Joanna Lumley's Japan

Behind me is Russia and the Okhotsk Sea.

Ahead of me, a journey of 2000 miles from this icy ocean

down to the tropical beaches of one of 4000 islands.

Come with me to the land of the rising run.

Japan!

To many of us, this is a mysterious and somewhat alien country.

Travelling north to south,

I'm going to discover a Japan that's as surprising as it is magical.

Look at that!

It's astonishing.

Bam. Whoooo!

A land of great natural wonder.

Isn't that beautiful?

Hello, monk. Cute.

A rich culture formed over thousands of years.

- Do wishes come true from here? - Yes.

With a troubled past.

I find this so...

.. so unbearable.

And a strong belief in the future.

Hello, I'm Joanna Lumley.

I can't believe it.

Wow.

Believe me, this is going to be a fantastic adventure.

It's the end of winter and I'm as far north as you can get in Japan.

And everyone on this ice breaking ship has come to see the same thing.

This is drift ice. Of course, it's not sea water.

It's fresh water which comes from one of Russia's east rivers.

And it freezes up there and then drifts its way across the ocean

until it hits this most northern island of Japan, Hokkaido.

It's received with great excitement.

It's cause for great celebration in Japan.

Excitement over, we make our way to the small fishing town of Monbetsu

and there is a welcome party.

A huge, fat seal, I think.

Isn't that gorgeous?

There are thousands of these mascots in Japan

representing everything from tourist attractions to electricity companies.

Can I have a hug from a seal?

It's ridiculous.

Ridiculous it may be but sales of mascot merchandise generate

over £10 billion a year.

Being cute is big business here.

They have a lovely custom in Japan

which is when you go to somewhere of interest

or stay in a hotel they have stamps

so you can remember where you've been.

Press it hard. How beautiful. There it is, sailing through the sea.

I was on that, thank you.

This is the most northern point of my journey

down the four main islands of Japan.

So here we are on the little fishing town of Monbetsu

and our journey is going to take us all the way down here,

across to Sapporo, of course.

We're going to catch a ferry across on to the main island here

then we go down and down and down and down.

Sorry for the wind.

This is where Tokyo is down here and down and down and down.

We're going to come across here, down into Kyushu and from there, Okinawa

which can't fit on the map and right down in the south of Okinawa

which is on the same lateral as Miami.

But let me just show you again when we were talking about that...

that river ice floating.

You can see how close we are to Russia in the north. Look at that.

No distance at all. This is fabulous. This is a fabled land.

This is going to be an extraordinary trip. OK, let's go.

The first leg of my journey takes me 130 miles south through Hokkaido.

This island makes up a fifth of Japan's land mass

but is home to less than 5% of its population.

With vast national parks,

Hokkaido is Japan's island of nature and wildlife.

Oh, this is astonishing because I don't know

what I thought Japan would be like in the winter but somehow not like this.

It's... It's a fairy land. It's like driving through Narnia.

I'm driving carefully through 'Narnia' -- the roads are packed ice

with fresh snow on top.

Not much traffic so I could hit a wall of snow so it's not tragic.

The north of Hokkaido is also the last habitat of a bird

that has held mythical status in Japan for thousands of years --

The Red Crowned Crane.

I've been invited to spend the night at the home of Makoto Ando...

I might just park rather badly like film stars do.

.. a local guide and wildlife expert.

- Hello, I'm Joanna. - Hi. I'm Makoto. - It's very good to meet you. - And you.

Thank you so much for having me.

- I'm longing to see the cranes. Is this...? - The beautiful sky.

- Does that mean good weather tomorrow? - Erm, everything OK.

- Is that good for seeing cranes? - Yeah.

At school. Makoto's nickname was The Hokkaido Bear.

My gosh. Did you take pictures when you were a little boy?

Erm, yeah so I start at elementary school.

- Yeah. Look at this picture. - Yeah, it's a red fox. - Oh, boy.

A night crane in the river.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

- But wildlife is not his only passion. - Sorry, my motorcycle.

I mean, honestly, in case Makoto-san,

you think I'm going to make a quick getaway.

Isn't that fantastic? That's the first time in my life

I will have slept with a motor... motorbike in the room.

Got to get up at four, so goodnight. It's just me and my motorbike.

4am comes quickly as does more snow.

