Original subtitles

Japan. Michael, welcome to Japan, a railway paradise.

Its huge population spread over long islands lived by its railways. My new

adventure takes me through the land that launched the high -speed train.

I love Shinkansen.

Where millions of journeys are made each day through some of the most bustling

stations on Earth.

Busy city.

I'll ride Japan's vast railway network.

To uncover a land of bold innovation.

Haven't quite got the hang of it yet.

A place of enduring traditions, volatile geology and remarkable people.

Join me on an excursion like no other. I'm too excited to sit down.

My rail journey continues on Mountain Kyushu, which is the third largest of

Japan's islands and one that is closest to Korea and lying opposite to Shanghai.

It's home to about a tenth of the Japanese population and accounts for

tenth of the country's economy.

I'm looking forward to reaching its northern coast.

On this adventure, I've discovered how, in the 19th century, Japan experienced

political revolution and westernization due to influences which entered from the

outside world through Kyushu.

I began in Kagoshima and have been traveling up the western side of the

I look forward to visiting youthful Fukuoka.

I'll then dip under the sea to emerge on the western tip of Honshu Island to end

at Hiroshima.

I'm beginning on a regional railway line which delivers me to Arita, a small

town with a big reputation.

Known for its exquisite quality and artistic beauty, Arita Porcelain was

around the world by the Dutch East India Company from the mid -17th century.

Even today, it's considered some of the finest in the world.

I'm so impressed by Japanese delicacy and good taste.

When you go to a restaurant, the food is elegantly presented on a range of

beautiful dishes.

Portland is strongly associated with Japan, and yet it's something that

as a foreign influence from Korea at the beginning of the 17th century, and so

it's associated with Kyushu Island.

And in Japan, it has been developed.

to new perfection.

I've come to the Fukaomi factory, a family business stretching back 400

which produced porcelainware for the Japanese imperial family.

Its delightful ceramics are found in museums around the world.

Fukaomi -san.

Hello, I'm Michael. I'm Sousuke.

How do you do? Good.

I mean, these wonderful colours, so many different blues. This is like a temple

to colour.

Thank you very much.

When did Portland making first arrive in Arita?

It was 1610, because Japanese shogun, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, invaded to Korea,

and then they brought back Korean potter to Kyushu.

And is this how your family arrived here? They were Koreans originally?

Yes.

So, they're brought over by the shogun, they arrive here as Koreans, foreigners,

but they have this skill. Are they treated with respect in Japan?

Yes, a lot.

Once my ancestor proved their skills, regional shogun granted surname,

Fukaumi, and permitted to have swords.

Yes, so two great honours, to carry a sword and to enjoy your very illustrious

surname.

That is extraordinary.

Today, the business specializes in producing a vital element of

the underglaze, pigments used to coat pottery before firing.

Most renowned of these is Gosu, a traditional underglaze that transforms

rich blue when fired.

This is cobalt oxide and manganese, iron, and

cowrie.

Cobalt comes from DR Congo, mined and purified by Belgium and

imported to Japan.

That makes it very expensive, I suppose.

Yes, a lot.

With cobalt in it, will it always be blue?

Yes.

We have 300 kinds of blue.

It takes a month of mixing, firing, grinding and refining to produce the

delicate gossu glaze.

What extraordinary machinery?

This looks like the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

What happens here? What process is this?

This is refining.

We grind it over two weeks.

I'm in awe that you make 300 blues. Yes.

But I suppose it means you can't make that or that.

It's not blue.

It's not blue.

The underglaze made here is used across the world and by the many potteries in

Arita. There are around 85 just in the town.

I'm touring Ristogama, founded in 1930, in the former residence of another

Korean potter, Yi Sam -pae, who's considered the father of Arita Portland.

Everything is so very delicate.

Any little impurities.

are being removed from the basic porcelain.

And here a glaze being applied.

Gorgeous liquid.

Process that is not only hands -on, but actually hands -in.

Here an artist with the finest of brushes applying

A pattern of exquisite detail.

For a lesson, I hope in somewhat less intricate painting, I'm meeting the head

of the company and great -grandson of the founder, Shinji Terauchi.

Terauchi -san.

Great pleasure. I come dressed as a humble student to

learn from the master.

Let's do some practice first. The pencil pattern will not burn if you adjust it

in the end.

