The Mark of Beauty

This episode features Bizen ware, one of Japan's oldest potteries, with a history stretching back 1,000 years. The pottery is fired for 100 days in wood-fired kilns. The lengthy firing enables the clays to produce alluring colors and backgrounds. We take a look at some examples fashioned into the shape of cattle, sparrows, cats, and other creatures. And we also delve into the story behind the all-important clay used for Bizen ware. The artisans have long used a mixture of 8 different clays.

This episode is about persimmons. We visit a farmer who has been growing the fruit for the past 50 years. He has 800 premium persimmon trees in his orchard. We also look at dried persimmons, a traditional method of preservation that dates back 1,000 years to the Heian period (794-1185). Drying the fruit more or less triples its sugar level. And we feature arts and crafts fashioned from the fabled dark, marbled wood of certain persimmon trees. Only about one in a thousand of these trees produce this wood, which is prized for its lustrous sheen. Don't miss the unique confectionery made with persimmons, as well as a dyeing technique that relies on the juice of this fruit.

This episode features kimono and the men who like to wear them. We look at a painstakingly crafted design inspired by Saigo Takamori, an important figure in the 1868 Meiji Restoration, who was fond of Oshima-tsumugi, a silk fabric originating from the Amami Islands. We introduce even amazingly designed fabrics that incorporate 60 different types of colored thread. And we also look at how kimono can be worn with the likes of waist sashes, trench coats, shirts, and boots, and call on a popular university professor, who likes to wear kimono day and night. We follow a group of kimono-attired gentlemen in Kyoto Prefecture sipping champagne. And don't miss the gorgeous obi sashes which set off any kimono, including an example featuring gold leaf.

This episode features the Machiya or traditional wooden townhouses of Kyoto Prefecture. They tend to be long and narrow, and sometimes have a special place for the successive masters of the household to sit and admire the view. And they have stylish tokonoma alcoves as well. We look at an inner reception room that once part of a villa owned by the feudal lord and artist Kobori Enshu (1579-1647). It dazzles the visitor with its craftsmanship, be it the sliding doors with pine trees depicted in lacquer and mica, or the transoms with their intricate openwork. We focus on the different types of latticework, by which one could determine the occupation of the owner, such as charcoal or rice merchant. And we follow a plasterer who maintains the craft of fashioning earthen walls.

This episode takes a look at a number of Christian churches in Japan. Among those featured is an example producing a shower of light with its colorful stained-glass windows, and a church constructed very much in a traditional Japanese-style, complete with a Japanese-style tile roof and plastered walls, masterly crafted columns that were built to last, and an altar recess reminiscent of a tokonoma alcove. We visit a church that reverberates to the sounds of one of Japan's biggest pipe organs, a favorite of the musician Akira Senju. Find out the sound it makes and meet the person who crafted it.

This episode focuses on massive, awe-inspiring trees, which are among the biggest living objects on the planet. We take a look at a 2,000-year-old cherry tree in full bloom, as well as Japan's biggest tree with its mysterious hollows, and a stunning, umbrella-like camphor laurel in Kumamoto Prefecture regarded as the one of the most beautiful of its kind. Also featured are an oddly shaped tree which stands guard over a small island in the Inland Sea that is home to only 17 people (, now enjoying a crowd of visitors), and a dark ginkgo tree in Tokyo's Azabu district that survived the massive air raid on the metropolis of March 1945. And we meet up with the scriptwriter So Kuramoto, and discover how his works and life are intertwined with the massive trees in the forests of Furano, Hokkaido Prefecture.

This episode focuses on the colorful range of contemporary tea bowls being crafted in Kyoto Prefecture and the inspiration behind them. They include boldly colored examples influenced by traditional kimono patterns, bowls with lovely, gentle blue hues reminiscent of Ai-zome indigo dyeing, as well as some oddly shaped items. The contemporary bowls can trace their origins to Raku ware. We also take a look at some of the exquisite bowls fashioned by Nonomura Ninsei, a potter who lived in the early part of the Edo period (1603-1868), bowls produced in Kyoto during the subsequent Meiji period (1868-1912) in the manner of Satsuma ware and which gained devotees outside of Japan, and so-called Ido-chawan, the highly prized tea bowls that originated in Yi dynasty Korea (1392-1910).

This episode features Anko or red bean paste. It comes in a range of varieties. We focus on the delicate process for Tsubuan, in which the beans are lightly mashed to retain shape and skin. Another type is Koshian, which refers to beans which have been sieved into a smooth paste. We look at a 120-year-old confectionery establishment in Kyoto Prefecture where this process is still painstakingly done by hand, resulting in a refined paste likened to light snow. And we also look at the inspiration behind a five-colored bean paste. A novel variety of sweets incorporating bean paste imaginatively created by a former textile designer will also be featured, along with the story behind Ichigo-daifuku, a sweet which incorporates both bean paste and strawberries.

