Yamaga Lantern Festival  (03:52)
In one of Japan's oldest and best-known fire festivals, a parade of blazing pine torches commemorates a legendary imperial visit to Yamaga. This venerable Kyushu merchant town has a unique 500-year old tradition of making lanterns out of washi craft paper, and the highlight of the festival is the sight of 1,000 dancers circling in the slow Sen-nin Toro  Odori, illuminated by the gentle flickering glow of the paper lanterns they wear on their heads. The procession ends with the offering of the lanterns at ancient Omiya Shrine.

Dancing the Summer Nights Away  (03:51)
Gujo Hachiman is a well-preserved old castle town in the mountains of Gifu; a town of rivers, springs and waterways. It is most famous for its 400-year old dance festival, the Gujo Odori. For 32 nights each summer, the town's old streets are packed with people dancing and singing the traditional songs, and for several of these nights, the dancing goes on till dawn. A feature of this festival is that the dancing is open to anyone - visitors are encouraged to join in, and the dances themselves are quite easy to imitate.

Cruising Down the Shimanto River  (04:22)
The Shimanto River, on Shikoku, is one of Japan's clearest and most beautiful rivers. And for centuries, Japanese tourists have been coming here to enjoy the scenery from yakatabune river boats. These wooden boats have a large cabin in which passengers sit on tatami mats to enjoy a meal of freshly caught river fish and prawns while watching the deeply forested banks pass by. Among the sights you see as you eat are fishermen casting their nets in the traditional way to catch the next meal.

Ajisai - Hydrangeas in Hakone   (03:41)
The hydrangea is a flower native to Japan, where it is called ajisai. This delicately colored flower blooms everywhere during the rainy season, but one of the finest places to see it in all its many varieties is the beautiful mountain and hot spring resort of Hakone, one hour from Tokyo by train. The tracks of Hakone's nine-kilometer long switchback railway are lined with over 10,000 blossoms, the varieties changing as the train climbs higher up the mountain, and special sections are even illuminated at night.

Hiking the Shinetsu Trail   (04:29)
This newly completed hiking trail runs for 80 km through the Sekida mountains, an easily accessible range of 1,000 m peaks covered with old forests of Japanese buna beech trees. These woods, filled with springs, lakes and ponds, are unique for being almost entirely free from other tree species, and also for the way they have been shaped and polished by the region's heavy winter snowfall. The Shinetsu Trail is open year-round, and is a wonderfully convenient way to explore the delights of nature in Japan.

The Cherry Blossoms of Yoshino  (04:22)
The mountainous area of Yoshino is possibly Japan's most famous spot for viewing cherry blossoms. In was in this culturally ancient region that the mountain ascetic practices of the shugendo sect first developed, and Yoshino's slopes are covered with cherry trees (30,000 of them) that were planted as offerings by pilgrims. Over the centuries the local people cared for these cherry forests, ensuring their scenic beauty survives today in all its glory.

Iwami Kagura - Ancient Ritual to Modern Folk Art   (04:49)
Kagura is an old tradition of dance and music that traces its roots to the most ancient of Japan's creation myths about the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. Historically performed at shrines by Shinto priests, in the 19th century it was taken up by the public and transformed into the vigorous folk art we can see today. Of all the types of kagura, the Shimane regional style known as Iwami kagura is the most lively, gorgeous and dramatically entertaining.

A Stroll Through Old Kawagoe  (04:03)
Kawagoe is a popular tourist spot not just because of its easy access, an hour's train ride from Tokyo, but also because this small town offers a unique opportunity to stroll through streets that have survived intact from different periods of Japan's long history. There are rows of old shops and houses from as far back as 350 years ago when Kawagoe was a prosperous trading center, western-style buildings from the modernizing 19th century, and a whole street of old-fashioned confectionery stores still making candy the way they did in the 1930s.

Night Festival in Chichibu  (04:20)
Huge wooden floats, fantastically decorated and hauled by chanting groups, are a feature of many Japanese festivals. One of the most spectacular is the Chichibu Night Festival, held in early December in a hilly town north of Tokyo. Taking all year to prepare and weighing up to 20 tons, the floats are pulled to the sound of drums through streets filled with festival crowds. The floats begin from Chichibu's 2,000-year-old shrine and are strenuously hauled through the sharp corners and steep inclines of the town to end at a park under a huge firework display.

Sushi from Tokyo Bay Again  (04:11)
Centuries ago, under the shoguns, the people of Tokyo (then called Edo) referred to the abundant seafood they enjoyed from Tokyo Bay as Edomae. This vast bay, fed by many rivers and lined with fertile tidelands, was a plentiful source of the finest fish and shellfish that were used for Edomae zushi, the origin of the sushi that is now enjoyed worldwide. The bay's whole ecosystem came under threat from pollution and reclamation during the economic boom of the 60s and 70s, but environmental programs have now cleaned the waters and once again Tokyo can eat sushi from its bay.

The Healing Powers of the Jellyfish  (04:03)
Jellyfish have always been common in the seas around Japan, but just recently the Japanese have begun looking at these graceful, translucent creatures in a new light. The old image was of a stinging animal one tried to avoid when swimming, but the unexpected success of one aquarium's jellyfish displays has made people realize the soothing, healing effect of watching jellyfish swim. For example, customers at a bar in central Tokyo find that watching its large tank full of exotic jellyfish is an ideal way to unwind and relax after a stressful day at work.

Traditional Crafts, Modern Design - That's Kanazawa  (03:50)
In its golden age from the 17th to the 19th century, Kanazawa was one of Japan's greatest centers of culture and commerce. The old city retains much of its samurai era atmosphere, and its many highly-sophisticated traditional arts and crafts such as Kaga Yuzen dyeing, Kutani ceramics and fine gold leaf work continue to prosper. Today, the city is encouraging these local craft industries to apply their traditional artistic skills to modern designs, aiming to make beautiful hand-made objects, from fashion to jewelry and tableware, once again part of people's daily lives.

Walking the Old Tokaido Highway  (04:42)
The Tokaido was the main highway of old Japan, linking Tokyo (then called Edo) in the east to the old capital of Kyoto in the west, and it played a vital role in the development of modern Japan's commerce, industry and culture. The Tokaido was also where Japanese tourism began, as travelers walking this 500-kilometer highway started to make detours to view famous shrines and temples, to admire the scenery and to sample famous regional delicacies. Today, hikers still enjoy walking the Tokaido, parts of which remain almost unchanged since 400 years ago.

World's Biggest Firework   (04:03)
Summer fireworks displays have long been a Japanese custom, and Japanese fireworks are among the world's most spectacular. Among the more than one thousand fireworks displays held here every year, there is one that features the world's biggest firework. The tiny town of Katakai (pop. 6,000) has had a fireworks industry for over 400 years. They used a combination of traditional and innovative techniques to produce the 420 kg, 120 cm shell that now draws crowds of 200,000 to their annual display.