WEBVTT 00:00:05.800 --> 00:00:07.560 Konnichiwa, viewers. As you can tell 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:09.400 from the traditional Japanese music 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:12.080 coming from my car, 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:13.520 - I'm back on the road. 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:15.720 So far, I've had a slide on a sled... 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:19.120 Oh, God, there's a bendy bit coming up. 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:21.000 ...impressed my local guide with my Japanese cooking... 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:22.520 James. 00:00:22.560 --> 00:00:24.920 - I'm so hungry. Hurry up, please. - Yes, all right, yes, yes. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:26.720 - Come on, number eight. -...and won money 00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.960 on a very slow horse race that was too boring to make the cut. 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:33.920 It's gripping, this. 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:36.400 This time, this... 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:39.680 May I blow your conch? 00:00:39.720 --> 00:00:40.880 Yes! 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.080 Somebody else wants to film my lunch? 00:00:43.120 --> 00:00:45.720 Yes, we are completely *. 00:01:04.520 --> 00:01:07.960 My grand tourism from the north to the south of Japan 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:11.360 has taken me to Tohoku, part of Honshu, 00:01:11.440 --> 00:01:14.480 the largest and most populous island of Japan. 00:01:14.520 --> 00:01:17.240 This is the land of bustling megacities, 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:20.360 neon lights, bullet trains, Tokyo. 00:01:20.360 --> 00:01:21.920 But of course, 00:01:21.960 --> 00:01:26.520 it's not all like that. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:28.720 Before I hit the big cities, 00:01:28.800 --> 00:01:30.840 I'm headed west into rural Honshu 00:01:30.880 --> 00:01:34.360 with my new translator Maki. 00:01:39.440 --> 00:01:43.720 We're in the fruit and veg bowl of Honshu, 00:01:43.800 --> 00:01:45.560 but I'm on my way to meet a nut. 00:01:45.600 --> 00:01:49.560 Apparently, round here lives a rather eccentric inventor 00:01:49.600 --> 00:01:51.160 of robots. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:53.480 If I was going to come anywhere to look at robots, 00:01:53.520 --> 00:01:56.040 the first place I'd think of would be Japan, 00:01:56.080 --> 00:01:57.280 - probably. - Right. 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:02.120 Well, we've got a date then, Maki. 00:02:02.160 --> 00:02:04.560 I'm taking you to out to the robot place. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:12.320 Of all the arenas of science and technology, 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:16.080 the most disappointing is robots. 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.960 Where's my robot butler I was promised? 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:20.480 Bah, it's not here, is it? 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:23.480 Even the Japanese aren't really that good at robots. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:26.240 It took them 20 years to get Honda's Asimo robot 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:27.960 to walk convincingly, 00:02:28.040 --> 00:02:30.240 and even then, it still falls over fairly regularly. 00:02:30.320 --> 00:02:32.880 But maybe we've got our attitude to robots all wrong. 00:02:32.920 --> 00:02:36.600 Maybe robots should be just a bit of a laugh. 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:43.680 This robot cost a quarter of a million dollars to build, 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.560 and is the brainchild of engineer Nagumo Masaaki. 00:02:47.600 --> 00:02:49.160 He's currently driving it, so, 00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:50.560 like any good insane Bond villain, 00:02:50.600 --> 00:02:53.400 his face is obscured. 00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:55.240 I decide to coax him down from the cockpit 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.400 to ask him the important questions. 00:02:57.440 --> 00:02:58.720 Are you mad? 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:08.840 May I have a go, kudasai? 00:03:11.880 --> 00:03:14.080 Oh. I was expecting that to be a no. 00:03:20.640 --> 00:03:22.880 Yeah, robotics is quite uncomfortable, 00:03:22.920 --> 00:03:24.280 as it turns out. 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:32.200 - Right, I'm now turning left. - Yeah, yeah. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:33.640 It's very wobbly. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:36.080 Forwards to Tokyo. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:40.440 Very slowly. 00:03:40.480 --> 00:03:43.840 It would actually take four days 00:03:43.880 --> 00:03:45.640 to reach the center of Tokyo, 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.480 even if it could cross the drainage ditch 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:49.120 at the edge of the car park, 00:03:49.160 --> 00:03:52.280 but still, robots! 00:03:52.320 --> 00:03:53.520 Stopping. 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:01.200 Could I say domo arigatou gozaimashita 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:03.480 for letting me drive your wonderful robot. 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:07.080 It's, uh, exactly what a robot should be. Superb. 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:12.680 Hai. 00:04:12.720 --> 00:04:15.200 Was that a good... Did he say goodbye, or...? 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:16.400 Oh, there's another thing he... 00:04:18.080 --> 00:04:20.040 Oh, there's another thing. 00:04:20.080 --> 00:04:22.560 I thought that was a bit of a sudden exit. 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:47.360 He is mad. 00:04:47.400 --> 00:04:49.600 Nagumo is kindly going to let me 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:52.360 have a go at driving his seven-ton, 00:04:52.400 --> 00:04:55.800 8.5-meter-tall tour de force. 00:04:55.840 --> 00:04:57.240 Okay. 00:04:57.280 --> 00:04:59.280 This thing is bigger than any robot 00:04:59.320 --> 00:05:01.320 I've ever driven before, 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.400 which was the one outside just now. 00:05:03.440 --> 00:05:07.480 And this one also has a design flaw stopping world domination: 00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:09.920 it's too big to go through the door of its own house. 00:05:09.960 --> 00:05:12.480 So, it's forward, back, left, right? 00:05:12.520 --> 00:05:14.720 - Please, look at me. - Yes? 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:16.440 Yes. 00:05:17.880 --> 00:05:19.040 Ah. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:20.600 Oh, that's fantastic. 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:22.840 But while I'm busy doing the robot, 00:05:22.880 --> 00:05:26.800 my neglected date has taken matters into her own hands. