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00:04Japan.
00:05Michael, welcome to Japan, a railway paradise.
00:08Its huge population spread over Long Islands lives by its railways.
00:13Welcome driving.
00:14My new adventure takes me through the land that launched the high-speed train.
00:19I love Shinkansen.
00:21Where millions of journeys are made each day through some of the most bustling stations on earth.
00:27Busy city.
00:28I'll ride Japan's vast railway network to uncover a land of bold innovation.
00:35Haven't quite got the hang of it yet.
00:37A place of enduring traditions, volatile geology and remarkable people.
00:44Kanpai.
00:45Join me on an excursion like no other.
00:48I'm too excited to sit down.
01:05I've traveled by train the length of Kyushu and Honshu islands.
01:11And now I'm making inroads on Hokkaido on the final stage of my Japanese adventure.
01:18I'm on a fine old diesel train on the island of Hokkaido.
01:23And this feels very different indeed from Tokyo where this leg of my journey began.
01:29Even though the island has been very thoroughly absorbed by Japan since it was annexed in the 19th century.
01:36This land historically belonged to the Ainu people whose origins and customs, language and religion had nothing to do with
01:46Japan.
01:46And as I conclude my journey to the north, I'll be asking what happened to those people?
02:00From the capital Tokyo on Honshu Island, via Fukushima and Sendai, I traveled through the Seikan Tunnel to Hokkaido Island.
02:09I explored the southern city of Hakodate and continued on to Lake Toya.
02:14I'll visit Lake Shikotsu, then head north to the island's capital Sapporo, before ending my journey at the port of
02:22Otaru.
02:29My first destination this morning is Tomakomai, on the Pacific coast, the island's fourth largest city.
02:37It lies in the Iburi region, an area closely associated with Ainu culture, and it's my alighting point for Lake
02:45Shikotsu.
02:5125 kilometres inland, the lake was formed by volcanic activity around 40,000 years ago, and takes its name from
02:59the Ainu word Shikot, meaning hollow.
03:15What a lovely sight. A magnificent stag with a full set of antlers enjoying the cool of the water.
03:29Ryoko-san. Hi. Hello. Michael.
03:34To explore the history and traditions of the island's original population, I'm meeting Ainu activist Ryoko Sususapno.
03:42Welcome to Hokkaido.
03:45Well, thank you very much indeed.
03:47Ilangkarapute.
03:50Ilangkarapute.
03:50Yes, Ilangkarapute means Ainu greeting.
03:54Oh, lovely. An Ainu greeting.
03:55Does it have a particular meaning?
03:59Deeper meaning is, may I touch your heart gently.
04:07Tell me about what you're wearing.
04:10This is Ainu traditional clothing.
04:13Mm-hmm.
04:13It's very, very lovely.
04:14And then you wear a headdress as well.
04:17Jewellery?
04:17Is this typical Ainu jewellery as well?
04:19Yes, that's right.
04:20Well, you look fantastic.
04:21Thank you very much.
04:22Are you hungry?
04:23We have Ohau.
04:24Ohau.
04:25It's traditional Ainu soup.
04:26Are you able to prepare it out here?
04:28A picnic?
04:29Yes.
04:30Yes.
04:32The Ainu, thought to have emigrated from North East Asia over 10,000 years ago, settled throughout
04:39the Japanese archipelago.
04:41How lovely.
04:43Thank you very much.
04:47This Ainu soup.
04:49Ah, salmon soup.
04:51Ah.
04:51It's a very important food.
04:53This is potatoes, mushrooms, and can you see that?
05:01Oh, look at the salmon's head.
05:04That must have given so much flavour.
05:06That looks wonderful.
05:07Well, that's a soup that looks me in the eye.
05:10It's chopsticks.
05:11Thank you very much.
05:19It's delicious.
05:20Seaweed,昆布.
05:22This is the base flavour.
05:25This is dried昆布.
05:28Oh, that's in here.
05:30Mm-hmm.
05:45Tell me about the religious beliefs of the Ainu.
06:04Following the Japanese colonization of Hokkaido in the late 19th century, the Ainu's way of
06:10life came under pressure.
06:12Their lands were confiscated, and traditional practices of hunting and of worship were banned.
06:39Were you brought up as Ainu?
06:41No.
06:54In
07:04In 2008, the Japanese government recognized the Ainu as a separate indigenous people.
07:11Four years later, the Ainu Party of Japan was set up to protect their rights.
07:16Today, there are thought to be around 20,000 Ainu people living on Hokkaido.
