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.
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Hit the slopes and enjoy the perfect powder snow at Niseko Dropdown content in Hokkaido Dropdown content or the great runs and charming atmosphere of Nagano’s Nozawa Onsen Dropdown content.
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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.
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Gawp at mammoth snow and ice sculptures in Sapporo Dropdown content, Hokkaido Dropdown content, every February.
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The ancient former capital is home to the monumental bronze Buddha of Todai-ji Dropdown content and fine collections of religious art.
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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.
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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.
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Mingle with monks and pilgrims on one of Japan’s holiest mountains, home to over a hundred monasteries.
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Tokyo’s National Theatre or Shimbashi Embujo are among the places where you can enjoy this most dramatic of traditional Japanese performing arts.
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The three-hour hike from Tsumago Dropdown content to Magome Dropdown content in Nagano Dropdown content takes you through gorgeous countryside between two lovingly preserved Edo-era “post towns”.
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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.
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Commune with thousand-year-old cedar trees in Kirishima-Yaku National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Make the tough but rewarding hike up Japan’s tallest peak, a long-dormant volcano of classic symmetrical beauty.
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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.
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Dance the night away at the country’s biggest Obon bash, held in Tokushima Dropdown content, Shikoku Dropdown content.
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Visit a major sumo tournament and see the titanic, ritualized clashes of Japan’s sporting giants.
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Set amid splendid mountains north of Tokyo Dropdown content, this pilgrim town is home to the fabulously over-the-top Tosho-gu Dropdown content shrine, one of Japan’s most sumptuous buildings.
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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.
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Take a dip at a top onsen resort town, such as Dogo Dropdown content, with its magnificent bathhouse, or experience the exquisite warmth of a rotemburo (outdoor bath) as the snow falls.
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Drop by venerable sake breweries in Obuse Dropdown content or Takayama Dropdown content to discover the amazing varieties of this ancient Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice.
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Relive the days of the samurai at Himeji-jo, the premier example of a feudal-era fortress.
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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.
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Nature has been tamed and primped to its most beautiful at Kanazawa Dropdown content’s star attraction, one of the country’s top traditional gardens.
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Quaint village filled with distinctive gassho-zukuri houses, whose steep-sided thatched roofs are said to recall two hands joined in prayer.
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