Cycle Around Japan
6
2014
Documentary
Come ride with us! Bicycle through the scenery of Japan, stay with locals and discover hidden traditions in a Japan you didn't know existed.
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- Cast：
Episode 20 : Nagasaki - Free to Enjoy Life
December. 16,2023
The prefecture of Nagasaki, historically Japan's gateway to the west, has a culture influenced by centuries of foreign trade. With over 1,400 islands, it also makes for a unique cycling experience.
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Episode 19 : Saitama Traditions - Tokyo's Scenic Neighbor
November. 17,2023
The late autumn gingko trees are a brilliant yellow in Tokyo's neighboring prefecture of Saitama. Surprisingly unexplored, this is an area of great natural beauty with its own distinct traditions. We learn how a family of dollmakers breathes life into their creations, treasured for generations. In Kawagoe, a town with the atmosphere of centuries past, we marvel at the speed and skill of an old-style candy maker. And we discover how Saitama's special climate is the secret behind a world-class whisky.
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Episode 16 : Fukuoka - Always Thinking Ahead
October. 13,2023
Historically the nation's gateway to Asia, Fukuoka Prefecture is where Japan's rice-growing culture began. We meet a couple reviving their community through tourism and organic farming, a singing boatman in a city of canals and a maker of traditional fireworks. After helping villagers maintain a century-old stone bridge, we hear the history of coal in this area - once a major industry driving Japan's modernization - from the last of its miners, as he sings old songs of the harshness of life below ground.
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Episode 15 : Fukushima - Taking Life Day by Day
September. 22,2023
Fukushima Prefecture, with its beautiful mountains and coastline, is home to people who have survived disaster and come out stronger. We meet a peach grower thriving again after the great 2011 quake, a family that rebuilt their seaside hotel destroyed by the tsunami, shopkeepers organizing a summer festival after a two-year pandemic gap, highschoolers continuing Fukushima's samurai horse riding legacy, and three women friends who have staffed a tiny country station together for 35 years.
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Episode 14 : Sado - Island of Hidden Treasures
September. 15,2023
Historically Japan was famous for gold, much of it mined on Sado. The prosperity this created left the island with unique cultural traditions like its strong Noh theater. We meet an actor teaching a new generation of Noh performers, cycle Sado's beautiful coastline and spectacular mountains, paddle hangiri shallow-water fishing boats, visit a sake brewery built in an old school, and meet the man who rescued the Japanese crested ibis from extinction to Sado's current population of 500 birds.
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Episode 13 : The Old Hokuriku Kaido - Exploring a Forgotten Highway
August. 18,2023
Japan's pre-modern network of highways, the Kaido, is now largely forgotten. In the first of a new series, we explore the Old Hokuriku Kaido between Fukui and Niigata Prefectures, discovering unique local cultures inspired by travelers on the old highway. Visiting post stations that provided food and rest for weary voyagers, and the castle town of Kanazawa, with its wooden machiya townhouses, we also meet an artist in glass and some inventive highschoolers revitalizing their town with locally-sourced products.
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Episode 12 : Southern Nagano - Exploring Its Hidden Valleys
August. 11,2023
From Shiojiri, 2.5 hrs by train from Tokyo, we'll ride the 400-year-old Nakasendo highway that linked Edo and Kyoto. After meeting a traditional comb artisan in the post station of Naraijuku, we try green tofu in the village of Achi, and amid the rice fields of the Ina Basin, discover a tradition of crafting rice straw for use in everything from sumo rings to Shinto rituals. Climbing into the mountains, we see salt made from hot spring water, and at the southern tip of Nagano Prefecture, we scale the steep slopes of a tea plantation.
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Episode 11 : Kagoshima - Legacy of Determination
July. 21,2023
Kagoshima Prefecture, known as the land of brave samurai, was called Satsuma in ancient days. Our cyclist takes in scenic views on his ride along the sea and an active volcano. He discovers jars filled with a local specialty, fermented black vinegar, which make a tart and powerful beverage. In the mountains, he meets a craftswoman who revives old, beautiful buttons. He then finds a secret martial art inherited from samurai. Discover the spirit of this historic land on our 290km ride through Satsuma.
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Episode 10 : Tanegashima and Yakushima - Inspired by Nature
July. 14,2023
Riding up Tanegashima's western coast with its sandy beaches, our cyclist visits a scissor craftsman, last of a 500-year old tradition. The east coast takes him past rocks carved by the ocean into fantastic shapes to Japan's biggest space center. Local schools here host children from all over the country for a year to learn about space and experience island life. Finally, he crosses to legendary Yakushima to explore its millennia-old forests and discover how nature inspires its islanders.
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Episode 5 : Tokushima - Where Teamwork Runs Deep
April. 21,2023
As the cherry blossoms bloom in spring, our cyclist Bobby rides through Tokushima Prefecture from the coast to its hidden mountain valleys. At the Naruto Straits, famous for their whirlpools, he goes out with a team of fishermen to catch cherry sea bream. High in the mountains at Kamikatsu, he finds a town where the elderly population have a thriving business cultivating plants to decorate Japanese cuisine. And in an even deeper valley, he discovers a village with an unusual approach to attracting visitors.
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Episode 4 : Okinawa - A Unique Island Culture
April. 08,2023
The subtropical island of Okinawa Prefecture has an environment, climate and culture very different to mainland Japan. An independent kingdom and trading hub until the 17th century, the influence of other Asian cultures is still seen in things like traditional textile designs. We hear folk songs recalling the sufferings and troubled history of Okinawa, from the samurai conquest incorporating it into Japan to the US invasion of WWII. We also discover the secret of the Okinawans' famous longevity – the island food.
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Episode 3 : Tokyo's Islands Niijima and Hachijojima
March. 11,2023
A cycle tour of two remote islands that lie within Tokyo's city limits. On Niijima, we see homes built with a hard volcanic rock called Koga stone, which is also used to make glass art. Locals still carefully tend the graves of exiles banished here during samurai times, who brought education to the island. On Hachijojima, an ancient textile tradition creates complex, subtle patterns using only three colors of plant-dyed yarn. We also sample island food and learn about a much loved local newspaper.
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Episode 1 : The Nagasaki Kaido - Japan's Sugar Road
January. 14,2023
In our second episode on Japan's pre-modern highway system, we follow the Nagasaki Kaido. During the Edo period (1603–1868) when the Shogunate prohibited external trade, they allowed one exception – the port of Nagasaki Prefecture. Ideas, technology, culture and goods flowed from this port along the Nagasaki Kaido to the rest of Japan. Named the "Sugar Road" after one of the most important trade goods, the old highway and those who traveled it had a lasting influence on the communities along its route.
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