07:25One of my roots is that the young Ainu people are starting to see their own culture.
07:33They are now growing up.
07:36I am very happy to see it.
07:39That is good news indeed.
07:42Do you want to see my family's pictures?
07:45Yes, please.
07:46This is my grandmother.
07:52This is my grandmother.
07:54This is my grandmother and my friends.
07:56It is very difficult to see it, but there are tattoos around the ears.
08:01This is a young girl who did all of the women.
08:05That is a custom.
08:06Yes.
08:07And then, I used the name of Suzusappu, the Hiyo-obah-san, and I am a singer of Ainu.
08:19Music and dance play a central role in Ainu culture.
08:23Hello.
08:26Ryoko and her friends are about to perform the traditional crane dance.
08:37And then, people are going to sing to see you.
08:54Yoga and her friends with all of us.
08:59They are all around the back of the forest.
09:12The Ainu believe the crane to be a messenger from the god of the wetlands,
09:18and their ancient dance mimics the bird's graceful movements.
09:29Thank you so much.
09:45This afternoon, my train takes me around 40 kilometres north to the capital of Hokkaido.
09:53I'm looking forward to Sapporo, which is the largest Japanese city north of Tokyo.
10:00It's famed for the beer that bears its name, and for having hosted the Winter Olympics 1972.
10:07The very heavy snowfall is caused by icy ocean currents.
10:12Now, I've heard, not surprisingly, that the city has a beer culture,
10:17and as the neon lights come on, so the bars and the restaurants and the pubs and the nightclubs
10:25give it a really zingy, nocturnal vibe.
10:29Watch out, Sapporo. I'm on my way.
10:52Japan's fourth largest city, Sapporo, lies on the vast Ishikari Plain, surrounded by mountains.
10:59It was founded in the second half of the 19th century by the Hokkaido Development Commission
11:05during the reign of Emperor Meiji.
11:09Some numbers about Sapporo that surprised me.
11:12In 1857, it had a population of seven. Today, it has a population of two million.
11:20And its annual snowfall is nearly 16 feet, which, amongst metropolises, is highly unusual.
11:29Settlers and soldier farmers known as Tondenhei came from across Japan
11:34to transform a small Ainu trading post into the island's administrative centre.
11:41Hokkaido grows a high proportion of the fruit and grain and rice for Japan.
11:48And during the country's modernisation, the Sapporo Agricultural College was opened in 1875
11:54at a time when almost nothing else existed here.
11:59It soon acquired an American clock tower.
12:02And Americans taught here too, including Dr William S. Clarke,
12:07who had been a colonel during his country's civil war.
12:10He's still remembered to this day for his valedictory remarks,
12:14which have surely been heeded by generations of Japanese people.
12:18Boys, be ambitious.
12:29As the day draws to a close in the city centre, the final evening of my journey awaits.
12:36I think Japanese cities measure themselves by the brightness of their neon,
12:41and Sapporo is not to be outdone.
12:45This is the Susukino district, one of Japan's largest nightlife hotspots,
12:51with more than 3,000 shops, bars and restaurants.
12:54Sapporo is famed for its cuisine, especially its ramen, the nation's favourite noodle soup.
13:02No city would be truly Japanese without an alleyway,
13:05and this one is called Ramen Alley.
13:10Thank you very much. Good evening.
13:14The restaurant Teshikaga prides itself on its authentic recipes.
13:18For dinner, I'm joining Sapporo resident and photographer Yuta Nakamura.
13:24I'm Michael.
13:25Yuta, nice to meet you.
13:27It's great to see you.
13:28How's it going?
13:29It's going very well.
13:31Ooh, I wouldn't mind a beer. Shall we order a beer?
13:34Yeah.
13:34When you call someone, you say, sumimasen.
13:38Let me try that.
13:40Sumimasen!
13:41Hi!
13:45Sapporo is very well known for beer.
13:47Yes.
13:48It's a very new city, a very modern city.
13:51Is it also a young city?
13:53I would say so.
13:54There's a big university, and it has a super urban, energetic vibe.
14:01I think the light, the neon, that makes Sapporo city special.
14:06Oh, our beers are ripe.
14:08Yeah.
14:09There you go.
14:10There you go.
14:14Shall we order some ramen?
14:16There's heaps of options.
14:17Do you have a favorite?
14:18I usually go for this pork miso.
14:22Yeah, barbecue pork topped ramen miso soup.
14:25That sounds perfect.
14:27Sumimasen!
14:28Miso ramen, a Sapporo speciality, was created in the city in the 1950s.
