The Mark of Beauty

Bonsai is attracting a growing number of fans in Europe, North America, China, and elsewhere around the globe. This episode delves into the allure of bonsai that blend both old and new. It looks at some of the fascinating forms and textures in the trunks of the miniaturized trees, and the range of landscapes from different parts of the world that can be depicted in the confines of the containers. Wondrous landscapes can be created when natural stone is used as a container.

This episode features bamboo. The everyday items fashioned from bamboo reflect the philosophy of the craftsmen who made them. They combine both function and beauty. This episode also looks at some unusual shapes and patterns in bamboo, designed by nature as it were, as well some works of art that draw on the singular characteristics of this material.

The beauty of world-renowned lacquerware lies in its incredible dark sheen, which takes almost a year to produce. This episode features the dream-like splendors achieved through the skill of lacquerware craftsmen. We look at the techniques for producing the mirror-like sheen, and the techniques for creating pictures and patterns with gold dust and gold filigree, which can measure less than 0.1mm across.

This episode focuses on Japanese knives, renowned for their sharpness, which brings out the beauty and flavor of ingredients, and which makes them indispensable to the preparation of Japanese cuisine. We look at the skills behind these knives which hark back to Japanese swords, and we watch a talented craftsman sharpen and perfect the blades. We also watch a skilled chef with more than 30 different knives put some of them to use. The sharpness of his blades can keep sliced ingredients moist and fresh for days. The ultrathin-bladed knife can thinly cut a giant radish into one long thin strip. And there is a long-bladed version for preparing sashimi that resembles a work of art. We also look at the cutting boards suited to such knives, and hope you'll enjoy the soothing rhythm the blades produce against them.

Schools create memories and look at how some of them do just that with leafy campuses, classrooms bathed in light, and the corridors with dark wood paneling. We look at the common features or "rules", as it were, for the layout of classrooms across Japan, and what famous architects, such as Frank Lloyd Wright and William Merrell Vories, had to say about school architecture. We visit some beautiful but solid school buildings designed after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, as well as a new primary school built after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

This episode features clothes hangers. Don't miss the skills involved in fashioning premium-quality wooden hangers with flowing curves. The craftsmen make a point of studying the curves and contours of the body using their planer technique. We look at custom-made hangers designed to fit in with the surroundings of a 300-year-old traditional inn in Kyoto, as well as hangers traditionally crafted by bending and folding a single strand of bamboo. Handcrafted hangers have stories to tell. Oddly shaped versions made more than a century ago tells us what people's lives were like back then.

This episode focuses on Tobe ware (from Shikoku), which reputedly has round thickness. It is tough enough even to withstand domestic squabbles where husband and wife might hurl things at one another! It is popular at childcare centers too. The bowls are favored for the local udon noodles owing to their excellent heat-retaining properties. The arabesque patterns normally associated with Tobe ware are popular among chefs as they can happily accommodate a range of different foods. We look at the story behind how the patterns came to be. And don't miss the new shapes being fashioned by some artists. We look at a gigantic globe-shaped version and another with an extraordinary patchwork-like design.

This episode focuses on and delves into the allure of the Yuzen dyeing associated with Kyoto, which produces intricate designs in a wide range of colors. We look at the astonishing skill involved in hand-painted Yuzen that can achieve a picture-like quality, and delve into the secrets behind producing the colorful yet gently restrained effect. Luxury versions involving 1,000 different dye patterns are featured, as well as patterns finished entirely in silver and gold that produce their own unique sheen. We also follow an apprentice geisha entertainer in Kyoto's Gion district, and look at the special Kyoto Yuzen-dyed garments she gets to wear after a year of training.

This episode features the rakugo comic storytelling that developed in the present-day Tokyo area during the Edo period (1603-1867). We look at haori coat and the dozens of other costumes used by the storyteller, and the gestures the storyteller uses to depict a whole range of characters and scenes, including courtesans and wealthy visitors to the pleasure quarters, as well as youngsters. We also focus on the musical instruments, including the shamisen and the drum, which are used to provide accompaniment as well as attract audiences to a performance and bid them on their way afterwards.

Breakfast at traditional-style inns is a great way of sampling the local cuisine. This episode features the breakfasts served at various establishments, including one in Niigata Prefecture (a major rice-producing area), which serves rice cooked on a traditional-style stove, rice porridge that is slowly cooked with hot spring water, and a range of appetizing side-dishes. The guest rooms at an inn in the Shuzen-ji area of the Izu Peninsula have braziers that enable miso soup to be served piping hot. And we look at the savory rolled omelets that have been served for half a century at an inn in Kyoto, as well as the breakfast favored by the author and renowned gourmet Shotaro Ikenami (1923-1990). Also we look at the breakfast at one establishment in Okinawa Prefecture that based on the principles of Chinese herbal medicine, which features 24 separate dishes.

Jade … the very name evokes romance. This gemstone has been very much part of people's lives in Japan since the prehistoric Jomon period. It sparkles with a range of fabulous colors … sometimes white, other times green or purple. The ancients believed the stone was the source of spiritual power, and used in ceremonial beads known as "magatama". It also features in the crown adorning an 8th century Buddhist statue at Nara's Todai-ji Temple. For some reason, jade then lost its preeminent place. It had to wait 12 centuries to be rediscovered. We try to unravel the mystery behind this. And we also take a look at creations in confectionary, glass and other materials inspired by the luster of jade.

This episode features kura, the storehouses or repositories that were once essential for holding and protecting treasured items. These structures have a long history. We look at their distinctive windows and the kote-e reliefs that adorn them. We also focus on the wealth of designs associated with uchi-kura or the storerooms that were built inside houses, as well as the storerooms crafted specifically for Buddhist images. The episode also features a startling example covered in lacquer work from floor to ceiling.

This episode features a number of springs around Japan. The Kakita River Springs are largest in the Orient, emitting more than 1 million tons of water per day. They are also home to an endangered species of aquatic plant (Ranunculus nipponicus var. japonicus), which produce alluring blossoms. We also feature the strange legends associated with the massive spring-fed lake inside the cave in the town of Iwaizumi in Iwate Prefecture. The episode also focuses on the flavors associated with spring water, such as coffee and deluxe versions of river fish which have been brewed or farmed in it. We also look at a community on the shore of Lake Biwa, which uses cold spring water in the kitchen and to cool items in the manner of a refrigerator.

The skies extend equally over one and all. And they are constantly changing, so they never appear the same. They can only be kept still in photographs, videos or else in our memories. We also subject them to all kinds of thoughts. This episode features a number of people who gaze up at the sky, including a photographer, who snaps it each day in memory of her late husband who was unexpectedly taken from her. We feature a person who takes videos of the heavens extending overhead and the events taking place beneath it, as well as an artist who produced a self-portrait of the sky, as it were, in the course of focusing on it over the space of a month.