Cycle Around Japan Season 10

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.

From sea to mountains, nature in Akita Prefecture is spectacular. As we ride through the gales of late fall, we see people preparing for the long snows of winter with pickles and preserves. We visit a village where an 800-year-old lacquerware tradition uses timber made fine-grained and strong by the harsh winters. Among the rice paddies we find farmers crafting a huge straw guardian deity, and in a mountain village we meet a man living the ancient way, where everything in life is a gift from the nature gods.

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.

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.

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.

In the city of Hiroshima we visit a community where the families who survived the devastation of the atomic bomb in the Second World War managed to revive their traditional farming specialty. In the islands to the south, we meet a potter uniquely making glazes from cast-off oyster shells, and in the mountains, a farmer tells of his passion for making animals happy. The last individual we encounter who has stuck to his own path in life is a carver of traditional instruments seeking the perfect sound.

We set off under the bright summer sun to the coast of Fukui Prefecture. After a night with a fishing family, it's out before dawn on their boat to help with the day's catch, served up later for breakfast. Then to Echizen, center of traditional crafts, trying our hand at a unique method of decorating washi paper before meeting a master knifemaker, famous worldwide for his blades. Finally, we ride with a high school cycling team, youthful examples of the Fukui spirit of developing inner strength as the way to success.

Tochigi is a lush green inland prefecture on the Kanto Plain, north of Tokyo. It's the height of spring, fields glistening with snow melt from the mountains and nature returning to life as we ride through the Nasu Highlands under hundreds of streaming carp banners, catch spawning river fish fat with eggs, learn the secrets of clay making from a Mashiko potter, and join a local festival, helping carry a hand-crafted dragon through town to ward off misfortune. Our final encounter is with a young couple committed to farming in tune with the natural cycle, even making their own soil from gathered leaves.

Okayama Prefecture, known as the Land of Sunshine, is a fertile farming region. At the coastal town of Kurashiki, we meet high school students revolutionizing its famous denim, then ride to Kojima Bay to use an old-style scoop net to fish for our dinner. Deep in the countryside we find a traditional rakugo storyteller, and discover how local volunteers have restored a millennium-old terraced hillside with over 1,000 rice paddies. And finally, in an old post town we meet an artisan making inkstones for calligraphy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A 400km ride through Kyoto – the prefecture, not the city. Farms in this lush countryside supported the ancient capital's unique cuisine and tea culture, while artisans used local wood and stone to craft tools for Kyoto artists. We take tea in an 800-year-old teahouse, go deep in the forest with a whetstone craftsman to mine for stone, experience a 1,000-year-old drumming tradition, and finally, on the Sea of Japan coast, hear the story of a mother and daughter selling fish from their mobile store.

Kochi Prefecture is known for mountains, forests and above all, rivers. On the Niyodo River, we learn a special technique for catching sweetfish so good they're mostly bought by exclusive Kyoto restaurants. We climb a steep hillside to meet a couple who irrigate their organic farm with pure mountain springwater. Historically, the highest-grade charcoal came from Kochi's oak forests, and we meet its leading charcoal maker, a man who builds his own kilns and plants new forests for the sake of future artisans.

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.

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.