[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...

[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...

Shrines and temples like Ise Jingu Shrine with a history of 2000 years are carefully preserved all over Japan. Traditional cultural festivals are held all over the country that take place in these very special shrines and temples. Five of these famous festivals have been captured on camera and each...