Treasure Box Japan

As you set foot on Wakayama Farm you're greeted by vast bamboo groves, home to over 20 different varieties. A spectacular canvas painted in the vivid golds and greens of myriad bamboo leaves.

Kanuma Autumn Festival, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Every year, intricately carved floats parade through the streets of Kanuma.

Lotus blossoms in rain, best seen in early summer, June and July, at Tsuganosato Park.

A natural monument in Tochigi City, the "Iwa weeping cherry." Nearly 400 years old, its delicate pink blossoms reach their peak each year in late March.

"Shimotsukare," a traditional Tochigi dish. Featuring root vegetables like radishes and carrots, fish heads and other leftovers; a much loved waste-not-want-not dish.

In Kuzuu, a leading area for quicklime production, frescos are being painted in an effort to enliven the town. One such fresco covers an entire wall of the Kuzuu Folk Art & Crafts Museum.

Every January at Mangan-ji Temple, local soba makers gather for a waterfall purification ritual. The "kanzarashi" soba served afterwards is a precious dish not available any other time of year.

Nakagawa's Festival of Lights features paper lanterns, traditional umbrellas and more, all lit up every night for a month in winter, shining a light of hope for the people.

Traditional colored washi paper called "Shimotsuke shibori" is used to make dolls known as "Shimotsuke-hitogata." Imbued with hopes and wishes, the dolls are floated down the river in a local event.

Postponed during the pandemic, the Utsunomiya Fireworks Festival is held again for the first time in three years. Watch these fireworks filled with hopes and dreams.