The island of Suo-Oshima lies off the coast of southeast Yamaguchi Prefecture, in western Japan. It's one of the prefecture's main areas for growing mandarin oranges. Since the 19th century, the island has had close ties with the US State of Hawaii. On this episode of Journeys in Japan, TV personality Kanoa, who was born in Hawaii, visits Suo-Oshima to explore its rich natural environment and to find out more about its connection with her homeland.

The Tsugaru region lies in the west of Aomori Prefecture, far in the north of Japan's main island. It is famous for having some of the heaviest snowfalls in the whole country. The local people are proud of their distinctive traditional culture and food products, which have been passed down to the present day. On this episode of Journeys in Japan, our traveler is Kanoa, a model who grew up in the warm climate of Hawaii and southern California. She visits Tsugaru in the depth of winter, and discovers the warmth that comes from the community spirit linking the people who live in this region.

Japan's indigenous belief called Shinto worships 8 million deities. Its imported Buddhism addresses the afterlife. Throughout the ages, people have turned to different gods for different occasions. On Journeys in Japan, we encounter rare religious objects venerated in the Murayama region of Yamagata Prefecture.

Okayama Prefecture is a magical place where ancient myths live on. Shinto shrines venerate unique gods and Buddhist temples feature rare rituals. Kanoa, from Hawaii, explores the eastern side of the prefecture to discover how gods, demons and Buddha are rooted in daily life.

Tokushima Prefecture, in the eastern part of Shikoku Island, is renowned as a heartland of traditional fermentation. It is especially famous for its indigo dyeing tradition which brought prosperity to the region in premodern times. At the same time, specialist crafts were developed, such as Otani ware, a style of pottery that is known for its huge vats used for indigo dyeing. In this episode, Kanoa explores this distinctive fermentation culture and travels into the mountains to discover a unique kind of fermented tea called Awa-bancha.