Japan tours & travel

Japan is a country that straddles two worlds. On the one hand it feels refreshingly familiar and modern – its cities have excellent public transport services, bullet trains zoom through the countryside and there are more Michelin starred restaurants than Paris, London and New York combined. On the other hand, the country is firmly anchored in the past. Rules of etiquette, superstitions, religion (particularly Buddhism) and protocol play a large role in day-to-day life. Traditions like tea ceremonies, bowing, kendo, geishas and sumo wrestling a

Not many know that Japan is really an archipelago made up of about 6,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. Many of these are small, uninhabited or home to simple fishing communities. The main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku. Lying on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Japan is home to some spectacular mountain ranges, but it is also prone to earthquakes. It’s highlands are densely forested, often with gorgeous cedar trees stretching 100m into the sky. Its major cities are densely populated, but clean, safe and meticulously organised. 

Shopping in Japan is great fun, but quite expensive. Tokyo has some great quirky department stores, like Tokyo Hands, where you can happily browse bizarre bric-a-brac for hours. The backstreets of Harajuku, particularly around Cat Street, are a great place to find some independent clothing labels. Please be aware that clothes may be a little smaller in size than you’re used to at home. It’s a good idea to check your country’s customs regulations too before you return home with your new purchases.

Sapporo Winter Festival

Held every February since 1950, this is one of the world’s coolest festivals (literally). Hundreds of enormous statues, sculptures, snow slides and mazes spring up around the mountain town of Sapporo, with regional food and artistic performances also on display.

Hadaka Matsuri

In Okayama each year you’ll find one of the country’s more bizarre festivals (and that’s saying a lot). Hadaka Matsuri is an ancient cleansing ritual dating back thousands of years, where hundreds of loincloth wearing locals parade through the streets, trying to touch the chosen ‘naked man’.

Fuji Rock Festival

One of Japan’s premier music festivals, Fuji is held each year in the stunning surrounds of the Naeba Ski Resort. It features dozens of outdoor performances from some major international artists. Locals and tourists flock to Naeba for three days, usually camping around the town. 

Food lovers rejoice! Japan is a world culinary capital. Not only are there plenty of traditional treats to try, but many of the world’s best chefs have brought their cuisines to the streets of Tokyo and Kyoto, creating a vibrant food scene that isn’t really rivalled anywhere else on earth. A few things to try are good sake (fermented rice wine), fresh sushi and sashimi (particularly at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market), beer (Asahi and Kiren are ubiquitous), and ramen (a salty noodle broth). To toast, just say ‘Kampai!’

• Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
• The wind-up bird chronicle, by Haruki Murakami
• Shogun, by James Clavell
• Retribution: The battle for Japan 1944-1945, by Max Hastings
• The year of no money in Tokyo, by Wayne Lionel Aponte
• Beyond the blossoming fields, by Junichi Watanabe
• Zen and Japanese culture, by D.T. Suzuki
• Lost Japan, by Alex Kerr