Season 2025 (2025)
Episodes: 17
Star Cast:
Episodes List
Ep.1 History Uncovered: The Secrets of Kyoto - Thousand-Year Capital
Air Date: 2025-02-01
Japan's capital moved some 20 times before settling in Kyoto for over 1,000 years. Religion, natural disaster and power struggle compel an emperor's agonizing decision. Kyoto's origins, uncovered!
Ep.2 SAMURAI CASTLES: Odawara
Air Date: 2025-02-08
Odawara Castle was built to protect the capital of the Edo shogunate. But its history stretches even further back. Learn the fateful story of Odawara Castle from the remains of stone walls and a moat.
Ep.3 SAMURAI WISDOM—DOG SHOGUN TOKUGAWA TSUNAYOSHI—
Air Date: 2025-02-15
Painted as a foolish ruler in works of fiction, fifth Tokugawa shogun, Tsunayoshi. But is this depiction justified? Even he has wisdom to share.
Ep.4 YOKAI: Exploring Hidden Japanese Folklore – KITSUNE
Air Date: 2025-02-22
The fox, or KITSUNE also holds an identity as a supernatural creature commonly depicted at shrines, known for its ability to masquerade as humans to deceive them, or to provide divine messages.
Ep.5 SAMURAI CASTLES: Shogun Special
Air Date: 2025-03-08
The title role in the TV series "Shogun," based on James Clavell's eponymous novel, was modeled on Tokugawa Ieyasu. We reveal his secret strategy for building Edo, Nagoya, Osaka and Nijo-jo Castles.
Ep.6 History Uncovered: A Message in Clay
Air Date: 2025-03-29
From the 3rd to the early 7th century, Japan produced terracotta figures known as haniwa in many forms. These mysterious objects hold the key to Japan's birth as a unified nation.
Ep.7 SAMURAI WISDOM—TOKUGAWA YOSHIMUNE—
Air Date: 2025-04-26
Yoshimune, the shogun who saved the city of Edo. Through disaster and economic strife, alongside its people, his wisdom shaped the future of the place now called Tokyo.
Ep.8 SAMURAI WISDOM—MAEDA TOSHIIE—
Air Date: 2025-07-12
With flashy armor and cunning tactics, samurai Maeda Toshiie struck fear in the heart of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and left a lasting cultural influence.
Ep.9 SAMURAI CASTLES: Aizuwakamatsu
Air Date: 2025-08-02
This castle, 200 km north of Tokyo, was a battleground in Japan's last civil war in the mid-19th C. Modern warfare did not bring it down. We look at the secrets to the its strengths and its lords.
Ep.10 SAMURAI CASTLES: Okayama
Air Date: 2025-08-09
Okayama Castle is unique and puzzles visitors. The keep shows a different face, depending on the direction, and each floor is a different shape. We look at how this mysterious castle was built.
Ep.11 History Uncovered: The Hiroshige Code
Air Date: 2025-08-30
Influential ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige's "100 Famous Views of Edo", a series of prints encoding his view of the changing face of Japan.
Ep.12 SAMURAI WISDOM KURODA KANBEI
Air Date: 2025-10-04
Whether outnumbered or laying siege to a seemingly impenetrable fortress, master strategist Kuroda Kanbei used his wits to win on the battlefield.
Ep.13 YOKAI: Exploring Hidden Japanese Folklore - KIJIMUNA
Air Date: 2025-10-11
KIJIMUNA of Okinawa, a red-haired child spirit in banyan trees, brings fortune to fishermen but punishes betrayal, embodying nature in local life.
Ep.14 YOKAI: Exploring Hidden Japanese Folklore - YAROKAMIZU
Air Date: 2025-10-18
In this episode, we search for the Yarokamizu, told of in the Kiso River region of Aichi as a yokai that raises awareness of environmental disasters, and also recognized as a local deity.
Ep.15 JAPANESE FIREWORKS TRUTH
Air Date: 2025-10-25
Japanese fireworks have long enchanted people with their spherical shape and range of colors. We trace the rise of fireworks in Japan and also examine the 400-year-old mystery of the senko hanabi.
Ep.16 SAKE TRUTH
Air Date: 2025-12-20
Sake is gaining attention worldwide for its rich and complex flavors. We explore various aspects of Japan's national drink, from the koji that determines the flavor to medieval innovations that laid the foundation for sake-making today. We also shine a light on heated sake, or kanzake, and examine the science behind how heat affects its flavor profile.
Ep.17 History Uncovered Wings of the Tokugawa
Air Date: 2025-12-27
Starting with Ieyasu, the Tokugawa Shoguns made clever use of falconry beyond mere hunting. Uncover their deep connection with these majestic birds.