Cycle Around Japan - Season 12

Shiga Prefecture, site of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, is home to centuries-old crafts like Shigaraki ware and Wana velvet. We explore an island in the lake by tricycle before climbing into the mountains.

In Ibaraki Prefecture, we explore how local wisdom has been passed down to the present day. We visit a town famous for organic farming, see how traditional silk fabric is made, and experience catching icefish.

On the islands and coast of the Yamaguchi end of the Seto Inland Sea, we experience a warm welcome in these hard-working small communities, poor in amenities but rich in happiness and human kindness.

On an early spring ride around the base of this extensive mountain range, we meet an artisan making traditional snowshoes, a family making salmon trout sushi, and villagers picking medicinal herbs.

In Kumamoto, we meet people who cherish their ancestry and nature, such as a traditional inlay artisan, a group passing on the history of the building of an embankment, and a brown cattle breeder.

We travel the Izumo Highway, which has been used since ages past, and meet people who value human connection, such as a magatama jewelry artisan and a pro wrestler learning farming in a village.

We explore Osaka, a prefecture known for its great cuisine. We meet a couple who fish for daggertooth pike conger (hamo), which taste great in summer, a farmer growing juicy eggplants, and much more.

In this special series, we cycle Taiwan! In episode one, we visit Taipei and the west coast and explore cultural features like a tea famous for its distinctive aroma and beautiful rush weed craft.

The second episode of our Taiwan series features indigenous cultures in the south and on the east coast. We meet a Rukai man preserving the forest and Bunun people with a stunning choral tradition.

In the third episode of our Taiwan series, we travel to Taiwan's south to meet vibrant, energetic families, like one that grows unique vegetables, and another which farms dragon tiger groupers.

We cycle the Noto Peninsula, hit by a major earthquake in 2024. We visit a temporary morning market where people who lost their shops sell goods, and a salt-maker keeping traditional methods alive.