The ancient Japanese term ubusuna refers to a place and the gods that protect it. Once it was believed that ubusuna protected the people of a place, from a time before they were born until long after they had died. While most people living in the cities have long forgotten about ubusuna, could it be possible to unearth traces of it in contemporary Japan? Director Mile Nagaoka and six film-makers from around the world set off on a film-making caravan, from Yamagata in the north to Okinawa in the south. As they walked, watched and listened to the stories they found at each place, they searched for clues to the ubusuna that is Japan in the 21st century.
—Tom Vincent