Jane McDonald: Lost in Japan

Jane lands in Japan - the Land of the Rising Sun - to begin her trip around this incredible country. Starting her travels in Tokyo, she discovers a city that brings the old and the new together in spectacular fashion.

Diving head first into the action, Jane gets her bearings and a birds eye view of the stunning city when she heads two hundred and thirty meters to the top of the Shibuya Sky Platform observation deck. Next, she visits some beautiful Shinto shrines where she learns how to ask the deities for their blessings and good luck.

Keen to learn more about Japanese culture, she attends a sumo match, meets the wrestlers – who cook her a sumo sized feast - and is more than a little surprised to find herself in the ring. Wanting to discover more about food that's big in Japan, Jane heads out for noodles, is amazed to discover such a huge variety and struggles to eat them using chopsticks. Her visit to a Maid Café is a trip to a princess-based fantasy world that sees Jane and friends eating food injected with love!

No visit by Jane to Tokyo would be complete without a night out in a karaoke bar! Taking to the mic with friends she's made along the way, Jane experiences the phenomena that's taken the world by storm in the city in which it was invented.

The presenter visits a ninja to learn about his world. Crawling stealthily through forests of bamboo, Jane learns how to swing a sword, and undergoes some of their rigorous and secret training. No trip to Japan would be complete without sampling sake, and Jane also heads to the famous Tsukiji market to enjoy some wine as well as eating local sushi.

The presenter explores Kyoto, a place of beautiful shrines and temples, atmospheric tea ceremonies and geishas dressed in exquisite kimonos. Arriving in the city via the super-fast bullet train, Jane decides a slower-paced form of transport would be more appropriate, so takes a rikshaw ride around the city before coming to a stop in a beautiful bamboo forest.

Jane travels on to ‘Japan's Kitchen', Osaka. Arriving at this foodie favourite via a beautiful wooden train, complete with an on-board garden, she gets straight into the centre of the city, where the canals, neon lights and multicultural atmosphere of the downtown Dontonbori district are reminiscent of Manchester.

A food tour includes some of the best katsu that Osaka has to offer, as well as a local sweet treat called a mochi and octopus balls. But the best meal of all is a home-cooked affair when Jane visits a friend and gets to try her hand at preparing a Japanese feast.