Shinjuku at night is one of the best places to experience Tokyo after dark. Neon streets, tiny bars, yakitori alleys, panoramic city views, karaoke, arcades and late-night ramen are all packed into a surprisingly walkable part of the city. For a first visit, you don’t need to spend the entire night drinking or jumping between … Read more
Finding the best ramen in Tokyo is harder than it sounds. There are excellent ramen shops all over the city, from tiny counters serving one carefully refined bowl to busy chains where you can order at midnight without speaking Japanese. The problem isn’t finding ramen. It’s deciding which places are actually worth fitting into a … Read more
Lake Kawaguchi is one of the easiest places to make the Mount Fuji view feel like more than a photograph taken from a train window. The lake sits on the northern side of Mount Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture and is one of the Fuji Five Lakes. On a clear morning, Fuji rises behind the water … Read more
Shibuya Crossing is one of those Tokyo sights you have probably seen long before you arrive in Japan. The intersection appears constantly in films, advertising and photographs of Tokyo: enormous video screens glow above the streets while pedestrians pour into the intersection from several directions at once. Then, almost as quickly as it begins, the … Read more
Travelling around Japan alone can feel intimidating before you arrive. Tokyo is enormous. The railway maps look complicated. English isn’t spoken everywhere. And if you’ve never travelled alone before, even something as simple as walking into a restaurant by yourself can feel unfamiliar. The reality on the ground is usually much easier. Japan works particularly … Read more
Japan is unusually well suited to a honeymoon because the trip doesn’t have to feel the same from beginning to end. You can spend one evening looking across the Tokyo skyline, the next few days sleeping in a ryokan with a private onsen, then walk through Kyoto’s old streets before finishing beside the sea on … Read more
Three weeks is one of the best amounts of time you can have for a first trip to Japan. You have enough time to see Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka without treating them as a checklist, but you can also go beyond the standard Golden Route and experience places that many shorter itineraries have to leave … Read more
Five days in Japan is short. It is still enough time for an excellent first trip, but only if you resist the temptation to keep adding destinations. Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nara and Mt Fuji might look manageable when you see them connected by fast trains. In reality, every additional city means checking out, moving … Read more
Choosing where to stay in Japan is one of the most important decisions when planning your trip. The best hotel is not necessarily the cheapest hotel or the one closest to a famous attraction. In Japan, staying near the right train or subway station can save significant time across a multi-day trip. For most first-time … Read more
Two weeks is one of the best trip lengths for a first visit to Japan. You have enough time to experience Tokyo, Mount Fuji or Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima without turning every day into a race between train stations. You can also add somewhere beyond the standard Golden Route, such as Kanazawa. The important … Read more