JAPAN

Japan

De las fiestas milenarias de Kioto a los campos de flores de Hokkaido: descubra el respeto japonés por los modales, las estaciones y los dioses.

Foto: Basile Morin · CC BY-SA 4.0

City guides

Empiece por una ciudad

Cada guía de ciudad incluye cronología, historias de personajes, lugares imprescindibles, fiestas y normas locales.

Dōtonbori at night, reflected in the canal

ClásicoChūō, Osaka

Dōtonbori

Under the neon of the Glico Running Man: the ultimate food battlefield for 'eating yourself bankrupt in Osaka'

Nara Park · photo 1

ClásicoNara, Nara

Nara Park

An ancient capital where 1,200 sacred deer roam: the thousand-year Heijō-kyō guarded by deer and the Great Buddha

Himeji Castle · photo 1

ClásicoHimeji, Hyōgo

Himeji Castle

'White Heron Castle', spreading its wings: Japan's first castle to become a World Cultural Heritage Site

Ine Funaya · photo 1

De modaIne, Kyoto

Ine Funaya boathouses

'Japan's most beautiful village': Kyoto by the sea, with boats on the ground floor and homes above

Amanohashidate · photo 1

De modaMiyazu, Kyoto

Amanohashidate

'A dragon soaring to heaven' seen between your legs: the sandbar wonder of one of Japan's three great views

Tamaki Shrine · photo 1

Rincón ocultoTotsukawa, Nara

Tamaki Shrine

'You can't get there unless the gods call you': an ancient World Heritage shrine above a sea of clouds

Kiyomizu-dera · photo 1

ClásicoHigashiyama, Kyoto

Kiyomizu-dera

The courage of 'jumping off the stage at Kiyomizu', where the ancient capital looks back over a thousand years

Universal Studios Japan · photo 1

Parque temáticoKonohana, Osaka

Universal Studios Japan

Asia's first Universal Studios, an adrenaline park where 'movies meet games'. Super Nintendo World (a world first in 2021, expanded with 'Donkey…

Kōyasan · photo 1

Favorito de la regiónKōya, Ito District, Wakayama Prefecture

Mount Kōya (Kōyasan)

The sacred home of Shingon esoteric Buddhism founded by Kōbō Daishi Kūkai: the whole mountain is a temple, and nights in temple lodgings and the…

Kinkaku-ji · photo 1

ClásicoKita, Kyoto

Kinkaku-ji

A three-storey pavilion clad in gold leaf, a Pure Land reflected in the Mirror Pond

Kumano Nachi Taisha and Nachi Falls · 1

Favorito de la regiónNachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture

Kumano Nachi Taisha

A site of primal faith where the waterfall itself is the divine body: Japan's highest single-drop waterfall at 133 m, framed with a vermilion th…

Hanamikōji, Gion · photo 1

Favorito de la regiónHigashiyama, Kyoto

Hanamikōji, Gion

A stone-paved geisha district where geiko and maiko brush past, the 'miyabi' (refined elegance) in the glow of machiya lanterns asks every trave…

Nishiki Market · photo 1

Favorito de la regiónNakagyō, Kyoto

Nishiki Market

Four hundred years as 'Kyoto's Kitchen': 390 m of arcade packed with Kyoto vegetables, tamagoyaki and the calls of old shops — a living museum o…

The thousand torii of Fushimi Inari

ClásicoFushimi, Kyoto

Fushimi Inari Taisha

A vermilion tunnel woven from ten thousand torii: the god of commerce, guarded by fox messengers

Festival de fuegos artificialesOsaka, Osaka Prefecture

Yodogawa Fireworks

17 de octubre de 2026

Kansai's most popular water-city fireworks, reflected in the Yodo River; in recent years it has moved to autumn.

Tenjin Matsuri fireworks, 2024

Festival de fuegos artificialesOsaka, Osaka Prefecture

Tenjin Matsuri dedication fireworks

25 de julio de 2026

The climax of Tenjin Matsuri, one of Japan's three great festivals: about 100 boats parade on the Ōkawa while about 3,000 offering fireworks lig…

Ise Jingū dedication fireworks over the Miyagawa River

Festival de fuegos artificialesIse, Mie Prefecture

Ise Jingū Hōnō National Fireworks Festival

18 de julio de 2026

Japan's only competitive fireworks display offered to Ise Jingū, with about 50 selected fireworks makers from across the country competing on th…

Autumn hills and river around Arashiyama

ClásicoUkyō, Kyoto

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

A 'tunnel of light' with sun filtering through the bamboo, its rustling chosen among the '100 Soundscapes of Japan'

The Yamaboko procession at the Gion Matsuri, 2017

Fiesta de veranoKyoto

Kyoto Gion Matsuri

1–31 de julio de 2026

First among Japan's three great festivals: Yasaka Shrine's festival, going back more than 1,150 years, sees 33 yamahoko floats — 'mobile art mus…

A bunraku boat in the Tenjin Matsuri river procession

Fiesta de veranoOsaka

Osaka Tenjin Matsuri

24–25 de julio de 2026

One of Japan's three great festivals, the thousand-year-old festival of Osaka Tenmangū: the 'rikutogyo' land procession by day, about 100 boats …

Osaka Castle · photo 1

ClásicoChūō, Osaka

Osaka Castle

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's 'castle of the realm': Sengoku drama beneath roofs with golden shachi

Takoyaki in Osaka

GastronomíaOsaka, Japan

Osaka takoyaki

Invented by an Osaka street vendor in 1935, it became synonymous with the 'city of flour foods'.

Kaiseki in Kyoto

GastronomíaKyoto, Japan

Kyoto kaiseki

From the simple meal of the tea ceremony to the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine, devoted to the seasons and to tableware.

Ninomaru Palace

ClásicoNakagyō, Kyoto

Nijō Castle

The Tokugawa shogunate's base in Kyoto: the Edo shogunate began here, and ended here.

Great Buddha Hall, Tōdai-ji

ClásicoNara, Nara

Tōdai-ji

The Great Buddha cast with the resources of a whole nation by Emperor Shōmu: the world's largest bronze Vairocana, seated in a huge wooden hall.

Uji Bridge at the entrance to the Inner Shrine

ClásicoIse, Mie

Ise Grand Shrine

Japan's foremost shrine, dedicated to Amaterasu: cross the Uji Bridge into two thousand years of forest and prayer.