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
Mount Fuji
Japan's sacred 3,776-m peak, the 'once in a lifetime' place to greet the sunrise
Shirakawa-gō
A snow-country fairy tale of thatched gasshō-zukuri roofs: a farming poem within a World Heritage Site
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Kawaguchiko Lawson photo spot
A convenience store framed with Mount Fuji: the most magical-realist 'Japanese postcard'
Fuji Dream Bridge (Yume no Ōhashi)
Steps that seem to lead straight to Mount Fuji: a road bridge 'to the sky'
Shirakawa-gō Light-Up
Warm lights in a gasshō village on a snowy night: a fairy tale on just four nights a year
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Jigokudani Monkey Park
Snow monkeys in hot springs: the world's only 'monkey spa'
Mishaka Pond
The model for Higashiyama Kaii's 'Green Echo': fresh green reflected in an acidic pond
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Nagoya Castle
The 'pinnacle of early-modern castles', ordered built by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1610: golden shachihoko gleam against the sky, and the painted panel…
Nagaoka Fireworks Festival
August 2, 2026
One of Japan's three great fireworks displays, themed on remembrance, recovery and peace: the giant 'shōsanjakudama' and the 'Phoenix fireworks …
Atami Marine Fireworks
Famous seaside fireworks held more than ten times a year: the 'bowl-shaped' bay, surrounded by mountains on three sides, makes the sound roar li…
Lake Suwa Festival Fireworks
August 15, 2026
Held on 15 August, the main day of Obon: about 40,000 shells rise from the lake, and the natural acoustics of the surrounding mountains make it …
Gujō Odori
July 11 – September 5, 2026
One of Japan's three great Bon dances and on UNESCO's intangible heritage list: 'step into the circle and you're a dancer'. The whole town dance…
Higashi Chaya District, Kanazawa
Edo's geisha district across the Asano River: latticed teahouses, stone paving and a thin layer of gold leaf.
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Hida-Takayama
The machiya streets of 'Little Kyoto' and the only surviving Edo-period intendant's office, hidden among the mountains of Hida.
Matsumoto Castle
A black-walled National Treasure keep, one of only 12 original castle keeps left in Japan, backed by the Northern Alps.
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Kenroku-en, Kanazawa
The daimyō garden of the million-koku Kaga domain: the Kotoji lantern and snow-roped pines, with a different face in every season.