I will trace the lines drawn here with this paint.

First of all, please mix the paint well so that the paint itself is mixed well.

Please cut the paint in the brush well.

Beautiful confidence tricks.

So, make sure the particles are all mixed together.

Get rid of the excess paint.

Get the brush into a nice point

Right.

This is extremely difficult. He's telling me not to paint with this big

but just to let the paint flow down.

But bearing in mind that at any moment it can run away with you.

We're joined together forever on a plate.

This town has been shaped by four centuries of porcelain making.

I find a Shinto shrine displaying the craft for which Arita is venerated.

What

an

extraordinary thing.

Must be highly unusual for the entrance to a shrine.

to be bisected by a railway.

But here I am, Tozan, established in 1658 and

most exceptionally decorated with the glorious blue of the porcelain

of Arita.

Kyushu is dominated by volcanoes which accounts for the mineral resources that

have supplied its pottery industry.

One third of Japan's natural hot springs are on the island, again thanks to

volcanic activity.

Not far from Arita is the hot spring town of Ureshino, where I'm making a

for the night.

And I'm looking forward to experiencing a ryokan, a very traditional style of

Japanese hotel.

Before I settle down for the night, I'm taking a tea, which in Japan is elevated

to a ceremonial.

Thank you.

So the first thing with great reverence is that the tea leaves are put

into my teapot on a weighing machine.

So that's exactly the right amount.

goes into the pot.

The piping hot water is measured in a Pyrex jug,

but you cannot pour a Pyrex jug into my teapot directly, so there's an

intervening, much more elegant vessel.

So it goes from one to the other and then into the teapot.

Ah!

And now a little egg timer is inverted.

And as soon as the sands of time have run through the egg timer, I will be

presented with a doubtless perfect cup of century green tea.

Thank you.

This morning I'm up early and ready for my breakfast.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Ah, thank you.

I'll follow.

With tatami mats covering the floor and paper screen walls, the simplicity of

the interior is typical of the Japanese aesthetics.

And so too is the breakfast.

Here I have some miso soup.

Some meat and vegetables that have been cooked in sweet soy sauce.

Tofu custard.

Sashimi. Sesame seed.

Pickle. Cod roe.

A little sauce that I'm going to make up with which to eat my tofu, which is

boiling merrily there in onsen water.

And here, some red snapper.

It can be very daunting for the foreigner eating in Japan.

So many things that are unfamiliar.

But people are always on hand to give you guidance.

And foods that may seem very strange at first turn out to be rather wonderful.

I'm not used to having soup for breakfast.

But hey, it worked.

And salty custard with an acquired

taste.

This ryokan is built around one of the island's many hot springs.

And I'm keen to experience a very special feature which I can enjoy

leaving my room.

Every present should have a wrapping.

A Japanese hotel room.

has many layers.

Moving through one's quarters is the theory of revelation.

Crossing the tatami mat, opening the shoji door with its washi paper

to reveal the garden beyond

and my own onsen pool.

Onsen are natural thermal baths heated by volcanic geology.

Sometimes communal, sometimes private, they are integral to Japanese culture.

This onsen is delightful.

It's a warm bath and the water is so clearly natural.

You feel its warmth opening your pores.

you feel the softness of it on your skin.

You sense that you will emerge a new man.

Refreshed and relaxed, I'm ready to continue my journey from Takeo Onsen

Station.

With a few minutes to spare, I'll watch a great ceremony of the Japanese

railway. In a country full of customs and formalities, the bullet train has

own departure ritual.

Shinkensens are extremely frequent, so there is zero tolerance of lateness.

of these employees is responsible for punctuality. With precision, she marks

each thing that she's doing.

The doors are closing. We are approaching departure time.

And I can guarantee you that it will go on time.

We are checking the monitor.

You can see down the train.

The doors are closing. All is clear.

But, as a final safety check, the guard leans out of the train and she will

maintain that position until she's cleared the platform.

Missing you already.

My train is not a Shinkansen, but a limited express train called the Relay

Komame 787.

The trains across Japan vary enormously.

Each has its personality.

This one sports a sleek black finish.

It's around a 60 -minute journey to my next stop, Fukuoka, on the northern

of Kyushu.

The city of Fukuoka has a history of more than 2 ,000 years.

