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  • Asia
    • Introduction
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Malaysia
    • Nepal
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  • Japan
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    • Tokyo
    • Around Tokyo
    • Northern Honshū
    • Hokkaidō
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  • Things not to miss
The capital of Japan for a thousand years, endowed with an almost overwhelming legacy of temples, palaces and gardens, and also home to the country’s richest traditional culture and most refined cuisine. Hit the slopes and enjoy the perfect powder snow at Niseko in Hokkaido or the great runs and charming atmosphere of Nagano’s Nozawa Onsen. This hyperactive Tokyo fish and produce market is the place to go for an early breakfast and the freshest sashimi and sushi in the country. Gawp at mammoth snow and ice sculptures in Sapporo, Hokkaido, every February. The ancient former capital is home to the monumental bronze Buddha of Todai-ji and fine collections of religious art. One of the best places to experience the beauty of the Inland Sea is this tranquil island, with its amazing contemporary art museums, public sculptures and installations. Pay your respects to the A-bomb’s victims at the Peace Memorial Park and Museum in the city of Hiroshima, impressively reborn from the ashes of World War II. Mingle with monks and pilgrims on one of Japan’s holiest mountains, home to over a hundred monasteries. Tokyo’s National Theatre or Shimbashi Embujo are among the places where you can enjoy this most dramatic of traditional Japanese performing arts. The three-hour hike from Tsumago to Magome in Nagano takes you through gorgeous countryside between two lovingly preserved Edo-era “post towns”. Indulge yourself with a meal of kaiseki-ryori, Japan’s haute cuisine, comprising a selection of beautifully prepared morsels made from the finest seasonal ingredients. Commune with thousand-year-old cedar trees in Kirishima-Yaku National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Make the tough but rewarding hike up Japan’s tallest peak, a long-dormant volcano of classic symmetrical beauty. Treat yourself to a night of luxury in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, where you enter a world of understated elegance and meticulous service. Dance the night away at the country’s biggest Obon bash, held in Tokushima, Shikoku. Visit a major sumo tournament and see the titanic, ritualized clashes of Japan’s sporting giants. Set amid splendid mountains north of Tokyo, this pilgrim town is home to the fabulously over-the-top Tosho-gu shrine, one of Japan’s most sumptuous buildings. Wander the ancient pilgrimage route of the “Land of the Gods”, discover sacred mountain sites, and soak in the healing waters of isolated hot springs. Take a dip at a top onsen resort town, such as D?go, with its magnificent bathhouse, or experience the exquisite warmth of a rotemburo (outdoor bath) as the snow falls. Drop by venerable sake breweries in Obuse or Takayama to discover the amazing varieties of this ancient Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice. Relive the days of the samurai at Himeji-jo, the premier example of a feudal-era fortress. Stroll through Tokyo’s Kabukicho, the neon-soaked district of love hotels, host clubs and fuzoku (sex industry) businesses, to this atmospheric warren of tiny, atmospheric bars. Nature has been tamed and primped to its most beautiful at Kanazawa’s star attraction, one of the country’s top traditional gardens. Quaint village filled with distinctive gassho-zukuri houses, whose steep-sided thatched roofs are said to recall two hands joined in prayer.