Japanese Alps: Nagano to Narai Juku

Michael ends the first leg of his Japan adventure on a Shinkansen bullet train, heading to Nagano, the host city of the 1998 Winter Olympics and the gateway to the Japanese Alps. At the top of the Ryuoo Ropeway, the largest cable car of its type, he takes in the spectacular view and the phenomenon of the ‘sea of clouds'.

In the town of Obuse, Michael learns how Japan’s most famous artwork, Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, was made. He visits the largest wasabi farm in the world, where the plants are sheltered from the elements and fed by pure mountain spring water.

Finally, he heads to the historic mountain town of Narai Juku, with its beautifully preserved wooden houses.