This episode delves into the allure of origami and origami techniques, which are being used in a growing number of fields. We look at the amazing skills that can turn a single sheet of paper into a range of creatures, including a stag beetle, complete with jagged jaws, a lovely cat, and even a dragon. New, unprecedented shapes featuring curves and complicated folds can be completed in no time with the aid of software developed by a university professor. And we also focus on the making of the "Miura fold," which is used in scientific experiments out in space.

This episode features some cool and refreshing sweets for the summer. We savor Warabi-mochi (a jelly-like confection covered in sweet, toasted soybean flour) at a riverside restaurant in Kibune, north of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a glittering, jewel-like jelly produced by a confectioner that has been in business for over 130 years. And we highlight Mitsu-mame, an agar jelly shaped like ice cubes, which are cooling to the eye, and another agar jelly known as a Tokoro-ten, which is produced with spring water from Mt. Fuji and which is served either with a dark sugar syrup or rice vinegar and soy sauce. And we look at what the famous screenwriter and essayist Kuniko Mukoda (1929-1981) had to say about Mizu-yokan (a thick, jellied dessert made from red-bean paste, agar, and sugar). Her belief was that it should be served with the right type of music and lighting.

This episode features some little-known aspects of Somen, a type of very thin wheat noodle, which is popularly eaten in Japan during the summer months. We look at the 1,200-year relationship between a brand of Somen noodle and the Omiwa Shrine in Nara Prefecture. The kabuki actor Koshiro Matsumoto X describes his passion for Somen noodles. We take a look at a deluxe version featuring caviar and truffles, and how the rainy season makes for better-tasting noodles. We watch an 84-year-old noodle chef stretch Somen noodles to an incredible 0.2mm thinness, and the painstaking, all-night work involved to produce a type of noodle in Kumamoto Prefecture nicknamed the "white creature." And we take a look at some highly recommended recipes from a Somen connoisseur.

Beer, the drink that brings refreshment and relaxation. This episode looks into what makes it so special. The manner in which it is poured can create a wholly different impression. We see the ultimate head of beer from a master pourer. And we feature a jewel-like range of ales in assorted colors produced in the quest for flavor, the secret behind the creation of an astonishing gold-colored beer, and the fragrant, international award-winning beers crafted by a US-born brewer in Shizuoka Prefecture. And we also match food with different beers from around the world. There are some fascinating discoveries to be made.

This episode features dashi, the stock prepared from strips of dried kombu seaweed and the shavings of smoked and dried bonito referred to as katsuobushi. It is an indispensable part of Japanese cuisine, from home cooking to the formal, multi-course meals known as kaiseki that are served at high-end establishments. Other parts of the world outside Japan are developing a taste for this stock. We look at the growing number of uses it is being put to. We introduce katsuobushi with melt-in-the-mouth tenderness prepared by an eatery, which specializes in bonito, and reveal the secret of dashi from kombu seaweed that has been matured to accentuate the umami (savory) flavor. We also focus on "awasedashi" or a blended version handed down by generations of kaiseki chefs in Kyoto Prefecture, along with a dish prepared from jellied dashi in which the stock provides the leading as opposed to a supporting role, and Italian-style dishes harnessing the flavor of this stock.

This episode features Mashiko ware, which is named after the town in Tochigi Prefecture, where it has been crafted since the mid-19th century. It is an eclectic blend of tradition, innovation, inner peace and Mother Nature. This thick and roughly textured pottery was initially used for everyday items, such as mortar bowls and jars. Today there are about 500 artisans crafting Mashiko ware, each imparting his or her own individual style. We take a look at some items crafted by Shoji Hamada (1894-1978), a designated "National Living Treasure," who fostered recognition of the artistic merits of this pottery. We look at how Mashiko ware came to be used for a famous takeaway meal sold on trains and at railway stations, as well as a young artisan whose colorful works are popular among young women. Viewers also get to see how this pottery is fired over a full five-day period.

This episode looks at how the crested ibis features in art. We watch an artisan who relies on cherry tree twigs to dye fabrics and reproduce the colors associated with this rare bird. We take a look at "Soaring Wings: Journey of the Crested Ibis," a stage production performed more than 200 times around the globe by the Shanghai Dance Theatre. It took the lead dancer 4 years to perfectly depict the movements of this bird. And we visit an artisan on Sado Island who crafts reliefs depicting this bird, as well as a painter whose works have been inspired by Kin, Japan's last crested ibis born in the wild. There is also rare footage of efforts to revive this endangered species and reintroduce it to the wild.