James May: Our Man in… - Season 1 Episode 6

James begins the final leg of his journey on the island of Shikoku, battling his fear of heights as he cycles 70km across the longest series of suspension bridges in the world. After demonstrating that even five episodes in he can't correctly identify the items in a Japanese hotel room, James is sent to try his hand at zen archery, a very formal process where actually firing the arrows seems a bit of an afterthought. Nonetheless, he works up enough of an appetite to make the region's famous Udon noodles, where his earlier haiku about them causing 'wind' turns out to be oddly prescient. In a spooky twist to their journey, James and Yujiro visit a deserted village whose deceased and departed inhabitants have been replaced by lifelike scarecrows. James meets his scarecrow doppelganger, ensuring part of his soul will remain forever on Shikoku. The real James can't hang around though, so him and a nervous Yujiro make the journey to the stunning neighbouring island of Kyushu via seaplane. They land in Beppu, the hot spring capital of the South, where they cook vegetables in the fires of hell and get buried alive in the naturally hot sand. It's not just beach life that thrives down here. Kyushu is also home to Honda's Kumamoto Motorcycle factory. After a thorough de-dusting and a quick stretch, he gets his chance to work a shift… which he immediately ruins by screwing things up. Literally. Next, James takes a chaotic rowing trip to visit a mythical gorge in a quest to commune with a Shinto goddess. Then back on dry land, he becomes a Bunraku puppet master for an eager audience who are unaware that he's only had fifteen minutes to master the basics and come up with his own short play. After his epic 7000km journey, James arrives at the Southern tip of Japan and the active volcano of Sakurajima. Looking out over the ocean, it's time to distil everything he's learnt about Japan, its people and his epic journey in to a single haiku.