JAPAN
Japan
From Kyoto’s thousand-year-old festivals to Hokkaido’s flower fields, discover the Japanese respect for manners, seasons and the gods.
City guides
Start with a city
Every city guide has a timeline, stories of local figures, must-see sights, festivals and local etiquette.
東京 Tokyo
Tokyo
11 places
From the fishing village of Edo to a world city: old temples, neon and working-class shitamachi in one city
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京都 Kyoto
Kyoto
9 places
An imperial capital for over a thousand years: temples, machiya and festivals are the best textbook on Japan
大阪 Osaka
Osaka
7 places
City of merchants and 'Japan's kitchen': eating, shopping and laughing are louder here than anywhere
奈良 Nara
Nara
2 places
Japan's first permanent capital: the Great Buddha, sacred deer and the end of the Silk Road
鎌倉 Kamakura
Kamakura
4 places
The first samurai capital: the Great Buddha, old temples and the Shōnan coast
広島 Hiroshima
Hiroshima
4 places
A city of peace reborn from ruins, and Miyajima out at sea
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福岡 Fukuoka
Fukuoka
4 places
A thousand-year-old port facing Asia: yatai, tonkotsu ramen and the god of learning
長崎 Nagasaki
Nagasaki
3 places
Japan's only window on the West during national seclusion: Dejima, churches and prayers for peace
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金沢 Kanazawa
Kanazawa
2 places
Castle town of the million-koku Kaga domain: a famous garden, teahouse districts and gold leaf
札幌 Sapporo
Sapporo
2 places
A northern new town laid out on Kyoto's grid: the Snow Festival, beer and miso ramen
仙台 Sendai
Sendai
2 places
The 'City of Trees' built by the One-Eyed Dragon, Date Masamune
函館 Hakodate
Hakodate
1 places
One of Japan's first open ports: Western-style slopes, a star fort and a million-dollar night view
Sensō-ji
Beneath the great lantern of the Kaminarimon: where Edo charm meets Tokyo's everyday bustle
Shibuya Crossing
Three thousand people cross on a single green light: urban performance art at the world's busiest crossing
Meiji Jingū
A 700,000-m² 'urban forest' in the middle of the city, a tranquil sanctuary of Shinto culture
Tokyo Tower
The 333-m 'red tower of Shōwa', an undying romantic beacon for generations of Japanese
East Gardens of the Imperial Palace (site of Edo Castle)
Edo Castle, built by Ōta Dōkan in 1457, later became the residence of the Tokugawa shoguns; today the Honmaru area is open free as a garden.
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Hakone
A natural barrier on the Tōkaidō: the torii in Lake Ashi, the Edo checkpoint, and Mount Fuji when the sky is clear.
Nikkō Tōshō-gū
Where Tokugawa Ieyasu rests: the dazzling Yōmeimon gate, the Sleeping Cat and the Three Wise Monkeys, hidden in a forest of towering cedars.