Explore Japan

E1. Koshu: The Miraculous Wine

Yamanashi, one of Japan’s most famous wine producing regions, is home to Grace Winery, winner of a gold medal at a major international wine competition, three years running. It makes a white wine using Koshu grapes, a variety unique to Japan, which it cultivates. The dry wine is pure and elegant, and has a concentrated fruit flavor with crisp acidity. Very popular, it’s exported to twenty countries around the world, including Belgium, where it’s served at top-class restaurants. The wine's delicate flavor, which doesn’t clash with food, is highly prized in the current Japanese food boom fueled by the global trend to live healthier lives. The winery's chief winemaker is Ayana Misawa. Koshu is regarded as a low-sugar, delicate wine with moderate aromas. Japan's wine producing regions have to grapple with heavy rain during the growing season. We reveal how Ayana Misawa created a world-class wine in this challenging environment.

E2. Japan-discovery, Self-discovery: Exchange Students in Tokyo

Japanese anime and manga have countless fans overseas. Many of them are teenagers. Some of them have been inspired to become high school exchange students. On this program, we meet three such exchange students who are attending Meiji Gakuin Senior High School in Tokyo. They enrolled in the school year starting April 2016. The students came with many expectations. One they didn’t anticipate was the rigor of school life. After a commute, they start classes from 8:30 a.m. and finish around 3:00 p.m. After school, they all participate in school clubs. And while back home they might look forward to the weekend, here at this private school, Saturdays are spent on campus. This documentary captures the three students living in a foreign culture at the height of adolescence. We see Japanese high school life through their perspective. We also see that these students are getting much more than an education during their year abroad.

E3. My Life with Aikido

Aikido is a Japanese martial art in which the opponent’s attack is redirected to avoid damage, rather than opposing it head-on. Currently, it is said that there are around one million practitioners of Aikido in 130 regions and countries around the world. Many students from overseas come to learn Aikido in Japan. There is an Aikido Dojo in Shinjuku, Tokyo where a number of Aikido students from abroad come to practice every day. One of them aspires to open his own Dojo back in his country. Another student is on a self-finding quest and has dedicated everything for Aikido in the past few years. People with different goals and a variety of reasons in life gather to this place to practice Aikido. What do they hope to achieve? The program features Aikido’s appeal seen through international students’ perspective.

E4. Delivering to Space

Japanese technology plays a pivotal role in global space development. This role is symbolized by the unmanned cargo transporter HTV “Kounotori”, the subject of this documentary. In recent years, U.S. and Russian supply ships have suffered several setbacks. The only craft to complete all its missions is Kounotori. What kind of Japanese technology lies behind this dependability? This program takes an in-depth look at Kounotori and the Japanese technology that keeps it flying.

E5. Peru & Japan Fusion of Cuisine

Tokyo is a city where you can find cuisine from all over the world. Recently, Peruvian cuisine is becoming more and more popular. In fact, it actually has a deeply intertwined connection with Japanese culinary culture that stretches back to an era when many Japanese had emigrated to Peru. Dishes that mixed Japanese essentials such as soy sauce and miso were known as “Comida Nikkei” and very popular, leading to its incorporation into the local culture. On this program we follow Bruno Nakandakari, the chef at a Peruvian restaurant in Tokyo. Bruno takes advantage of Japan’s fresh seafood to make Peruvian cuisine unique to Japan. We’ll find out Bruno’s background and why he wanted to open a Peruvian restaurant in Japan, as well as explore the surprising connection between the two culinary cultures. Meanwhile, the world-famous Peruvian superfood Quinoa is beginning to be grown in Japan. Our reporter takes a closer look at the Quinoa farming industry.

E6. The Somin Naked Festival

The Somin Naked Festival has been passed down for more than one thousand years at a mountain temple, deep in snowy Northern Japan. This physically demanding, purification rite is held annually in the coldest month of the year—February. Hundreds of men gather at the rustic Kokuseki-ji temple on New Year’s Eve according to the lunar calendar. Wearing only fundoshi loincloths, they embark on a nightlong test of endurance in a bid to ward off evil and invite in fortune. On this program, Canadian TV personality Kyle Card makes his way to Oshu, in southern Iwate, to join in this enigmatic festival. First, he must purify himself in advance of the ritual. He adheres to a strict Zen shojin diet. Later, he sits Zazen at a training temple to practice asceticism and focus his mind for the harsh festival. Kyle experiences the pain, the thrill, and the glory. He gains firsthand insights into the significance of the Naked Festival—an experience beyond his wildest dreams.