Journeys in Japan

The Kumano Kodo, leading to Kumano, the sacred land of the Gods, is one of the few pilgrimage roads designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Twenty years after the designation, we explore the pilgrimage trail by fast hiking, which combines the best of hiking and running.

Obon is a summertime ritual when Japanese people welcome ancestors' spirits home from the Buddhist Pure Land. The people of Nagasaki have a distinctive way to commemorate this. They light fireworks and firecrackers at family graves and parade boats ferrying the spirits of the deceased through the streets and then back to the Buddhist Paradise. This episode takes a deep dive into Nagasaki's unique style of Obon.

British explorer and writer Isabella Bird arrived in Japan in 1878, just 10 years after the country opened its doors to the West. Accompanied by a young man who served as both interpreter and attendant, she traveled deep into the hinterland. Unbeaten Tracks in Japan is her highly praised travelogue of that journey. In this episode, vocalist Chiara Terzuolo traces Bird's route from the Hiyama district of Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture. She then passes through Odate City and continues until she reaches Kuroishi City in Aomori Prefecture.

Osaka is a dynamic city with a dynamic history. Photographer Alfie Goodrich captures the food culture of the "Kitchen of Japan," the waterways that made it a commercial center, and the architecture reflecting the era when it surpassed Tokyo economically. He meets the spirited and sometimes flamboyant residents. The journey fittingly starts at the Osaka Castle, which was founded by warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi who was known for his flamboyant sensibility.