For more than half a century, Japan has been at the forefront of ‘big physics’, asking fundamental questions about the laws that govern the workings of the Universe. Questions of this magnitude require cutting-edge technology on a truly massive scale. Over three episodes, Nature reporter Davide Castelvecchi travels across to Japan to get a rare look inside three of its flagship experiments.

Part one: Super Kamiokande

The world’s largest neutrino detector

Part two: KAGRA

The world’s most advanced gravitational-wave detector

Part three: Belle II

The experiment that could revolutionize particle physics