Whilst this isn’t a remotely definitive list of where to go and what to see in Japan - we mostly confined our travels to the popular tourist hotspots in the southern half of the mainland - I can enthusiastically recommend every (well, almost every) place and experience on it (you’ll discover why one of our excursions turned out to be rather less than ideal).

I’ll keep everything as informative but brief as I can and give you links to find out more wherever possible. But before I crack on, these are my top general traveller tips for anyone considering embarking on a trip to the land of the rising sun.

Tip 1 : You will use a lot of public transport on your travels, so get an IC Transport Card when you arrive. There are various different brands, but they’re interchangeable and all work on pretty much every sort of local public transport, from trains to trams to buses and even at some vending machines. You credit the card with money (the machines to do this are easy to operate, with instructions in English) and the fare is deducted each time you pass through a ticket gate, which also displays the amount of credit you still have left.

Tip 2: Get a mobile wi-fi device to use during your travels. Being able to access maps, information and a translation app on the go will make the difference between a successful, stress-free trip and, well, I honestly can’t think how you’d manage without one, so I can only imagine a disastrous one!

Tip 3: You can make reservations for larger pieces of luggage on the trains, but there are only limited numbers of spaces and it’s SO much easier to travel with just hand luggage size bags and instead make use of Japan’s truly fantastic luggage forwarding system, which enables you to send your bigger suitcases from one hotel to the next. We just gave our hotel the address of the next place we wanted our cases to go, paid whatever the charge was (which is based on the size of the cases) and then travelled with just the clothes and toiletries we needed for the days until we were reunited with our cases (which were ALWAYS ready and waiting for us in our room). It was brilliant!

Tip 4: Japanese trains are reliable, comfortable and clean. And above all, almost always absolutely on time. Combine that with the fact that most inner-city stations in Japan are enormous, with multiple tracks on multiple levels, so although the signage is in English as well as Japanese (as are all the transport announcements on every train, metro and bus), and the staff will help as much as their English or Google translate allows, it means it can take a while to find the platform you need. So give yourself plenty of time.

Tip 5: You’ll be taking your shoes off quite a lot. Sometimes it will be obvious when you need to, sometimes less so. As a general rule, when you’re entering a building and stepping up onto a higher level, you’re likely to have to remove them. And any time you’re going to be walking on tatami matting, you must be shoeless (that includes in traditional inns - see below). Having shoes that are not only comfortable for all the walking you’re inevitably going to be doing but that you can slip on and off easily is a big bonus.

TOKYO - Japan’s largest city

We book-ended our trip with two days in Tokyo each time. One of the world’s great mega cities, with 37 million inhabitants packed into buildings crammed side-by-side as far as the eye can see and almost as much below ground - shopping arcades, restaurants and the huge subway system - as above , it’s a place with seemingly endless towering tower blocks, and people teeming everywhere. But there are also pockets of historical gems, relative calm and quirky, independent shops and restaurants.

Get a literal over-view of the vast city from the Skytree Tower , the world’s tallest at 634 metres,

The Skytree Tower dominates the Tokyo skyline

visit the Sensoji Shrine the oldest and most treasured in the city. (Whilst you’re there, see if you can find this fabulously quirky Memorial for Broken Sewing Needles, through the little garden to the left of the main temple building)

Head to the Ginza district for lots of upmarket shopping and eating, and to Harajuku, a magnet for teenage style, and stroll along small side streets dotted with independent shops, many of them selling vintage and second-hand clothes, and restaurants. A short walk from Harajuku is the Meiji Jingu Shrine a large complex surrounded by beautiful cedar forest where you might witness a traditional Shinto wedding parade. We were lucky enough to see two whilst we were there.

A traditional Shinto wedding parade in the Meiji Jingu Shrine

A historical gem and another spot to escape from the hubub of the city streets, is the Imperial Palace, Tokyo’s spiritual and cultural centre. You can’t go inside, but the tree-lined avenues in the park surrounding it and the glimpses of the palace buildings across the wide moat make it worth seeing.

There’s more city-relief greenery on offer in the beautiful Hamarikyu Garden, 15 minutes walk from the hubub of Ginza, a glorious pocket of fields, woods, wetlands and an exquisite formal Japanese garden with a a traditional teahouse in the middle of a pond.