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:31.960 So, that's finger control. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:33.120 - Okay, so I'm going to go forwards. - Yeah. 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:34.520 Oh, yes, I can see the finger 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:35.720 moving down here on this monitor. 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:37.000 That's amazing. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:44.440 Oh, James, be ready. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:48.240 I'm coming to shoot you. 00:05:48.280 --> 00:05:51.720 That is Maki now on the main monitor, forward-facing camera, 00:05:51.760 --> 00:05:54.360 coming in thinking she can pick a fight with us 00:05:54.400 --> 00:05:55.920 with her airsoft gun. 00:05:55.960 --> 00:05:57.520 So, uh... 00:05:57.560 --> 00:05:59.520 ...are we all ready to take her on? 00:06:01.960 --> 00:06:04.720 Fire when ready, fire when ready. 00:06:04.800 --> 00:06:07.040 - Here we go. Maneuvering to the left. - Okay. 00:06:07.080 --> 00:06:08.840 Okay, okay, and... 00:06:14.280 --> 00:06:16.720 What we have here is a good old-fashioned 00:06:16.760 --> 00:06:18.640 Japanese standoff... 00:06:20.400 --> 00:06:23.720 ...to find the fastest Gundam in the East. 00:06:29.400 --> 00:06:33.440 - Did I hit? - Scary. What did you do to me? 00:06:35.280 --> 00:06:38.040 Maki just shot me in the robo plums. Did you see that? 00:06:38.080 --> 00:06:40.160 Did I get her? 00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:43.720 - Ooh! - Yeah! 00:06:43.760 --> 00:06:47.600 Look, everyone, this is what James May would do to a lady. 00:06:50.640 --> 00:06:53.400 Yes! Too easy. 00:06:53.440 --> 00:06:54.560 Everyone... 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:56.400 Oh, two more hits from Maki. 00:06:56.440 --> 00:06:59.280 Hit, in the head. 00:06:59.320 --> 00:07:02.000 Time to go in for the kill. 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:03.160 Oh! 00:07:03.200 --> 00:07:04.840 Yes! 00:07:04.880 --> 00:07:07.360 Well, I'm advancing right up on the other robot. 00:07:07.400 --> 00:07:08.520 This is ballsy stuff. 00:07:17.280 --> 00:07:20.560 Tom? The GoPro fall 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:23.280 from the window thanks to James. 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.840 - Loser. - I am running away. 00:07:29.880 --> 00:07:31.400 Run away from the beast. 00:07:31.440 --> 00:07:34.400 I'm fairly confident I won that, 8-6. 00:07:34.440 --> 00:07:38.400 And I've changed my mind about robots. They're brilliant. 00:07:38.440 --> 00:07:40.640 I might even get one. 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:00.720 It's nice. It's like a married couple after having a big fight. 00:08:00.760 --> 00:08:03.600 We are back in the same car. 00:08:03.640 --> 00:08:05.680 - But not speaking, yeah. - Not speaking. 00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:08.240 - Just looking ahead like that. - Yeah. 00:08:08.280 --> 00:08:10.600 You were awful. You seem so, so sweet 00:08:10.640 --> 00:08:12.640 and so James May, 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:15.160 I was expecting you would treat me like a lady 00:08:15.200 --> 00:08:18.000 and you act like a gentleman, like, from England. 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:20.200 Maybe it's because I'm a cabbage roll. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:22.840 Is that right? 00:08:22.880 --> 00:08:25.120 - Yes, it is, yeah. - Cabbage roll? Hmm. 00:08:25.160 --> 00:08:26.320 Soft on the outside, 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:27.720 but then aggressive in inside. 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.600 This is how James May is, everyone. 00:08:30.640 --> 00:08:32.960 - Did you see? - A cabbage roll. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:35.960 That's-that's a bit of an insult in Japan. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:37.520 - No, no, it's not insult. - It's not an insult? 00:08:37.560 --> 00:08:39.640 Yeah, it's just the three different type of boys 00:08:39.680 --> 00:08:41.520 available in Japan. 00:08:41.560 --> 00:08:43.520 So what are the three different types? 00:08:43.560 --> 00:08:47.800 One is called nikushoku-kei, meat eaters. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:49.440 - Meat eaters. - Yeah. 00:08:49.520 --> 00:08:51.320 - Confident. - Macho, then. 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:53.160 - A meat eater is macho. - Macho, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:57.920 Then there's another type called soshoku-kei. 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:00.640 - Soshoku-kei. - Soshoku is a vegetable eaters. 00:09:00.680 --> 00:09:03.680 - Okay. Soshoku-kei. -So they are more shy, 00:09:03.680 --> 00:09:05.160 uh, reserved. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:07.440 Well, they don't ask girls out and that sort of thing. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:09.680 Yeah, they are more kind of slim. 00:09:09.800 --> 00:09:11.960 Um, then there is another type which is... 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.680 could be you... Cabbage Roll. 00:09:15.800 --> 00:09:16.960 Rollu cabbage 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:19.040 in Japanese. 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:20.840 It's meat in the inside, 00:09:20.880 --> 00:09:25.520 so aggressive personality, coated... 00:09:25.560 --> 00:09:27.240 - With cabbage. - ...with cabbage. 00:09:27.280 --> 00:09:29.160 Layers of cabbage. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:31.800 So when you see him for the first time, you all think, 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:35.680 "Oh, he's such a nice gentleman, very soft-spoken, 00:09:35.800 --> 00:09:40.240 uh, kind, uh, yeah, a bit shy." 00:09:40.280 --> 00:09:43.440 But then once you are in his house, 00:09:43.520 --> 00:09:45.840 when he feels comfortable with his own skin, 00:09:45.880 --> 00:09:47.080 he will go... 00:09:48.520 --> 00:09:50.920 No man in his prime 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:54.280 likes to be called a grabby cabbage roll by a lady. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:56.960 So, like the conclusion to all couple's arguments, 00:09:57.000 --> 00:09:59.320 I leave Maki at the service station and drive off... 00:10:00.560 --> 00:10:03.680 ...alone, into the wilderness. 00:10:08.920 --> 00:10:12.040 You join me at a very spiritual moment. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:14.240 I am at the foot of Mount Hagaro, 00:10:14.280 --> 00:10:16.240 a sacred mountain, or at least it is 00:10:16.280 --> 00:10:19.200 to the Yamabushi monks, wandering ascetics 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:22.560 who have populated these forests since the seventh century. 00:10:22.640 --> 00:10:25.640 And they practice a doctrine of Shugendo. 00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:29.440 What that says is you leave your earthly cares and wares behind. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.200 I did that as I walked onto the bridge. