An archipelago made up of over 6,800 islands; around 430 are inhabited and it’s the four main ones that are generally visited by tourists – namely, Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. Honshu is the largest and most populated of all Japan’s islands and the country’s geographical heartland. In Japan, you’ll discover a country with a proud and meticulous people, where ancient gods and goddesses are revered and customs held sacred. A place where even in the depths of a city full of skyscrapers, you’re never too far from nature; technology is cutting edge; the cuisine is distinctive and presented immaculately and the fashion is futuristic.
Be whisked around the countryside in record time on a shinkansen or bullet train. Admire the surrounding scenery as you soak with naked strangers in an outdoor onsen. Participate in a traditional tea ceremony in Happoen Garden, central to Japan’s social life. Attempt to view the notoriously shy snow-capped cone of Mount Fuji. Look for the equally elusive and mysterious Geisha girls of the Gion district in Kyoto. Stay with local monks in a shukubo temple-lodging, where you can witness their early Morning Prayer ritual and enjoy vegetarian meals. Try your hand at traditional Japanese crafts such as origami and calligraphy.
Visit Sapporo, gateway to Japan’s wilderness area and the place to go to in Japan for skiing and snowboarding. Home to the Olympic Winter Games in 1972, its popular annual Snow Festival is held every February.
Closer to Taiwan than Tokyo, the islands of Okinawa are a cheaper and less crowded place to view Japan’s gorgeous cherry blossoms which, due to the sub-tropical climate, start blooming a couple months earlier than the rest of the country. Home of karate, it is the best place to learn authentic karate-do. Okinawa has some of the most pristine subtropical forests in Asia, Japan’s largest coral reef and beautiful beaches. You’ll also find in Okinawa, the village of Ogimi, which is home to some of the oldest people in the world. Dine on a “Longevity Lunch” at Emi’s shop and see if you can outlast the oldest woman to live there who died at 114 years of age.
Visit Osaka, also known as the centre of food culture in Japan and a unique place to wander around and people watch. Visit the area of Dotonbori, often used as the backdrop that symbolises Osaka in movies; with promenades on either side of the canal lined with neon signs and advertisements, it is the city’s premier entertainment district and a great place to see traditional puppet shows. Osaka is also a good starting point to explore Kobe, Nara and Himeji – famous for the magnificent hilltop Himeji Castle, Japan’s most beautiful and surviving feudal castle. Built in 1333, it was recently reopened after years of refurbishment and is an authentic Samurai castle.
One of the most picturesque places in Japan can be found in Koyasan, the centre of Shingon Buddhism. The most sacred areas of Koyasan are Garan and Okuno-in, the later considered the holiest place in Koyasan. Hundreds of thousands of tombstones are erected for people from all walks of life and the surrounding tall and majestic cedar trees are hundreds of years old.
Less commercialised than Hiroshima, but with an equally dreadful history, Nagasaki is the second city an atomic bomb was dropped in 1945 – resulting in surrender by the Japanese.