It’s also worth visiting the Tsukiji Market, once the largest wholesale fish market in the world, and the world-famous Shibuya crossing which teems with hundreds of people traversing its network of zebra crossings each time the traffic lights turn red.

HAKONE NATIONAL PARK - a region rich in hot springs

The mountainous countryside south of Mount Fuji offers an unusual mix of attractions. You can bathe in the volcanically heated osen water, admire views of Mount Fuji (when the weather plays ball, which it adamantly refused to whilst we were there, instead treating us to almost continuous cloud and drizzly rain, hey ho) eat eggs boiled in sulphurous springs (which turns their shells black and apparently gives them health-boosting benefits) and visit world class art museums.

We stayed in a traditional ryokan, or inn, where the beds in our tatimi-matted room magically appeared whilst we were eating our 7-course Japanese dinner, and where we reclined in pools of heated water dug out of the stony banks of the river opposite.

Enjoying the volcanically heated water in Hakone

Cross-crossing the area using a variety of transport which included a cable car, a funicular railway, a mountain train, a ‘pirate’ boat (a ferry in fancy dress) and various buses, we especially loved the Hakone Open Air Museum, a sculpture park surrounded by wooded mountains and packed with fabulous pieces by world-class artists including Anthony Gormley, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, as well as a huge pavilion dedicated to the work of Picasso.

KYOTO - the cultural heart of Japan

Befitting the fact that Kyoto is home to so much associated with traditional Japan - temples, geisha, Zen rock gardens and historic festivals, it was here we had some of our most memorable cultural experiences. A private calligraphy lesson, where we learned to write the symbols for ‘spirit’ (my lovely fella’s choice) and ‘joy’ (mine)

Proudly showing our finished calligraphy efforts. With our names in Japanese down the side

Where we were lucky enough to spend time in the company of a young geisha (or Geiko) in training - you can read more about that in the Heyday newsletter on Substack - and enjoy the extraordinary costumes on show in the annual Jidai Matsuri, or Festival of Ages, when over 2000 participants ride and walk through the streets of the city dressed in outfits from the ten centuries between 749 to 1868 when Kyoto was the capital of the country.

Some of the amazing costumes worn by participants in the Jidai Matsuri Festival in Kyoto

Some of the many historic sites we enjoyed included the 400 year old Nijo Castle, the dazzling Golden Pavillion, Ryoanji Temple with its serene rock garden, the bustling Yasaka Shrine and Gion, Japan’s most famous geisha district.

We were intrigued by the advice not to miss seeing Kyoto station - the second-largest station in the country - and ended up going back several times to experience the truly astonishing building, its vast atrium swooping seemingly ever upwards, with cascades of escalators leading to a hotel, two department stores, a concert hall and a myriad of restaurants. (It does have dozens of train and subway lines as well in case you were wondering).

THE KUMONO KODO PILGRIM TRAIL - in the mountains of the Kii Peninsular

A chance to escape from the city and experience some of the mountainous countryside that makes up 70% of Japan’s landmass (15% of the country is given over to agriculture and only 4% occupied by the 124 million population). Kumono is the ancient name for the southern region of the Kii Peninsula, a lush, rugged area of steep mountains, forests, rivers and waterfalls, sacred sites and a network of walking trails.

Taking a moment to admire the view along the Kunomo Kodo pilgrim trail.

We spent two days exploring part of the Hongu Area, immersing ourselves in the mystical wooded mountains, and ancient sacred spots, including climbing over 800 stairs to reach the holy Nachi Shrine and waterfall high up on the side of a steep valley. Discover more about the Kumono Kodo HERE

OSAKA - a city continuously on the move

Exchanging the peace of the forests for the pandemonium of Osaka, was quite a shock to the system and senses

That was downtown Dotonbori on an average Sunday evening.

Our daytime exploring took us to majestic Osaka Castle, then on an Aqualiner boat tour, followed by a visit to the jaw-dropping Shin Umeda Sky building with its circular rooftop observatory suspended between the two gigantic mirrored towers.

The astonishing Shin Umeda Sky Building in Osaka

On our second evening we headed to the bustling district of Umeda where we wandered down Ohatsutenjin-dori a covered walkway of restaurants, bars, night clubs and gaming arcades, picking a place to eat in spite of the questionable Google-translated version of their menu!