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:33.680 And then you commune with nature, 00:10:33.800 --> 00:10:35.400 with the mountain in particular, 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.800 to develop a sixth sense for the truth. 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:41.400 And that is exactly what I'm going to go and do now. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:44.040 I'm going to meet Master Hoshino. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.960 Basically, I'm going for a walk in the woods with a top monk. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.560 This way. 00:10:49.560 --> 00:10:53.000 Slowly, because it's slippy. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:23.120 Konnichiwa. 00:11:23.160 --> 00:11:25.520 72-year old Master Hoshino 00:11:25.560 --> 00:11:29.160 is a 13th-generation Yamabushi priest, 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:30.560 which means that his ancestors 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:32.720 would've been leading pilgrimages 00:11:32.800 --> 00:11:35.720 on this mountain 350 years ago. 00:11:35.760 --> 00:11:37.240 This is to make it more difficult 00:11:37.280 --> 00:11:40.280 to find my emaciated corpse in the snow. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:50.240 How far is it? 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:35.960 - Yup. - Ay. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:38.680 Shugendo was a major spiritual movement 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:41.400 in Japan from the 12th century 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.680 until 1872 when it was banned 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:47.720 as a superstitious religion by the Meiji government. 00:12:47.760 --> 00:12:51.640 But nowadays, Shugendo is being re-embraced 00:12:51.680 --> 00:12:54.480 as an escape from hectic urban life. 00:12:56.120 --> 00:12:59.000 It's very beautiful, it's just a bit slippery. 00:12:59.040 --> 00:13:01.840 That bit is very slippery. I'm trying to write a haiku. 00:13:01.880 --> 00:13:04.640 Snow on the mountain, 00:13:04.680 --> 00:13:07.600 priest ascends the icy steps. 00:13:07.640 --> 00:13:09.640 English man on *. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:13.920 That's very slippery. 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:18.320 It is somewhat easier to achieve spiritual dignity 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:21.560 when nature has gifted you a pair of spiky boots 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:23.160 like Master Hoshino's. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:26.280 It's too slippery, holy man. 00:13:43.800 --> 00:13:46.080 Oh... 00:13:46.120 --> 00:13:48.480 James, mountaintop. Okay? 00:13:48.520 --> 00:13:51.720 - Excellent. Thank you. -Hai. Hai, hai. 00:13:51.800 --> 00:13:55.560 As a reward, may I blow your conch? 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.080 Ay. All right. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:01.440 I've never done this. 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:04.560 Okay. 00:14:17.400 --> 00:14:20.400 Okay. 00:14:26.160 --> 00:14:28.360 Oh... 00:14:32.400 --> 00:14:33.720 - That feels quite good. - Oh. 00:14:33.800 --> 00:14:35.280 This is excellent. 00:14:37.520 --> 00:14:40.320 Blowing the horn had given me a raging thirst, 00:14:40.360 --> 00:14:43.160 and I felt I'd earned a drink. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.240 Now you join me at a slightly awkward moment because after 00:14:48.280 --> 00:14:50.200 our very enlightening walk in the mountains, 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.240 I thought Master Hoshino said, 00:14:52.280 --> 00:14:55.240 "Would you like to join me in the bar?" 00:14:55.280 --> 00:14:57.800 It was the bath. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:14:59.880 More specifically, an onsen, 00:14:59.920 --> 00:15:01.400 which is a specific type of bath. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:03.600 The definition, in fact, has been protected 00:15:03.640 --> 00:15:06.640 under Japanese law since 1948. 00:15:06.680 --> 00:15:09.040 To quality as an onsen, it must be the product 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:10.640 of volcanic activity, 00:15:10.680 --> 00:15:13.920 it must be geothermally heated to at least 25 degrees. 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.360 I'm delighted to say this is rather more than that. 00:15:16.400 --> 00:15:19.960 Uh, and it must contain traces of 18 minerals. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:21.560 Um, if you were wondering and to save you 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.960 starting a rather tedious thread on Twitter, 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.120 yes, we are completely *. 00:15:26.160 --> 00:15:28.320 And the reason I have this small towel on my head 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:29.720 is not because I'm celebrating 00:15:29.760 --> 00:15:32.720 the British seaside holiday of the 1950s, 00:15:32.760 --> 00:15:36.080 it's because this little scrap 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:40.280 is what I use to hide my "vile body," 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.840 as Evelyn Waugh would've put it, when I climb out. 00:15:42.880 --> 00:15:44.400 The cameras will be cut by then, 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:49.080 not because I'm embarrassed, for your sake. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:50.680 And I'm embarrassed. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.880 It's finally time to hit a real city, Sendai. 00:15:59.920 --> 00:16:03.200 And as I join the dawn chorus to line up for a very different 00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:05.000 type of ritual, I'm glad 00:16:05.040 --> 00:16:07.080 that my soul is now clean and uncorrupted. 00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:15.840 Do I look... I feel like a pervert. 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:25.320 It's 20 to 7:00 in the morning for God's sake. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:29.320 I'm reluctantly in line for a J-pop gig... 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:33.360 Japanese pop for you out of touch grandads. 00:16:33.400 --> 00:16:35.920 Okay. Domo arigato. 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:38.880 I've got a hot ticket to see the Zenryokuboys, 00:16:38.920 --> 00:16:41.040 the Detroit Spinners of Sendai city. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:45.280 What's impressive about this is that 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:48.040 the Zenryokuboys have cornered 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.600 an unchartered part of the pop market, actually, 00:16:50.640 --> 00:16:52.560 the 7:00 a.m. pop concert. 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:54.520 It only lasts about a half an hour, 00:16:54.560 --> 00:16:57.400 and it's designed to entertain commuters 00:16:57.440 --> 00:16:59.080 before they go to the office 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:03.120 and schoolgirls before they go to school. 00:17:03.160 --> 00:17:04.320 It's quite impressive considering 00:17:04.360 --> 00:17:06.000 that they're all teenagers 00:17:06.040 --> 00:17:08.720 and they really should be in bed for another three or four hours. 