14:35Made with slow cooked pork bones and mixed with miso paste, the rich broth became a popular comfort food enjoyed
14:43during the region's cold winters.
14:45It's not small, is it?
14:47When do you tend to eat a ramen?
14:49I usually eat ramen at the end of the night.
14:53Yeah.
14:54To recover myself from getting tipsy or getting drunk.
14:59Hangover food.
15:00Yeah.
15:00All right.
15:01Very good.
15:02And it serves its purpose.
15:03It's pretty solid, isn't it?
15:05Mm-hmm.
15:05It's super thick and rich.
15:07Yeah, yeah.
15:08Mix it up first.
15:09Yeah.
15:10Oh, before you eat, I wanted to say you're good to slurp.
15:15Slurp?
15:15Slurp.
15:16Maybe, like, you think it's a batman or a bat.
15:19But it's not.
15:20But it's okay.
15:20Okay.
15:28It's good, isn't it?
15:29Mm-hmm.
15:30I didn't feel too comfortable slurping, but I'll get used to it.
15:33Actually, by slurping, we believe that we can enjoy the smell of the ramen and also the smoothness of the
15:43noodle going down.
15:44These noodles are good.
15:45Yeah.
15:46Full of flavor.
15:49This town has a great reputation for its nightlife.
15:53Is that right?
15:54Yes.
15:55Especially here in Suzukino, you have so many options.
15:58Rock music, punk, in the nightclub, we have techno, like, all kinds of music.
16:06And then there's a karaoke bar.
16:08Mm, not for me.
16:10And there's a magic bar.
16:11Magic bar?
16:12Yeah.
16:13That sounds intriguing.
16:14Yeah.
16:15It's quite interesting.
16:19As the night is still young, following Utah's advice, I'm on the search for some magic with my nightcap.
16:27In Japan, any business can be on any floor.
16:31The place I'm looking for is on floor five.
16:35No.
16:40Does that mean magic?
16:46Looks kind of tiny, but it is open.
16:49Yes.
16:50Magic bars, offering close-up tricks with your drink, are hugely popular in Japan.
16:56And over the past 20 years, they've opened in many big cities.
17:04Please call me Moyashi.
17:06Moyashi.
17:06M-O-Y-A-S-H-I.
17:08Got it.
17:09Moyashi.
17:10Okay.
17:10Notebook.
17:11A notebook.
17:13Notebook.
17:15Absolutely blank.
17:17Blank.
17:17Three.
17:18Two.
17:19One.
17:20Yeah.
17:21Yeah.
17:25Very good.
17:27Yay.
17:28Please take end card.
17:30Okay.
17:31Heart of 10.
17:33Ten of hearts.
17:34Signature.
17:35Face side.
17:35Oh.
17:36Nice.
17:39Okay.
17:41Middle of the deck.
17:44Okay.
17:47Okay.
17:51Moving fast.
17:54Three.
17:55Two.
17:55One.
17:57Perfect.
17:59Okay.
18:00Okay.
18:02Okay.
18:03Okay.
18:04Okay.
18:05Yeah.
18:07Oh.
18:10Oh.
18:10Oh.
18:11Oh.
18:14This is your card.
18:16Yay.
18:17He's good.
18:20Do you like Japanese green tea?
18:22Of course.
18:23Three.
18:24Two.
18:25One.
18:27Perfect.
18:27This is new bottle.
18:31Shield bottle.
18:32Okay?
18:33Yeah.
18:34Yes.
18:34Yeah.
18:34Yeah.
18:34Yeah.
18:35Yeah.
18:36Oh, yeah.
18:45Guys.
18:45In the bottle.
18:46Inside this bottle.
18:47Oh, green tea.
18:48New.
18:49Oh, green tea.
19:0310.
19:03He is absolutely amazing.
19:06Thank you so much.
19:10I've still got my watch. I thought he might have my watch.
19:22This morning's journey is the last leg of my Japanese tour.
19:29I'm travelling just over 35 kilometres north-west,
19:33along the coastline of the Sea of Japan to the port city Otaru.
19:47I love a railway that runs by the sea and the water is so blue.
19:57Where has the British helped Japan to build its first railway?
20:01On Hokkaido, it was the Americans who supplied the expertise
20:05and locomotives from Pennsylvania and rolling stock from Delaware.
20:10The first railway carried coal from a mine past Sapporo
20:14towards the port at Otaru, on broadly the route that I'm following now.
20:19It also transported kelp, which was a valuable fertiliser.
20:25The railway enormously helped the island to develop,
20:29attracting vast numbers of immigrants from Japan who settled here.