Google translate made the menu in this restaurant sound a lot less appealing than the food turned out to be

HIROSHIMA - forever remembered for being destroyed by first atom bomb

Whilst the Genbaku Dome - one of the very few buildings to be left partially standing after the bomb was dropped on August 6th 1945 - remains as a poignant reminder of the devastation wrought on the city, Hiroshima is now a bustling and thriving place with 18 major universities and colleges. The powerful Peace Memorial Museum is a must-see site (albeit one that is always packed, so be prepared for crowds) fronted by an affecting memorial, the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, below which is a stone chest with the names of each of the 220,000 people who died either because of the initial blast or subsequent exposure to radiation. Beyond it are a pair of wide stone hands encasing an eternally lit flame dedicated to the eradication of atomic weapons, and a there’s view of the dome framed in its elegant arch.

The Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims in Hiroshima

Alongside the main memorial is an affecting Children’s Peace Monument, bordered with thousands of tiny folded paper cranes, a symbol of longevity in Japanese folklore. They’re sent by the box load from schools across the country, prompted originally by a young leukaemia victim of the bomb.

Hiroshima was also where I saw probably my favourite Japanese garden, Shukkeien, a gem of traditional planting and landscaping that was exquisite even in the persistent rain.

Beyond the city, take a boat from Miyajima-Guchi Port to Miyajima Island to see the Itsukushima Shrine, famous for it’s huge torri gate rising from the sea and the way the buildings of the shrine complex appear to be floating on water at high tide.

KANAZAWA - one of Japan’s best-preserved historical cities

Less busy but no less energetic, Kanazawa offers both modern and ancient experiences. The buzzing Omicho Market, a feature of the city’s food scene for more than 300 years, is best visited early in the day when the fish and produce sellers are setting out their wares.

Fish and fresh produce on sale in the Omicho Market in Kanazawa

Said to be the perfect example of a landscaped Japanese garden, the ten impeccably-tended acres of Kenrokuen feature trees, plants, lakes, bridges, pagodas and tea houses. On the day we visited work had begun on the painstaking job of erecting rope canopies over each of the 800 trees to protect their fragile branches from the potentially damaging weight of snow in the winter. It takes over a month for a team of expert gardeners to complete the arduous and demanding work.

Gardeners undertaking the arduous and demanding task of erecting rope canopies to protect the trees in the Kenrokuen Garden from the winter snow. The man at the top of the central pole- who is balanced on a small cross bar - is extracting ropes from the central bunch and throwing them down to his colleagues who are tying them to the tree branches.

What remains of Kanazawa Castle (right next to the Kenrokuen Garden) is worth visiting, as are the old Geisha and Samurai areas of the city. Then get right up to date at the excellent Contemporary Museum of Modern Art where one of the permanent, and most popular, installations will enable you to send a video like this back home for family and friends to scratch their heads over. (You can discover how that’s possible in the Heydays newsletter on Substack).

SHIRAKAWAGO - a historic mountain hamlet now a World Heritage site

Our final expedition before returning to Tokyo for our last two days was to this once-isolated hamlet of unusual, steeply slanted, thatched roofed houses designed to withstand the area’s heavy snowfall, where extended families used to live and produce silk. The houses, most of which are still inhabited today - others are preserved as museums, or serve as accommodation - were constructed without nails and aligned on the same axis on the floor of the steeply wooded valley they’re set in, to maximise light and ventilation from the strong north-south wind.

It’s all very charming and picturesque - or at least it would have been if it hadn’t been absolutely pouring with rain the entire time we were there which, in all honesty, made our day-long trip there (it’s about an hour and a half outside Kanazawa) a lot less enjoyable than it should have been.

The steeply slanted, thatched-roofed houses in Shirakawago…..in the pouring rain.

Not sure who’s more relieved that’s the lot - you or me! If you’ve managed to get this far, congratulations and thank you. If anything I’ve related encourages you to consider booking a trip to this fabulously varied, fascinating, welcoming country, then my work here is done.

Just make sure you tell me all about it if you go.

If you’re interested in reading more about the traditions, culture and innovation to be found in Japan, you can do that HERE