Japan

Fuji Five Lakes (Fujikawaguchiko)

Mt Fuji · near Tokyo

The Fuji Five Lakes resort area in Yamanashi, the classic place to see Mount Fuji up close: Lake Kawaguchi's…

Nature Fuji views Family

4 neighbourhoods · 18 places

Hakone

near Tokyo

A mountain hot-spring resort south-west of Tokyo, famous for onsen ryokan, Lake Ashi with its Mt Fuji views, and the…

Onsen Nature Art

4 neighbourhoods · 23 places

Kamakura

near Tokyo

The seaside ancient capital an hour south of Tokyo — the great bronze Buddha of Hase, the Tsurugaoka Hachimangū shrine…

Temples History Coast

4 neighbourhoods · 22 places

Nikko

near Tokyo

A mountain town two hours north of Tokyo where Tokugawa Ieyasu's gloriously over-the-top Tōshōgū shrine and its UNESCO…

Shrines Nature History

3 neighbourhoods · 17 places

Tokyo

Greater Tokyo

Japan's vast capital — a city of distinct neighbourhoods rather than one centre: old-temple Asakusa, neon Shibuya,…

City Shopping Food

22 neighbourhoods · 126 places

Yokohama

near Tokyo

Japan's cosmopolitan port second city, a quick train south of Tokyo — the futuristic Minato Mirai waterfront with its…

Port city Food Family

3 neighbourhoods · 20 places

Himeji

near Kobe

Home to Himeji Castle — Japan's finest surviving feudal castle and a UNESCO World Heritage site, a brilliant-white…

Castle History Samurai

2 neighbourhoods · 11 places

Kobe

near Osaka

Japan's stylish cosmopolitan port, wedged between sea and mountains — the waterfront of Harborland and Meriken Park,…

Port city Kobe beef Architecture

4 neighbourhoods · 21 places

Kyoto

Kansai

Japan's old capital — a city of temples, shrines, geisha districts and bamboo. Slower and more refined than Osaka;…

Temples Culture Couples

8 neighbourhoods · 59 places

Nara

near Kyoto & Osaka

Japan's first permanent capital — a compact, walkable city of giant temples, free-roaming deer and an old merchant…

Temples Deer History

4 neighbourhoods · 31 places

Osaka

Kansai

Japan's kitchen — a food-first city built for eating, walking, and nightlife. Minami (Namba/Dotonbori) is the lively…

Food Nightlife Families

12 neighbourhoods · 66 places

Kanazawa

Central Japan

Hokuriku's best-preserved castle town, spared wartime bombing — home to Kenrokuen, one of Japan's three great gardens,…

Culture Crafts Food

4 neighbourhoods · 22 places

Hiroshima

Western Japan

A western-Honshu city rebuilt around the Peace Memorial Park, where the A-Bomb Dome and museum tell the story of 1945,…

History Culture Nature

3 neighbourhoods · 20 places

Sapporo

Hokkaidō · far north

Hokkaido's spacious capital — the green ribbon of Odori Park, a clean grid of wide streets, the neon nightlife and…

Nature Food Sweets

4 neighbourhoods · 22 places

Okinawa

Okinawa · far south

Japan's subtropical south — the former Ryukyu Kingdom, with castles and pottery lanes in Naha, the whale sharks of…

Beaches Nature Family

4 neighbourhoods · 21 places

Fukuoka

Kyushu's biggest city and Japan's gateway to Asia — birthplace of tonkotsu ramen and mentaiko, famous for the open-air…

Food Nightlife Festivals

5 neighbourhoods · 33 places