Ultimate Journeys brings the wonders of the world to light, as you have never seen them before. The stunning high definition footage transports you to the most extreme places on the planet on a spine tingling world of adventure. Ultimate Journeys provides the ultimate adventure guide, going off the beaten track and away from the tourist trail. Each episode goes to the heart of the destination, from its history and culture to its cuisine and wildlife.

Japan is a country of steep mountains surrounding wide flat plains where people have lived for thousands of years. On the largest plain lies the country s largest freshwater lake, Lake Biwa, which is not at all far from Japan s ancient, capital city of Kyoto. The slopes that stretch down towards the lake have been terraced. Here rice seedlings need shallow water in which to grow, and the neat, meticulously constructed paddy fields provide just this. Some of them have been cultivated continuously for thousands of years. Alongside them stand patches of woodland where, for centuries, the people have found their fuel and their food.

Imagine a realm where the seasons rhythms rule - where centuries of agriculture and fishing have re-shaped the land, yet where people and nature remain in harmony. Sangoro Tanaka lives in just such a paradise. At 83, he s a guardian of one of Japan s secret water gardens. Here - over a thousand years - towns and villages have developed a unique system to make springs and water part of their homes. From inside these homes, the streams pour into Japan s largest freshwater lake, Lake Biwa - an area 5 times the size of Paris - near the ancient capital of Kyoto. This is a habitat so precious the Japanese have a special word for it: Satoyama - villages where mountains give way to plains. They are exceptional environments essential to both the people who maintain them and to the wildlife that now share them.

Which is the real Japan? Is it the Japan of bullet trains, neon lights, mobile phones and robots? Or is it the Japan of ancient temples, ladies in kimono, cherry blossoms and tea ceremonies? It is all these things and more. Japanese culture embraces the old and new and emphasizes the importance of nature and the seasons. Among other characters, viewers meet an apprentice geisha, a tuna fisherman, a tattoo artist, school girls and a robot-designing family. In their own unique ways, these unique individuals demonstrate how the Japanese are masters of the future and guardians of the past.

Born in Stratton, VA, in 1927, Ralph Stanley and his older brother Carter formed the Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys. In 1946 Ralph and Carter were being broadcast from radio station WCYB in Bristol, VA. The music, which was inspired by their Virginia mountain home, was encouraged by their mother, who taught Ralph the clawhammer style of banjo picking that he and Carter became famous for.