[Beauty of Japan Season 2] The Ogaki Festival is held in the samurai town of Ogaki and has a long history that dates back to the Edo period. Thirteen floats are paraded across town during the festival and are considered moving pieces of art. Decorated with minuscule carvings, gorgeous embroidered...

[Festivals of Japan Season 2] The "Toriou Festival" of Imari City, Saga Prefecture dates back to the mid-to-late 14th century. It is said to have originated from the defeat of warrior Kikuchi Takeshige against Ashikaga. Fleeing to the Ozato Region, Takeshige trained to withstand fire, originating this fiery and dangerous...

[Beauty of Japan Season 1] Kirikane is a decorative technique used for Buddhist statues and paintings. It requires high skills of cutting layers of gold leaves as thin as a hair, and placing them delicately onto Buddhist statues or paintings to create motifs. Chika Hasegawa is a young artist in...