So this is the thing is when you're going out in the cold,

is to get yourself prepared because if you're prepared,

you don't freeze so I'm going to put on heat patches

and you don't put them directly on to your skin

but you put them on the bits, to keep your body warm

so one I'm going to put just about there on my tummy

and one in the small of my back.

That's very good and it's not unattractive. OK.

Of course, I wouldn't get out of bed at this hour

for anything else than 1000 cranes.

- Very slippery. - Take your arm.

Each night, they gather together in the local river to keep warm.

Are they just over there?

Then wake as the sun rises.

I can see them.

In the 1920s, these beautiful red crested cranes

had almost completely died out.

Hokkaido is now the only place you can see them.

I think what touches me so much is that these are very rare birds.

- They're only here. They're not in North America. - Never.

- They're not in Africa. - Never.

- It's just here. - With you. Congratulations.

As the sun rises, the light reveals a magnificent scene.

Fantastic. Isn't that beautiful?

Fabulous.

These cranes can live for over 30 years

and represent longevity in Japan.

They mate for life,

dancing for their partner even after many years of being together.

It's so lovely. They seem to set each other off.

Then they all have a bit of a dance and have a bit of a preen.

I never thought I'd see them as close as this in the flesh.

- Makoto-san, thank you so much for bringing me here. - You're welcome.

To see them in the wild, a dream of mine, thank you.

- Looks like a Japanese painting. - It looks exactly like that.

Utterly beautiful.

Leaving Makoto and his beautiful cranes behind,

I start my journey towards the capital city of Hokkaido, Sapporo.

But first, a pit stop.

In Japan, they have these lovely little, sort of, comfort stations.

You can get everything. I'm looking for a coffee.

Things, all kinds of things, corn soup... Boss. Cafe au lait.

There are over five million vending machines in Japan

per capita more than anywhere else in the world.

That's hot. Sensational little can...

.. of hot cafe au lait.

Just beautiful. How long did that take? Nothing.

Why don't we do this at home? It says something, I think.

Have to be careful not to erm, go too fast -- it's 70 everywhere.

Look, it's saying really slow down, you're going very fast

and it's detected that I'm a British person, I think.

Sticking to the speed limit, the countryside soon turns

to urban sprawl and the bright lights of my first Japanese city.

Sapporo is one of Japan's smaller cities

with a population of just two million people

but for one week that doubles as two million visitors

from around the world arrive for the annual snow festival.

It began almost 70 years ago, when a group of students started

making sculptures from the snow that was cleared from blocked roads.

It is now one of the biggest events in Japan.

The largest sculptures are made by the Japanese Self Defence Force

known as the SDF.

This year, they've used 2000 tonnes of snow

to construct the centrepiece of the festival.

My fake fur coat and I are being given an all-access tour.

- Just watch your step. - Yeah.

By Lieutenant Fumiyoshi Hara of Hokkaido's 11th Brigade.

This is the sculpture we made.

- Hara-san. That's fantastic. - Thanks very much.

25 metres tall, this is a replica of the Church of St Paul's

which stands in Macau in China.

- I can't believe it. It's so detailed. - Yes.

- How long did it take to make this structure? - It takes about one month.

- And how many people? - Erm, it's about erm, 3600 person in total.

Extraordinary. I think it's lovely that the SDF,

which is an Army, is helping to build something so peaceful

- and so beautiful. It's absolutely lovely. - I'm proud of it.

You're proud of it. I bet you are. I bet you are.

- Today is the last day of the festival I think. No? - Tomorrow.

- Is it...? Tomorrow is the last day. So what happens? - Break it down.

- Well, and what? They cut it like this? - Fingers in there.

Just like this? Break it down? Oh, don't go, lovely thing.

Look, don't go.

Of course, the Self Defence Force is unusual in another way.

Since their defeat at the end of the Second World War,

Japan has renounced military aggression

and its soldiers are not allowed to enter into combat.

I think it's actually very wonderful to think of soldiers

building snow castles.

In an old hippy dream, you'd think that's what the world would be like.

And it is here. It is in Sapporo today.

Tomorrow... Gone.

As night falls in Sapporo, the one mile stretch of the snow festival

fills with thousands of visitors and over 200 snow sculptures

are bathed in exuberant light shows.

It takes over 30,000 tonnes of snow to make these sculptures

and they're undoubtedly impressive

but I'm looking for something a bit smaller.

The best yet. You know, I travel the world