traveled to Kusatsu to benefit from the water's medicinal properties. The town which developed around the spa, includes numerous inns for long-term recuperation. Even today, people still follow the rules of jikan-yu, a unique bathing method introduced in the Edo Period. Our story focuses on the spa water, natural surroundings and people of Kusatsu.

Only an hour away from Tokyo, Shonan is a popular place where people like to visit and live. For over a century, Shonan has been the best seaside resort and birthplace of public beaches in Japan. From the first generation of Shonan Boys (American culture fans), the "Taiyo-Zoku" generation inspired by a 1956 novel and film, to the surfing generation, Shonan has remained a subject of admiration. Meanwhile, this episode will also show Shonan's cultural side with vacation homes and the Imperial Villa, rich blessings from the sea, and its religious facet in Enoshima.

At the center of Naha City lies Kokusai Street, a symbol of modern Okinawa Prefecture as it was one of the first areas to reemerge after the grueling battles of the war. Stretching for 1.6km, the street was in fact once called "The Miracle Mile." Originally a black market bordering the American-occupied zone, it became Okinawa's busiest shopping street, with 500 souvenir shops and restaurants. This episode focuses on the street's history and source of its prosperity: the diversity and dynamism of Okinawa.

On summer nights, the residents of Gujo Hachiman throw themselves into the o-bon dance. Dances are held on 33 nights from July to September, but for 4 nights during o-bon, everyone dances until dawn. In the evening, dancers gather in the narrow streets of the old castle town, forming a circle around festival floats carrying drummers, singers and shamisen players. The Gujo Hachiman O-bon dance is for dancers not spectators, and no one comes along just to watch. Locals and visitors, young and old, all dance through the night. We travel to Gujo Hachiman to enjoy this 400 year old tradition.

Sakurajima, an active volcano. Each year, around 900 eruptions occurs. Yet despite the risks and the ash falling each day, Sakurajima is a special place in the hearts of the 600,000 people living nearby in Kagoshima City. Sweet potatoes were brought in to use volcanic soil. Fishermen hunt shrimps 200 meters below the sea surface. Through hardship, the residents have built a special existence there. Our program covers the people who live next to Sakurajima, with its violence and its blessings.

Located in the center of Honshu, Japan's main island, the Kiso region is known for its countless towering Hinoki, or Japanese cypress trees, some of them more than 300-years-old. The Japanese cypress trades at high prices for building timber, with its condensed high-quality wood grain. Since time immemorial, the people of Kiso have enjoyed the blessings of the mountain, and have offered thanksgiving to the mountain gods. This is an untold story that follows the relationship between the Japanese and the mountains.

With awe-inspiring shrines and temples ranked as a World Heritage Site, Nikko is a sacred place. Its history dates back 1,200 years, but it was not until the creation of Tosho-gu, a shrine dedicated to shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, that it began to flourish. By the early 19th century, Nikko grew popular with foreign visitors, and even Albert Einstein and Helen Keller stayed here at Japan's oldest resort hotel. This episode introduces the people who still maintain the glory of Nikko's traditions.

Tohoku is at the northern end of Honshu. Autumn is the region's richest season. Forested hillsides are a blaze of red and yellow and trees bear bountiful fruit. Salmon swim upstream to return to their spawning grounds. Fields are full of golden rice with their stalks bent over, laden with grains. Local people are thankful for the bounty of the sea and the forest as they celebrate the fruits of their year's labor. We see how the autumn unfolds in Tohoku, where, following the Great East Japan Earthquake, people are awed by and yet grateful for the power of nature.

Since it opened up its harbor in 1859, Yokohama has been the gateway to Japan. Along with beautiful scenes of Yokohama, we tell the story of Japanese people living in a city with strong foreign influences. There is a ship pilot who knows Yokohama Harbor like the back of his hand. The first to greet vessels from far-flung nations, he is sometimes called "a diplomat without a title". And this story of Yokohama even includes things such as the storied, grand cruise vessel "Hikawamaru", sailing international lines and symbolizing the Showa Era, eventually pressed into service during World War II.

In this episode of Seasoning the Seasons, we go on a journey of fireworks all over Japan, contemplating their beauty and the story behind their creation. A collection of the latest fireworks that take place in Oomagari, Akita Prefecture. Young fireworks artists selected from all over Japan come to outdo each other with elaborate ingenuity. The grandson of the pyrotechnician who made the famous firework "Magic Botan" in Shizuoka Prefecture takes on the challenge to further enhance the technique inherited from his grandfather.

The Yoshino and Kumano regions lie in the 200km-long ranges of the Kii Mountains in the southern Kii Peninsula. Here, raw nature - deep forests, gigantic trees, awe-inspiring waterfalls and rocks - forms a truly extraordinary landscape. Crisscrossing them are the ancient Kumano pilgrimage routes, and Shugendo, an ascetic faith that follows rigorous mountain training, was born here. This episode depicts this primordial land and the mystic culture that continues to enchant people.

Nara, with a history of 1,200 years, is Japan's first capital city. The city is home to many temples, even older than the city itself, where people pray for the peace and prosperity of the nation. In addition to shrines protecting the whole country, there are also smaller deities that guard individual villages. In Nara, the ancient capital, Shinto and Buddhism are interwoven into daily life, and someone, somewhere is always putting their hands together in a quiet prayer. We see how various aspects of religion are infused into the fabric of the city.

Close to the Asian continent, Karatsu has long been early to adopt mainland culture. Its bright, open atmosphere is still going strong, supported by the many blessings of the Genkai Sea. At the "Karatsu Kunchi" festival, 14 yama parade floats walk majestically through the town. On this program, we introduce viewers to the people and ocean of Karatsu.

In Japan, there are 6 breeds of dogs that are protected species. These are the Hokkaido Dog, the Akita Dog, the Kai Dog, the Kishu Dog, the Shikoku Dog and the Shiba Dog. Bones of dogs unearthed from 3,000-year-old ruins have been found with proof of a proper burial. It seems even back then, dogs were already part of the lives of humans, like today. Many belief systems towards dog unique to the locality remain in various parts of Japan. In this episode, we visit the origins and locales associated with these dogs, and look at the bond between the Japanese and dogs.