In 1975, the opening of a Shinkansen tunnel, almost 19 kilometres long,

linking Kyushu with Honshu, gave the city superb connections to Tokyo.

But businesses are attracted to Fukuoka by its much lower rents, and it's

actually closer to Seoul and to Shanghai than it is to Tokyo. The city has been

marketing these advantages and offering tax breaks to start -ups. The age range

of the population is strikingly young. It is a city both ancient and modern.

Fukuoka is Japan's fifth largest city.

I'm fast approaching its center.

Feels like a metropolis.

Hakata Station is the island's largest and busiest.

From this hub, trains depart for Japan's principal cities, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya,

Tokyo.

Major railway stations get combined with subterranean shopping centres.

So you get the gaggles descending from the train, mixed with the crowds who are

doing their shopping, along with the multitudes who are trying to grab lunch.

Japan has an ageing population.

But you wouldn't know it here, as Fukuoka is the city with the highest

proportion of residents aged 15 to 29.

And I'm barely out of the state before the city's youth makes an impression.

My name is Michael. Hello.

Thank you. You were very, very, very good.

Thank you.

What's it called, this dance?

What is Fukuoka like for young people? Is it a good city for young people?

Is Fukuoka the best city of all?

Fukuoka is now the fastest growing city in Japan

it was granted the status as a National Strategic Special Zone for start -up

entrepreneurial businesses, which entails relaxed planning laws, tax

special visas for entrepreneurs.

Driving this change is the city's mayor, Soichiro Takashima, elected in 2014,

whom I have the pleasure of meeting.

Nice to meet you.

Takashima -san!

Nice to meet you.

What a pleasure.

We're grabbing a drink at one of the street food counters, or yatai, that

become a distinctive feature of the city.

Have you ever been to Fukuoka?

I have not.

It's the first time I've been in Kyushu, and I've enjoyed it so much. It's been

absolutely marvelous.

But I've left the best for last.

Fukuoka City, really attractive city.

Now, I'm so pleased to be here. Mr. Mayor, I've learned that your name,

Takashima, means tall island.

High island, yes, that's right.

My name, Portillo, means small gate.

You used to be a TV host and are now a politician.

I used to be a parliamentarian and minister, and now I'm a TV presenter.

Yes. So we've got an opposite side. Yeah, yeah, opposite side.

What ideas did you have for the city, for Fukuoka? What were your ideas and

did you want to achieve them?

There is a history of 2 ,000 years that has been passed

down from Fukuoka to Japan.

Therefore, I would like to make Fukuoka a city where new things are born, a

start -up, and where diversity is important, including people from all

world.

So you have taken great advantage of the physical location of the city? Yes,

yes, that's right. You're so close to the Asian mainland. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah. For example, from Fukuoka to Shanghai, Fukuoka to Tokyo, just same

distance, 100 kilometers radius.

Yeah. And you've been attracting small businesses and startups with tax

break? Yes.

I don't want to create a small business.

I want to create new value here.

In short, I want to make it a city where people who take risks and challenge are

respected.

In Japan, people who are advanced work hard. For example, Sony,

Toyota, and so on.

May we take a risk on some beers, please?

Good idea.

That's a good fight.

Cheers. Cheers.

Cheers to you.

Mr.

Mayor, I'm a little bit older than you.

I left politics many years ago.

It's a rough business.

Don't you want to give up and come back to television?

Of course, there are times when Japanese TV shows come out like this.

But during the battle,

it's a time of young motivation.

It's hard to change the whole country, but changing the city can

be done by the power of the mayor.

Anyway, make an interesting city in Japan.

You won't swap, and I won't swap either.

Over history, Japan, as a nation of islands, has had to debate whether to

foreign influences.

It absorbed porcelain making in the 17th century, and in the 19th, it imported

the Industrial Revolution from the West, in both cases with great success.

But even today, Japan receives very few immigrants by comparison with other

developed economies.

It's open to ideas and to technology.

It's a great world exporter.

But its population and its culture remain homogeneously Japanese.

Next time, part of the fish is highly poisonous and dangerous.

The older chef has to take care of the puffer fish. They have to have the

national license.

Everybody think about how to make it beautiful.

A piece of engineering and almost a piece of art at the same time.

Atomic bomb dropped just behind you and entire community simply disappeared.