00:17:20.040 --> 00:17:21.240 Whoo! 00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:24.800 They're quite good, actually. 00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:33.480 This is the slow number. 00:17:37.040 --> 00:17:39.560 But, no, it's something stranger. 00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:51.600 I always thought the Japanese were a pretty stoic nation, 00:17:53.560 --> 00:17:56.220 I love this one. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.160 Just to be clear, my eyes are watering 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:02.000 from the smoke machine, even though there isn't one. 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:05.720 I know it's the objective of the crew to try 00:18:05.760 --> 00:18:07.320 and make me look an idiot on this show, 00:18:07.320 --> 00:18:09.160 but that's actually ruined me. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:12.760 I've been with a load of teenage girls to see a boy band on TV. 00:18:12.800 --> 00:18:15.080 They were good, though. I thought they were excellent. 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.560 Excellent performance. I couldn't do that at that age. 00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:19.160 I was completely hopeless. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.000 Let's go and meet them. 00:18:21.040 --> 00:18:22.880 - Konnichiwa. Oh. -Konnichiwa. 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:24.280 - Thank you. - High five. 00:18:24.320 --> 00:18:25.920 - Thank you. - Excellent, excellent performance. 00:18:25.960 --> 00:18:28.800 I feel like the Queen after the Royal Variety Performance, 00:18:29.080 --> 00:18:31.280 except I actually enjoyed this. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:37.920 Then the boys suggested giving me my own J-pop makeover. 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:39.760 Please just use your artistry. 00:18:39.840 --> 00:18:42.080 And since I'd already blown my hair and wardrobe budget 00:18:42.120 --> 00:18:44.160 on sake, I agreed. 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:48.600 It's 'cause it's very old. 00:18:54.280 --> 00:18:57.640 Mending motorcycles. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:59.760 I have a 360 Benly. 00:18:59.760 --> 00:19:02.440 And a Super Cub. 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:03.840 Yes. 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:05.280 A very old one. 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:10.440 I decided to wrap this up before they started asking me 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:12.520 if I was going anywhere nice this year. 00:19:12.520 --> 00:19:14.520 - That's good. Yeah. - That's good? Thank you. 00:19:19.360 --> 00:19:21.680 I was going to have to "Blue Steel" myself 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:24.200 for what was next. Hair was just the start. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.120 Against unanimous public opinion, apparently, 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:28.760 I need a new wardrobe. 00:19:32.360 --> 00:19:33.760 Domo arigato. 00:19:35.520 --> 00:19:38.240 I'm already wishing I hadn't come. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:47.000 This is quite a cool piece of clothing, 00:19:47.080 --> 00:19:49.680 um, I feel that I defile it. 00:19:57.060 --> 00:19:59.140 Right, are you ready? 00:19:59.180 --> 00:20:01.260 - Okay. Okay. -Okay. - Ready, the new me. 00:20:03.460 --> 00:20:04.780 Uh... 00:20:06.420 --> 00:20:09.260 Come on. It's my treat. 00:20:11.900 --> 00:20:15.060 I don't know why I agreed to go clothes shopping. 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:18.300 I already did that in 1984. 00:20:23.380 --> 00:20:24.660 Those Zenryokuboys, 00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:26.420 they're a nice bunch of lads, 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:28.500 and I hope they make it big. 00:20:28.540 --> 00:20:30.940 I really should have left that final thought there, 00:20:30.980 --> 00:20:35.300 but their youthfulness got me feeling a bit un-zen. 00:20:35.300 --> 00:20:38.660 I really do. I hope they don't end up 40 years old 00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:40.380 in a dead-end job, 00:20:40.420 --> 00:20:44.300 grinding their teeth over what might have been. 00:20:44.380 --> 00:20:46.820 I think I'd better leave Sendai quickly 00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:50.420 and find something much more historical to look at. 00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:53.300 50 miles south, in a place called Minamisoma, 00:20:53.300 --> 00:20:58.300 are the heirlooms of a much older Japanese group. 00:20:58.380 --> 00:21:00.060 Now, we cannot really come to Japan 00:21:00.060 --> 00:21:04.420 without discussing the samurai and their life code of Bushido. 00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:06.180 And you might be forgiven for thinking 00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:07.900 this was all invented by Tom Cruise, 00:21:07.940 --> 00:21:10.900 but I'm afraid it's actually a bit more complicated than that. 00:21:10.940 --> 00:21:14.580 More of this in voice-over. 00:21:16.260 --> 00:21:18.740 The samurai were the warrior class of Japan. 00:21:18.780 --> 00:21:20.540 Trained from boyhood in the art of war 00:21:20.580 --> 00:21:23.700 and fanatically loyal to their overlords until death, 00:21:23.740 --> 00:21:26.420 the samurai and their austere code of chivalry 00:21:26.460 --> 00:21:29.460 commanded fear and respect for centuries. 00:21:30.460 --> 00:21:31.940 Aota-san, 00:21:31.980 --> 00:21:34.700 who I am about to meet, is a genuine samurai, 00:21:34.740 --> 00:21:36.260 the descendent of a samurai clan. 00:21:36.300 --> 00:21:38.620 And you needn't be alarmed... he's not going to shout, 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:41.140 "For the emperor," and cut my head off with a katana. 00:21:41.180 --> 00:21:44.260 He's actually a retired farmer, and these days devotes himself 00:21:44.300 --> 00:21:48.580 to collecting and repairing his dynasty's weapons and armor, 00:21:48.620 --> 00:21:51.700 which he is now going to show me. 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:54.300 And then he's gonna cut my head off with a katana. 00:21:56.740 --> 00:21:58.980 Aota-san's home is packed with enough kit 00:21:59.020 --> 00:22:02.380 to start a small regional war. 00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:05.300 For the purposes of historical osmosis, 00:22:05.340 --> 00:22:08.420 I agree to be dressed in full samurai armor. 00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:09.860 I'm trying not to take it personally 00:22:09.900 --> 00:22:13.100 that everyone I meet seems to want to give me a makeover. 00:22:13.140 --> 00:22:14.860 You join me in my thermal underwear. 00:22:14.900 --> 00:22:17.140 Aota-san here... 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:19.180 ...is, uh, going to dress me. 00:22:20.740 --> 00:22:23.260 These are... these are like foot mittens. 00:22:23.300 --> 00:22:25.420 This could take a while. 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:27.820 Was all this armor owned by your direct ancestors? 