British explorer and writer Isabella Bird arrived in Japan in 1878, a mere 10 years after the country opened its doors to the West. Accompanied by just one young man who served as both her interpreter and attendant, she traveled deep into the hinterland. Unbeaten Tracks in Japan is her highly praised travelogue of that journey. It is a valuable record written from the perspective of a devout Christian endowed with critical thinking, which smashed the fairytale image of Japan that had spread in Western countries. On this episode of Journeys in Japan, US writer Benjamin Boas traces Bird's footsteps, looking for vestiges of the Japan of 150 years ago. Starting from Kinugawa Onsen, he makes his way to the Aizu region and then to the town of Tsugawa, in Niigata Prefecture.

The Ainu people are the indigenous people of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan's northernmost main island. They developed their own distinct language, history and culture, which were quite different from Japanese, and also lived in northern Honshu, Sakhalin and the Kuril islands. The Ainu people hunted and foraged for edible wild plants, coexisting with the natural environment. They produced powerful, beautiful folk art and craftworks, and they practiced many seasonal rituals to give thanks for the blessings of nature. On this episode of Journeys in Japan, US filmmaker Martin visits Nibutani, an area in Hokkaido with a strong connection to the Ainu people, to discover how they have managed to maintain their culture, handicrafts and beliefs to this day.