20:36This is now part of the Hakodate main line,
20:39covering over 423 kilometres
20:42and connecting the island's western cities.
20:48And so ends my last railway journey in Japan.
21:12You know, on the Shinkansen, all stations are of steel and glass,
21:16and very impressive but it's wonderful to come to a station that has history it opened in the
21:25center of otaru in 1903 and this art deco entrance hall was added in 1934 by then the harbour was
21:34bustling with passenger steamships and freight barges on ishikari bay in the shadow of mount
21:42tengu the new port is a growing center for international trade 50 kilometers west along
21:50the coast the town of yoichi is the birthplace of one of japan's most famous names although sapporo
21:58is associated with beer hokkaido is also noted for having a splendid distillery making fine whiskey
22:06and the story concerns a determined young japanese gentleman called masataka taketsuru who traveled
22:14to scotland to learn the art of whiskey making and there met and married rita who returned with him
22:21to japan taketsuru would become known as the father of japanese whiskey today the company that he founded
22:29nikka is one of japan's largest producers with distilleries and plants across the country
22:36but yoichi is where it all began this distillery reeks of tradition and also of course of the smell
22:45of whiskey and in this case of coal inside these stills the first distillation is occurring and the
22:59site reminds me of something i've seen so often the shoveling of coal in an old steam locomotive
23:07i'll explore the company's history with its head of global education and public relations emiko kaji
23:15emiko sun it's um a very attractive distillery the color of the stone reminds me of scotland
23:22yes it doesn't look to me at all like japan when was it built uh yoichi distillery was built in
23:271934
23:29the interesting character here is taketsuru yes uh tell me about him he was born into sake
23:36brewing family in hiroshima he learned chemistry at the university and he was supposed to take over the
23:42family business sake brewing but he was more interested in the western type of alcohol beverages
23:48was whiskey made in japan was it known in japan there was the product labeled whiskey but it is not
23:56actually authentic whiskey kind of the mixture of neutral alcohol and flavoring and coloring he met
24:03rita whom he would marry how did that happen so after arriving scotland the university of glasgow
24:10allowed him to enter so there he met rita's younger sister elva so one day he visited elva's house
24:17there he met rita for the first time i mean rita must have been quite brave early in the 20th
24:24century yes to to to go to japan as an english wife of a japanese gentleman international marriage was
24:30not common so both family were opposed to their marriage at that time but rita decided to immigrate
24:36to japan to support masataka's dream to make whiskey in japan after gaining experience with other
24:44companies taketsuru planned his own distillery and chose uichi as the perfect location there were local
24:52valley and the local peak and also the environmental condition of quite similar to scotland cool climate
25:00and crisp air and also rich water source were available launching his first whiskey in 1940 taketsuru
25:08consisted on traditional scottish coal-fired distillation in which the company to this day
25:14takes pride emiko has invited me to sample their range this is a tasting bar excellent
25:23these are all single modes from yoti distillaries quite different from each other but i think you will
25:28find similar smokiness due to the coal fire distillation you can start with this single mode classic
25:36so it has a present pt node it is widely sold even in the uk and across europe
25:49certainly getting the pt in this yes oh lovely warmth lovely fire in the throat very nice indeed
25:57i believe this is a first for me i'm not sure i've ever tasted a japanese whiskey before really and
26:02that
26:02is a very pleasant start yeah so this is one of the limited editions only available at the distillery
26:10shop from the new american oak barrels some vanilla flavor less pt yes less pt
26:23smoother i personally am slightly missing the peatiness i like a pt whiskey so that brings us maybe to number
26:29three that is another limited edition i think that will fit your palate so this is called pt and salty
26:38deeply pt
26:42a lovely whiskey
26:44just thinking back to your founder is the company still inspired by his example do you think yes and
26:51when i try to do something new or challenging i always think it whether he will be happy with that
27:00or
27:00not so he is kind of a benchmark i think that all the people feel the same way that's very
27:07moving and
27:08i raise my glass to the memory of taketsu
27:22you can make the great railway journey of your lifetime in japan i've been whisked by shinkansen and by every
27:33variety of train from one end of the country to another from towering cityscape to awe-inspiring
27:40scenery i've been made welcome by the politest people on earth and i've feasted on one of the great
27:47cuisines of the world i've been fascinated and mystified by the culture but isn't that one of the
27:55benefits of travel i'm convinced that in asia japan represents islands of decency and democracy and
28:04defends and promotes values that i share
28:09so
28:35so
28:36you
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