00:22:40.700 --> 00:22:45.340 Now here we have the samurai equivalent of shin pads. 00:22:45.380 --> 00:22:48.940 Or Shinto pads, as they're known. 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:52.940 These, I think... are these, these beaten iron? It is. 00:22:54.780 --> 00:22:57.220 It's getting quite heavy, and I think my hair 00:22:57.260 --> 00:22:59.500 may become a part of it. 00:22:59.540 --> 00:23:02.060 What if I can't stand up at the end of all this? 00:23:06.420 --> 00:23:08.100 Oh, well, that's all right, then. 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:11.260 The samurai were devoted to a code of conduct 00:23:11.300 --> 00:23:15.940 called as bushido, demanding loyalty, courage, veracity, 00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:19.220 compassion and honor; as well as a lifestyle 00:23:19.260 --> 00:23:20.780 of strict martial discipline. 00:23:20.820 --> 00:23:22.300 Stand? 00:23:24.020 --> 00:23:25.860 Finishing touches. 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:27.820 Oh, I like this bit. 00:23:30.140 --> 00:23:32.700 I know a London club were this would be perfectly acceptable. 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:35.580 Torture Gardens. 00:23:35.620 --> 00:23:37.420 I meant the Chelsea Arts Club. 00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:39.700 If you don't mind... 00:23:47.220 --> 00:23:49.580 This is a 300-year-old katana, 00:23:49.620 --> 00:23:51.660 if anybody has anything fatuous to say. 00:23:51.700 --> 00:23:53.180 I suspect not. 00:23:58.900 --> 00:24:00.740 James is looking fabulous today 00:24:00.780 --> 00:24:04.180 in this 30-piece, cast-iron spring ensemble 00:24:04.220 --> 00:24:06.260 from ancient Minamasoma. 00:24:06.300 --> 00:24:10.620 Perfect for fancy work meetings and massacres. 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:12.500 Mr. Aota-san's son has gone 00:24:12.540 --> 00:24:14.420 for the winter look, with matching helmet. 00:24:20.900 --> 00:24:24.620 The samurai might have a long military history, 00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:26.340 but after all that lengthy dressing up, 00:24:26.380 --> 00:24:28.300 I'm surprised they didn't miss half the wars 00:24:28.340 --> 00:24:30.340 they were invited to. 00:24:31.780 --> 00:24:33.300 See? I've missed it. 00:24:37.700 --> 00:24:39.700 I said strictly no horses. 00:24:41.140 --> 00:24:44.900 The samurai fought their last battle in 1877, 00:24:44.940 --> 00:24:46.660 around the same time 00:24:46.700 --> 00:24:49.740 a different mode of transport was becoming popular. 00:24:49.780 --> 00:24:52.740 Perhaps if they'd just made use of that, 00:24:52.780 --> 00:24:55.660 they might've ridden on to more victories. 00:25:00.180 --> 00:25:02.180 I've modernized it. 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:09.380 Just then, I get a phone call 00:25:09.420 --> 00:25:10.940 from the irate manager of a Japanese 00:25:10.980 --> 00:25:14.140 service station, demanding I pick up Maki. 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:18.060 We decide to stop just south of Sendai, 00:25:18.100 --> 00:25:20.300 where Maki says she wants to make things up to me 00:25:20.340 --> 00:25:22.260 by giving me some tongue. 00:25:24.340 --> 00:25:26.380 You should all be ashamed of yourselves. 00:25:31.020 --> 00:25:33.140 So pick a piece up... 00:25:33.180 --> 00:25:34.780 Gyutan, as it's known, 00:25:34.820 --> 00:25:37.420 is thinly-sliced tongue cooked over a charcoal grill. 00:25:37.500 --> 00:25:40.620 And since it was first served here in 1948, 00:25:40.660 --> 00:25:42.140 Sendai has become known 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:44.220 as the beef tongue capital of the world. 00:25:44.260 --> 00:25:46.060 Mmm! 00:25:46.100 --> 00:25:47.900 I am a British man doing a barbecue, 00:25:47.940 --> 00:25:49.740 so that means it will taste terrible. 00:25:51.180 --> 00:25:53.740 - Ooh, look at this. - Okay. 00:25:53.780 --> 00:25:56.260 - 'Cause I want to ask you... - Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah. 00:25:56.300 --> 00:25:58.020 Maybe you want to place over here 00:25:58.060 --> 00:26:00.860 so that you will not touch the... the meat juice? 00:26:00.900 --> 00:26:02.740 - Yeah, that's a good point. That's unhygienic. -Yes. 00:26:02.780 --> 00:26:05.420 Yes, it's unhygienic. 00:26:05.500 --> 00:26:07.300 Excuse me speaking with my mouth full. 00:26:07.340 --> 00:26:09.340 It's nice. 00:26:09.380 --> 00:26:11.420 Mmm. It is nice. 00:26:11.460 --> 00:26:13.340 - Mmm. - I thought it would be... 00:26:13.380 --> 00:26:14.820 It actually tastes a bit like pork. 00:26:14.860 --> 00:26:17.700 Tell me, what do you really think about the British? 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:19.260 What do we think about them? 00:26:19.300 --> 00:26:21.060 - Um... - Do you think we're a bit smelly 00:26:21.100 --> 00:26:22.420 and scruffy? 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:24.100 No. 00:26:24.140 --> 00:26:26.260 Oh, no, no. It's an image... 00:26:26.300 --> 00:26:27.940 of this. 00:26:29.660 --> 00:26:31.140 - The queen. - Oh, cool. 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:33.820 It is... So, again, we have... 00:26:33.860 --> 00:26:35.780 We call British "gentlemen." 00:26:35.820 --> 00:26:37.820 So they are polite, 00:26:37.860 --> 00:26:40.980 um, cultured, uh, classy. 00:26:41.020 --> 00:26:43.300 Uh, but then, 00:26:43.340 --> 00:26:45.300 this show has been proving me wrong. 00:26:45.340 --> 00:26:47.180 Oh, okay. 00:26:53.620 --> 00:26:55.300 Are you not very good at drinking? 00:26:55.340 --> 00:26:57.140 That is wrong. 00:26:57.180 --> 00:27:00.860 Japanese people can hold alcohol quite well, 00:27:00.900 --> 00:27:02.300 maybe better than British. 00:27:02.340 --> 00:27:03.740 Oh, possibly. 00:27:03.780 --> 00:27:07.380 Domo arigato for bringing me here. 00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:10.020 Don't tell me. Don't tell me. Don't tell me. 00:27:11.740 --> 00:27:12.860 Ah. 00:27:12.900 --> 00:27:14.260 You're taking too long. 00:27:14.300 --> 00:27:15.740 My foam is getting thinner and thinner. 00:27:15.780 --> 00:27:17.300 What's...? Give me the first letter. 00:27:17.340 --> 00:27:19.220 - Ka. - Ka. 00:27:19.260 --> 00:27:21.260 - Ka. Kampai. - Kampai. 00:27:22.300 --> 00:27:23.780 - Kampai. - Kampai. 00:27:23.820 --> 00:27:25.180 - Kampai. - Kam... 00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:26.620 To all those who aren't having a beer, kampai. 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:28.140 Sorry, everyone. 00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:33.140 Mmm. 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:34.820 - This is great. - Yeah. 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:42.500 As a keen student of haiku, 00:27:42.540 --> 00:27:47.820 nearby Matsushima Bay holds particular significance. 00:27:47.860 --> 00:27:49.620 Now, back in the 17th century, 00:27:49.660 --> 00:27:52.940 the Japanese scholar Hayashi Gaho identified 00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:54.980 the three perfect views of the country. 