Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in summer 2020, Kyoto Prefecture's 1,000-year-old Gion Festival, held annually around Yasaka Shrine, was facing cancellation. But Kitamura Norio, a devoted parishioner who runs a nearby sushi restaurant, called for part of the festival to go ahead somehow, saying at times like these, people need their deities. Amid the self-isolation caused by COVID, the shrine and the local parishioner group decided to revive a contingency plan for the festival originally conceived after a civil war ended in the 15th century. This program is a record of people behind the 2020 Gion Festival and their efforts to maintain their tradition.

Since long ago, the indigenous Ainu people had lived in harmony with nature, following their own unique culture. But when Japanese settlers began to arrive in their ancestral homeland - now known as Hokkaido - the Ainu had to adapt to the Japanese way of life and began losing their unique culture. Now, a new generation of Ainu brings to light their difficult history and reclaims their language and customs.

Since long ago, the indigenous Ainu people had lived in harmony with nature, following their own unique culture. But when Japanese settlers began to arrive in their ancestral homeland - now known as Hokkaido - the Ainu had to adapt to the Japanese way of life and began losing their unique culture. Now, a new generation of Ainu brings to light their difficult history and reclaims their language and customs.