Destination Guides
Hakone: The Onsen Loop from Tokyo
A switchback train, a funicular, a ropeway over a volcanic vent, a boat and a bus — all on one ticket, in…
Travel style: First-timer
Destination Guides
Kanazawa: Kyoto Without the Queues
A castle town that escaped the bombing, with one of Japan's three great gardens, an intact geisha quarter, a serious modern art…
Destination Guides
Nara: The Day Trip Everyone Rushes — and How Not To
Most visitors see Nara in three hours: the Great Buddha, some deer, and a train home. The other two-thirds of the park…
Destination Guides
Hiroshima and Miyajima in One Day
A morning that will stay with you and an afternoon on one of Japan's most beautiful islands. How to fit both into…
Destination Guides
Osaka: Eating Your Way Through Japan’s Kitchen
Kyoto is where Japan keeps its manners. Osaka is where it eats, argues and laughs at itself. Two days, the food that…
Destination Guides
Kyoto in 3 Days: The Route That Skips the Crowds
Kyoto's problem is not that it is crowded. It is that it is crowded between ten and three, at eight specific places.…
Destination Guides
Tokyo for First-Timers: Neighbourhoods, Days and Costs
Tokyo is not a city with sights; it is thirty cities stitched together. Pick two neighbourhoods a day and walk them properly…
Destination Guides
Where to Go in Japan: All 47 Prefectures, Ranked by What You Want
Japan has 47 prefectures and most visitors see four. This is the map of the other 43 — organised by what you…
Plan Your Trip
Accessible Japan: Travelling with Limited Mobility, a Buggy or Big Luggage
Japan is better than almost anywhere for step-free rail travel and worse than you would expect at the last hundred metres. What…
Plan Your Trip
Where to Stay in Japan: Hotel, Ryokan, Business Hotel or Minpaku
Six kinds of Japanese accommodation, what each actually costs, and why the cheapest chain hotels are better than the international brands at…