00:27:55.020 --> 00:27:57.780 One of them is a sandbar outside Kyoto, 00:27:57.820 --> 00:28:00.460 another is a temple outside Hiroshima, 00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:03.580 and the third, probably the most famous, is this one... 00:28:03.620 --> 00:28:07.860 the island group of Matsushima, over 260 of them. 00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:10.140 And they're absolutely gorgeous. 00:28:10.180 --> 00:28:12.020 And it must be said that the Japanese have even managed 00:28:12.100 --> 00:28:13.500 to miniaturize the view, 00:28:13.540 --> 00:28:15.500 'cause some of these islands are really tiny. 00:28:15.540 --> 00:28:17.740 They're no bigger than a garage, and they're all covered 00:28:17.780 --> 00:28:19.420 in tiny little bonsai trees. 00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:21.420 It's fantastic. Look at that one over there. 00:28:26.700 --> 00:28:29.620 One of the best known of the old Japanese haiku 00:28:29.660 --> 00:28:31.780 is, in fact, about Matsushima Bay. 00:28:31.820 --> 00:28:33.940 For a long time, it was attributed to Basho, 00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:36.020 the greatest of the haiku masters, 00:28:36.100 --> 00:28:37.940 but actually, more recent scholarship suggests 00:28:37.980 --> 00:28:41.180 that is wasn't by him at all, because it wasn't recorded 00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.380 until over a hundred years after his death. 00:28:43.420 --> 00:28:45.180 But it doesn't actually matter who wrote it, 00:28:45.220 --> 00:28:47.620 because whoever it was was so overcome 00:28:47.660 --> 00:28:49.020 with the beauty of this place, 00:28:49.100 --> 00:28:50.460 that all he could come up with was, 00:28:50.500 --> 00:28:52.140 "Matsushima ya 00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:54.140 "Ah, matsushima ya, 00:28:54.180 --> 00:28:55.780 Matsushima ya." 00:28:55.820 --> 00:28:57.460 Which is usually translated as, 00:28:57.500 --> 00:28:59.940 "Matsushima, Matsushima. 00:28:59.980 --> 00:29:02.100 Oh, Matsushima." 00:29:11.980 --> 00:29:13.460 It is annoying, this. 00:29:13.500 --> 00:29:15.300 I've been standing here for something like half an hour, 00:29:15.340 --> 00:29:18.580 trying to compose my own haiku about Matsushima Bay, 00:29:18.620 --> 00:29:20.820 and I can see why it was so difficult, 00:29:20.860 --> 00:29:25.420 because it somehow eludes description in 17 syllables. 00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:27.980 Which is quite annoying, really, 'cause I'm about... 00:29:28.020 --> 00:29:29.460 oh, five minutes away 00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:32.020 from my first lesson in Japanese calligraphy. 00:29:32.100 --> 00:29:34.900 And I wanted something nice to write. 00:29:34.940 --> 00:29:37.380 I've got one idea. 00:29:39.220 --> 00:29:41.620 This is Kishi Keiko, 00:29:41.660 --> 00:29:44.420 one of Japan's leading calligraphy experts. 00:29:44.460 --> 00:29:47.700 I hope my poem is worthy of her talents. 00:29:50.420 --> 00:29:52.980 J-masu May. 00:29:53.020 --> 00:29:54.700 That's my name! 00:29:54.740 --> 00:29:57.220 - J... m... - J-masu. 00:29:57.260 --> 00:29:58.860 - J-masu. - J-masu. 00:29:58.900 --> 00:30:00.300 May. J... That's how they say "James" in Japan. 00:30:00.340 --> 00:30:02.020 They say "J-masu." 00:30:02.100 --> 00:30:03.860 It's beautiful. It's beautiful 00:30:03.900 --> 00:30:05.940 because I don't know what it says. You just think, 00:30:05.980 --> 00:30:07.540 "That's a fabulous picture." 00:30:07.580 --> 00:30:09.180 If you knew that it just says "James May," 00:30:09.220 --> 00:30:11.140 it loses some of its appeal, to be brutally frank. 00:30:11.180 --> 00:30:13.860 Okay, I'm going to show you my haiku. 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:16.660 - "Ah, Matsushima." - Yeah. 00:30:16.700 --> 00:30:19.340 "Basho gasharishi. 00:30:19.380 --> 00:30:22.140 Oh, Matsuo, oh, Basho." 00:30:22.180 --> 00:30:25.540 - Oh, very good. - Is it? It means... 00:30:25.580 --> 00:30:27.820 "Ah, Matsushima. 00:30:27.860 --> 00:30:29.740 "Basho has long departed. 00:30:29.780 --> 00:30:31.700 We are lost for words." 00:30:33.620 --> 00:30:36.380 Within moments, sensei Keiko has rendered my haiku 00:30:36.420 --> 00:30:38.940 into the cursive style of calligraphy... 00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:41.860 the quickest, and hopefully simplest, type 00:30:41.900 --> 00:30:43.460 for me to attempt to copy. 00:30:43.500 --> 00:30:45.220 So what we have here is... 00:30:45.260 --> 00:30:48.820 Um, this is quite common. It's a combination of kanji, 00:30:48.860 --> 00:30:51.020 which is the pure pictorial language, 00:30:51.100 --> 00:30:53.300 which was adopted from the Chinese, 00:30:53.340 --> 00:30:56.220 and hirigana, which is more like a... 00:30:56.260 --> 00:30:57.820 It's-it's closer to our writing. 00:30:57.860 --> 00:31:01.020 It is phonemes or vowel sounds or letters, 00:31:01.100 --> 00:31:03.500 as single squiggles, but they can be combined. 00:31:03.540 --> 00:31:05.500 So this is a mixture of the two, 00:31:05.540 --> 00:31:07.820 which is why some of it looks like pictures, 00:31:07.860 --> 00:31:11.420 some of it almost looks like Arabic. 00:31:11.460 --> 00:31:13.780 One... 00:31:13.820 --> 00:31:15.500 This is tremendously good fun. 00:31:15.540 --> 00:31:18.020 Slide. Slide. 00:31:18.100 --> 00:31:20.620 - Mm... - You're okay. 00:31:20.660 --> 00:31:23.140 - All right, shall we do a... - Uh... 00:31:23.180 --> 00:31:25.340 ...sensei versus student comparison? 00:31:25.380 --> 00:31:26.740 Oh. 00:31:32.180 --> 00:31:33.580 Sumimasen. 00:31:33.620 --> 00:31:35.580 Oh. Sumimasen. 00:31:35.620 --> 00:31:37.460 I know. 00:31:37.500 --> 00:31:39.580 Uh, here is my gift to you. 00:31:39.620 --> 00:31:40.980 - Domo arigato. 00:31:41.020 --> 00:31:42.380 Thank you. 00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:43.980 What I lack in brushmanship, 00:31:44.020 --> 00:31:45.940 I make up for in cunning. 00:31:45.980 --> 00:31:47.740 That was what I was hoping for. 00:31:47.780 --> 00:31:49.660 Domo arigato gozaimas. 00:31:52.820 --> 00:31:54.580 What an excellent exchange. 00:31:54.620 --> 00:31:59.340 I now own my haiku, but written by a master. 00:32:00.420 --> 00:32:02.180 That is priceless. 00:32:04.340 --> 00:32:06.300 That was fantastic. I loved that. 00:32:06.340 --> 00:32:09.380 And, finally... 00:32:09.420 --> 00:32:11.700 the mystery of Matsushima is recorded 00:32:11.740 --> 00:32:14.860 in verse on paper for posterity. 00:32:14.900 --> 00:32:17.460 Remember you saw it here first. 00:32:21.060 --> 00:32:23.660 The islands of Matsushima are not just 00:32:23.700 --> 00:32:25.100 aesthetically inspiring. 00:32:25.140 --> 00:32:26.820 They also buffered the bay from the worst 00:32:26.860 --> 00:32:31.140 of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. 00:32:31.180 --> 00:32:34.660 The magnitude-nine earthquake was so massive, 00:32:34.700 --> 00:32:38.660 it moved Honshu island eastward by eight feet. 00:32:38.700 --> 00:32:41.940 Over 15,000 people died in the tsunami, 00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:44.740 and two and a half thousand are still unaccounted for. 00:32:45.860 --> 00:32:47.700 And in Fukushima, 00:32:47.740 --> 00:32:50.100 the tsunami caused three reactor core meltdowns 00:32:50.140 --> 00:32:52.700 at the nuclear power station, 00:32:52.740 --> 00:32:55.860 the second-worst nuclear accident in history. 