Japan - Highlights
Tokyo is the king of modern architecture and all things shiny. Whizz up to the top of Mori Tower for high-rise paintings and a bird's-eye view of the capital, check out experimental art at the Mizuma Gallery or see samurai swords at the Tokyo National Museum.
See colourful temples and tranquil gravel gardens in Kyoto and Nikko. Take a boat to visit Miyajima's shrine, built out over the ocean, or see carved Buddhist sculptures at Nara National Museum. Admire Hiroshige Utagawa's 19th-century woodblock prints of Mount Fuji and kimono-clad ladies at Tokaido Hiroshige Art Museum in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Meander the canals of Kurashiki lined with weeping willows and Edo-period storehouses or see how the shoguns lived at Himeji Castle. Scale Mount Fuji or stay in a monastery on the forested mountain of Koyasan. Alternatively, go to Japan's ‘hell', the boiling crimson and blue pools of Beppu in Kyushu.
Delight youngsters at Kyushu's cutesy Hello Kitty Land and Tokyo Disneyland. See deer roaming around the temples in Nara and wild monkeys in Mino forest near Osaka – bathe with them in the natural hot springs of northern Nagano. Play on Okinawa's white sandy beaches or let off steam in the green fields of Hokkaido.
Take your shoes off when entering a ryokan (Japanese inn), temple or anyone's house and use the slippers provided for visitors' use. Avoid being caught out in the lavatory, where you will find a different set of slippers. If you forget, this will be treated with much hilarity.
Explore Tokyo's high-rise Shinjuku district to M-Flo's upbeat J-pop album Astromantic. Listen to Puccini's Madame Butterfly, set in Nagasaki, wandering around the Glover Mansion. Tune into Takeharu Kunimoto's blend of shamisen and blue grass while hiking in Hokkaido.