00:33:01.140 --> 00:33:03.860 So, in a few kilometers time, we're going to get to the edge 00:33:03.900 --> 00:33:06.460 of the restricted zone around the power station. 00:33:06.500 --> 00:33:09.300 You can drive through it, but you're not supposed to stop, 00:33:09.340 --> 00:33:11.580 you're not supposed to get out. 00:33:11.620 --> 00:33:15.340 Um, you're not supposed to pick anything up or take it away. 00:33:20.260 --> 00:33:23.260 - Oh, it's all closed. - Yeah, it's all closed. 00:33:23.300 --> 00:33:25.780 No one is here. 00:33:25.820 --> 00:33:28.420 - No one is allowed. - Oh, there's just a load 00:33:28.460 --> 00:33:31.260 - of new cars parked there all covered in weeds. -Yeah. 00:33:35.620 --> 00:33:37.660 After restrictions were lifted two years ago, 00:33:37.700 --> 00:33:41.260 900 residents returned to the nearby town of Namie, 00:33:41.260 --> 00:33:43.660 which originally had a population of around 00:33:43.700 --> 00:33:46.740 17 and a half thousand. 00:33:46.780 --> 00:33:48.900 The government has assured these residents 00:33:48.940 --> 00:33:52.140 that the radiation levels are safe. 00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:55.500 We should just explain, we have this little... 00:33:55.540 --> 00:33:58.020 Actually, it's going up slightly. 00:33:58.060 --> 00:34:00.420 We're at 0.21 nanosieverts 00:34:00.460 --> 00:34:02.780 of radiation, which is okay, 00:34:02.860 --> 00:34:04.540 as we're only here for a short time. 00:34:04.580 --> 00:34:07.620 0.24. 00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:11.660 0.35. It's going up quite quickly, though. 00:34:11.700 --> 00:34:14.660 - Do you mind keeping an eye on that? - Yes. 00:34:16.700 --> 00:34:19.020 - Oh, it's beeping. - What are we up to? 00:34:19.060 --> 00:34:21.220 0.52. 00:34:21.260 --> 00:34:23.580 It says "harmful." 00:34:29.940 --> 00:34:32.860 We're now on the edge of the safe zone. 00:34:32.900 --> 00:34:34.900 Look at this. 00:34:34.940 --> 00:34:36.500 Oh. Hang on, 00:34:36.540 --> 00:34:39.260 let's have a look at this. This is very bad. 00:34:39.300 --> 00:34:43.620 Geez, that's 4.94. 00:34:43.660 --> 00:34:45.420 That's dangerously high. 00:34:45.460 --> 00:34:48.740 I'm not sure anybody should be here. 00:34:48.740 --> 00:34:52.660 It's supposed to be safe to be back. 00:34:52.700 --> 00:34:55.500 Well, that's what alarms me. 00:34:55.540 --> 00:34:57.500 Everybody says this is the edge of the zone, 00:34:57.540 --> 00:34:59.500 and you should be quite safe here, 00:34:59.540 --> 00:35:01.620 - but that's actually the highest reading we've had... -Yeah. 00:35:01.660 --> 00:35:03.580 ...and that thing was calibrated this morning. 00:35:03.620 --> 00:35:04.860 - Yeah. - Let's-let's take it with us 00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:06.380 - and see what it does. - Yeah. 00:35:06.420 --> 00:35:07.540 Let's-let's do it. 00:35:07.580 --> 00:35:09.540 - Oh, it went off. - Oh, there you go. 00:35:09.580 --> 00:35:12.020 - 1.27. - I think it's-it's... 00:35:12.100 --> 00:35:14.020 - Where... - It's when I open the door. 00:35:14.100 --> 00:35:15.620 Do you think this is... 00:35:15.660 --> 00:35:18.260 Well, we can't have a radiation-proof Toyota. 00:35:21.180 --> 00:35:23.900 Does it... -No, that doesn't... 00:35:23.940 --> 00:35:25.620 Maybe if Maki 00:35:25.660 --> 00:35:27.420 turned it off and then turned it on again, 00:35:27.460 --> 00:35:29.740 we'd be okay. 00:35:29.740 --> 00:35:33.260 Looking left and right is just rather a cursory... 00:35:33.300 --> 00:35:36.700 I've arranged to meet Oshimizu Kazuki... 00:35:36.740 --> 00:35:39.100 - Konnichiwa. 00:35:39.140 --> 00:35:41.140 ...one of the residents who, along with his wife and baby, 00:35:41.180 --> 00:35:43.300 decided to move back. 00:35:44.740 --> 00:35:46.700 What made you come back? 00:35:46.740 --> 00:35:49.980 Because you're obviously not gonna get that many customers. 00:35:56.540 --> 00:36:00.060 And, uh, were you here when the meltdown happened? 00:36:08.900 --> 00:36:12.780 And, um, is it, is it safe to live here? 00:36:12.860 --> 00:36:17.460 Because we are reading 2.7 nanosieverts, 00:36:17.500 --> 00:36:19.740 - We had almost five down the road. - Hai, hai, hai. 00:36:19.740 --> 00:36:21.180 Is it, is it safe? 00:36:53.900 --> 00:36:56.980 Has this car been here since the disaster? -Hai. 00:36:57.020 --> 00:36:59.140 That's-that's interesting, because... 00:37:00.260 --> 00:37:01.780 No, actually, when you get close to it, 00:37:01.860 --> 00:37:04.180 you can see that it's been standing here. 00:37:04.220 --> 00:37:06.700 So, that's quite unusual to see rust. 00:37:06.740 --> 00:37:08.260 No... 00:37:10.100 --> 00:37:12.740 Oh, no, that's just still got the telephone charging cable 00:37:12.740 --> 00:37:16.020 plugged into the power socket. Oh... 00:37:18.060 --> 00:37:20.740 It's probably... Probably shouldn't really... ugh. 00:37:20.740 --> 00:37:22.540 It's actually open. 00:37:22.580 --> 00:37:25.380 I won't touch it. It's-it's bad. 00:37:37.220 --> 00:37:40.900 Is it not difficult, living here now, 00:37:40.940 --> 00:37:44.380 knowing that a lot of your friends will never come back? 00:37:57.660 --> 00:37:59.220 Hmm. 00:37:59.260 --> 00:38:02.380 It does seem a bit nosy, but it is just remarkable 00:38:02.420 --> 00:38:04.420 that you can still see, there... 00:38:05.740 --> 00:38:07.700 ...the signs of instantaneous abandonment. 00:38:07.740 --> 00:38:10.740 I mean, there is still kitchen stuff, 00:38:10.740 --> 00:38:12.740 everyday, really everyday stuff. 00:38:12.740 --> 00:38:15.420 That's what makes it seem tragic. 00:38:19.180 --> 00:38:22.100 It's hard to imagine what Oshimizu has been through, 00:38:22.140 --> 00:38:25.540 but it's clear to me that he wants to be seen as a survivor, 00:38:25.580 --> 00:38:27.180 and not a victim. 00:38:27.220 --> 00:38:29.180 Well, I think that's quite remarkable really, 00:38:29.220 --> 00:38:32.620 because as a firefighter, he was one of the last people out, 00:38:32.660 --> 00:38:35.780 and as a restaurateur, he was one of the first people back in. 00:38:35.860 --> 00:38:37.780 We could probably learn something from that. 00:38:37.860 --> 00:38:41.180 And also, I think what he's doing is remarkably bold, 00:38:41.220 --> 00:38:43.180 so good luck to him. 00:38:43.220 --> 00:38:45.740 I'm gonna come back in a couple of years. 00:38:45.740 --> 00:38:50.380 My visit to Namie marks the end of my trip to Tohoku. 00:38:50.420 --> 00:38:52.180 It's a sobering finale to a region 00:38:52.220 --> 00:38:55.380 rich in modern and ancient Japanese rites, 00:38:55.420 --> 00:38:57.620 where I've been taught the correct protocols 00:38:57.660 --> 00:39:02.260 for dressing, writing, and, of course, bathing. 00:39:02.260 --> 00:39:05.740 And now, to invoke the spirit of another British traveler, 00:39:05.740 --> 00:39:08.660 it's on to somewhere completely different. 00:39:08.700 --> 00:39:10.020 I've decided to head south 00:39:10.100 --> 00:39:11.540 on the train. 00:39:11.580 --> 00:39:14.220 Now, it's about 200 miles from here to Tokyo, 00:39:14.260 --> 00:39:16.900 and if I did that on one of Japan's famous bullet trains, 00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:18.900 it would only take about an hour 00:39:18.940 --> 00:39:20.700 because they do 200 miles an hour. 00:39:20.740 --> 00:39:22.180 And they're not even a new idea. 00:39:22.220 --> 00:39:23.460 The bullet trains have been around 00:39:23.500 --> 00:39:25.420 since about a year after I was born. 00:39:25.460 --> 00:39:26.740 That's how old they are. 00:39:26.740 --> 00:39:28.260 Today, though, 00:39:28.260 --> 00:39:31.420 I'm going to take six hours by train to go to Tokyo 00:39:31.460 --> 00:39:33.980 because I'm going on something called... 00:39:34.020 --> 00:39:35.740 the Shiki-shima train, 00:39:35.780 --> 00:39:38.780 and it is the most luxurious train... 00:39:38.860 --> 00:39:40.380 in the world. 00:39:49.740 --> 00:39:52.020 Konnichiwa. 00:39:52.060 --> 00:39:54.020 Domo arigato. 00:39:56.580 --> 00:39:59.220 The Shiki-shima's aesthetic has been dreamt up 00:39:59.260 --> 00:40:02.380 by Ken Okuyama, a designer who worked on 00:40:02.420 --> 00:40:04.900 the Ferrari Enzo and the Porsche 911, 00:40:04.940 --> 00:40:06.780 the 996 series with the funny headlights. 00:40:06.860 --> 00:40:08.460 There's something of the supercar 00:40:08.500 --> 00:40:10.940 about this train. 00:40:10.980 --> 00:40:12.940 But unlike a supercar, 00:40:12.980 --> 00:40:15.260 it's designed to go slowly. 00:40:15.300 --> 00:40:17.740 The ten-car train accommodates 00:40:17.780 --> 00:40:21.460 just 34 passengers in 17 suites, 00:40:21.500 --> 00:40:25.620 and every fixture and fitting has been meticulously designed, 00:40:25.660 --> 00:40:27.020 from the traditional bentwoods 00:40:27.060 --> 00:40:28.900 to the handwoven carpets 00:40:28.940 --> 00:40:33.380 made by a company who supply the Vatican. 00:40:33.420 --> 00:40:35.980 Luxury like this, of course, doesn't come cheap, 00:40:36.020 --> 00:40:38.100 but thankfully, the train's holding a press junket day 00:40:38.140 --> 00:40:39.540 to show itself off, 00:40:39.580 --> 00:40:43.140 and we've blagged our way on board. 00:40:43.180 --> 00:40:45.580 It is absolutely exquisite on here. 00:40:45.620 --> 00:40:47.900 All the details, the lights, the woodwork, 00:40:47.940 --> 00:40:50.940 the aluminum, the tablecloth, it's-it's just fantastic. 00:40:50.980 --> 00:40:53.460 You can stay on this train for up to four days, 00:40:53.500 --> 00:40:55.900 in which case the ticket will cost you 00:40:55.940 --> 00:40:57.980 a trifling £8,000. 00:40:58.020 --> 00:40:59.740 But everything about it is fabulous. 00:40:59.780 --> 00:41:01.780 The Orient Express is often referred to 00:41:01.860 --> 00:41:03.780 as the Shiki-shima of Europe. 00:41:03.860 --> 00:41:06.180 In a moment, I'm going to be served 00:41:06.220 --> 00:41:09.540 the first course of my French lunch 00:41:09.580 --> 00:41:13.860 made by a Michelin-starred Japanese chef. 00:41:16.500 --> 00:41:18.740 And, in fact, here it comes now. 00:41:18.780 --> 00:41:21.420 You'd almost think we'd arranged it. 00:41:22.740 --> 00:41:25.260 Mmm. Domo arigato. 00:41:29.900 --> 00:41:33.380 It's a sliver of raw salmon 00:41:33.420 --> 00:41:36.020 anointed with some leaves, 00:41:36.100 --> 00:41:39.860 a tiny little piece of spring onion and a flower. 00:41:39.900 --> 00:41:41.900 And... 00:41:43.900 --> 00:41:45.900 And that. 00:41:47.540 --> 00:41:49.540 Excellent. 00:41:54.540 --> 00:41:56.620 Ah. 00:41:56.660 --> 00:41:58.260 - No, no, no, no, no, no! - No, no! 00:41:58.300 --> 00:41:59.580 - Hmm? - You can't eat! 00:42:01.860 --> 00:42:04.140 I'm not supposed to eat it? 00:42:04.180 --> 00:42:07.260 What am I supposed to do with it? 00:42:07.260 --> 00:42:11.020 There's another media who want to film this food, this lunch. 00:42:11.060 --> 00:42:12.660 You can't eat. 00:42:12.700 --> 00:42:15.580 - Somebody else wants to film my lunch? - Yes. 00:42:15.620 --> 00:42:18.020 - Why don't they get their own bloody lunch? - 00:42:18.100 --> 00:42:20.180 Tickets are £8,000... What... 00:42:20.220 --> 00:42:21.860 Seriously, I'm not supposed to eat it? 00:42:21.900 --> 00:42:23.300 You are not supposed to eat. 00:42:23.380 --> 00:42:24.780 You are supposed to allow other people. 00:42:24.860 --> 00:42:27.260 Okay, so you have to stand up and we have to let other media 00:42:27.300 --> 00:42:28.900 to come in and film. 00:42:28.940 --> 00:42:31.460 Anyway, it's the best compliment you can pay a chef, 00:42:31.500 --> 00:42:33.620 to say, "Mmm, that's nice," and start eating it. 00:42:33.660 --> 00:42:35.780 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:42:35.860 --> 00:42:38.420 But you have to respect other media, as well, right? 00:42:40.500 --> 00:42:41.860 Hurry, hurry. 00:42:41.900 --> 00:42:43.740 Are they very angry? 00:42:43.780 --> 00:42:46.460 Yeah. The lady look at me. 00:42:46.500 --> 00:42:48.780 Like, she got this... look. 00:42:48.860 --> 00:42:53.020 And then she look at me as if I didn't explain to you. 00:42:53.060 --> 00:42:54.940 So there's other camerapeople on here. 00:42:54.980 --> 00:42:56.540 Right. 00:42:56.580 --> 00:42:59.420 - So they all film the same lunch? - Mm-hmm. 00:42:59.460 --> 00:43:01.700 So the other people are going to take pictures of it, 00:43:01.740 --> 00:43:03.540 say, "Look at the exquisite food on the Shiki-shima train," 00:43:03.580 --> 00:43:05.180 but there's actually a bit missing 00:43:05.220 --> 00:43:06.860 - 'cause I've eaten it. - Exactly. Because you ate. 00:43:06.900 --> 00:43:08.660 It's all your fault. 00:43:08.700 --> 00:43:10.940 You will have to do gomanasai, so you have to practice. 00:43:10.980 --> 00:43:13.700 Okay, I will go and say sumimasen. 00:43:13.740 --> 00:43:16.260 - Yeah. -Douitashimashite. 00:43:16.300 --> 00:43:18.900 No, you don't say douitashimashite to yourself. 00:43:18.940 --> 00:43:21.700 You don't say, "I'm sorry and you're welcome." 00:43:21.740 --> 00:43:23.180 No. 00:43:23.220 --> 00:43:25.180 Uh, sorry. Sumimasen. 00:43:25.220 --> 00:43:27.020 - No, no, no, no. - I didn't mean to eat... 00:43:27.100 --> 00:43:30.340 eat the salmon sake starter. 00:43:30.380 --> 00:43:32.660 Sumimasen. 00:43:32.700 --> 00:43:36.140 - Oy. - The sake. Sumimasen. 00:43:36.180 --> 00:43:37.620 Ah, chef, sumimasen. 00:43:37.660 --> 00:43:39.020 Sumimasen about the salmon. 00:43:39.100 --> 00:43:40.740 Could you say, "I'm sorry about the salmon"? 00:43:40.780 --> 00:43:42.860 - Sumimasen. 00:43:42.900 --> 00:43:47.220 After the entire train had accepted my prostrate shame, 00:43:47.260 --> 00:43:49.820 the chef took pity on me and gave me some edible lunch. 00:43:53.340 --> 00:43:56.140 Though, of course, I was now too nervous to eat it. 00:43:56.180 --> 00:43:58.820 So just to be clear, can James eat this food or not? 00:43:58.860 --> 00:44:00.020 Yes, so James can eat. 00:44:00.100 --> 00:44:02.860 I can eat this food? 00:44:02.900 --> 00:44:04.580 Yes, you can eat. 00:44:04.620 --> 00:44:07.020 Can I have a glass of wine, or does The New York Times 00:44:07.060 --> 00:44:08.620 want to take a photograph of it? 00:44:08.660 --> 00:44:10.140 Am I allowed to eat that? 00:44:10.180 --> 00:44:12.140 - Yes. - And that? 00:44:12.180 --> 00:44:14.460 - Yes, everything. - And that? Mmm. 00:44:16.300 --> 00:44:18.420 Mmm. 00:44:18.460 --> 00:44:20.100 Mmm! 00:44:20.140 --> 00:44:22.820 Mmm, that's nice. Mmm. 00:44:31.820 --> 00:44:34.820 Tokyo. Excellent! 00:44:34.860 --> 00:44:36.860 Come on. 00:44:39.820 --> 00:44:42.220 Could you get my bags? That would be marvelous. 00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:45.420 Next time, Japan's capital. 00:44:51.540 --> 00:44:52.700 Uh, here. 00:44:57.300 --> 00:44:59.580 I wonder where it is. 00:45:22.700 --> 00:45:24.900 What... Uh, uh, that could be...