Grand tour of Japan

Tokyo is a unique, unpredictable, puzzling city. Those who have never seen it, and might be expecting an exotic Eastern capital, are in for disappointment: Tokyo is an enormous, chaotic, hypermodern megalopolis, unbelievably thick with building. Every centimetre square matters. It’s a wild urban jungle, void of the rationale, the monuments, the boulevards, the palaces that are typical to most great cities. Yet with Tokyo appearances are deceiving. Its history and truest essence emerge in the details; its secret beauty hides in the interior. Sheer vivacity permeates its thriving cultural landscape and unanimously celebrated museums, filling the everyday life of a people that never stops.

Hakone is a beautiful location overlooking the Ashi lake, 90 km west of Tokyo. It offers a stunning alpine scenery and many hot springs (onsen).

During the Edo period, Hida Takayama was a castle town known as a bustling trading center filled with merchants. The historic center, where glimpses of its pre-modern past can still be seen, is a highly popular tourist destination. Visitors can enjoy the atmosphere of the old row houses and other buildings constructed from the late Edo period to the late 19th century. The Takayama Jin'ya government building, which is a nationally designated historic site, is the only building of its kind to survive from the Edo period, making it a highly important historical palace. The "morning market," held at Takayama Jin'ya and Miyagawa, is also a specialty of this neighborhood and has been passed down since the Edo period. Even now, visitors can purchase fresh vegetables, pickles, miso, folk crafts, and much more. The Takayama Festival, held in spring and autumn, is said to date back to the mid-17th century. This spectacular festival, which involves the participation of hundreds of people, is a must-see event with wonderful stalls to explore. The Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall displays various artifacts related to the festival and the city of Takayama, as well as four fantastic floats. One of the most famous places in Hida Takayama is the Hida Great Limestone Cave, which, at 900 meters in height, is the tallest limestone cave in Japan. The cave's illumination, which extends for about 800 meters, welcomes visitors into a world of mysticism and wonder. Don't miss the Ohashi Collection Hall, where the discoverer of the limestone cave, Toyoshi Ohashi, has gathered art and ornaments from around the world. The Shinhotaka Onsen district, accessible by the Shinhotaka Ropeway, is a beloved destination for hot spring enthusiasts from all over Japan. There are also inns with hot springs registered with the "Secret Hot Spring Protection Society of Japan," and you can relax in an outdoor bath with a magnificent view surrounded by the mountains of the Northern Japanese Alps.

Kanazawa was built in the 15th century around a mighty feudal castle. By the 19th century, it had grown into Japan’s fourth biggest city, right at the heart of one of the richest provinces of the county. Kanazawa was spared from the bombing of the Second World War, and its old, charming neighbourhoods are still intact. You will greatly enjoy exploring its samurai residences and Geisha teahouses; as well as its Edo Period waterways and mazy alleys.

As soon as you catch sight of Kyoto’s skyscrapers, you will be tempted to think it a hypermodern city. You will soon find out, however, that the heart of Kyoto is as traditional as it can be. With its beautiful Zen gardens and cherry trees, it’s almost a window on the ancient, mysterious Land of the Rising Sun. Aside from being a historic landmark, this old capital is also the only Japanese big city that was spared by the devastation of the Second World War. Today, the city takes pride in its temples and shrines, imperial palaces, gardens, and traditional wooden townhouses. Many of these sites are UNESCO-listed. Kyoto is also the city that has the greatest concentration of artisans in Japan. It is not just temple and shrines, then, that make it unique: its humming daily routine is just as special.

Hiroshima is located in the western part of the island of Honshu. It is sadly famous for the dropping of the first atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, during World War II. In memory of this event, you can see what remains of the Chamber of Commerce building (A-Bomb Dome). Near the epicenter of the bomb explosion, there are the Peace Park and Museum. A 30-minute train ride away, you can visit Miyajima Island.

Miyajima is a small island with a population of about 2,000 people. It can be reached by ferry from the port of Miyajimaguchi in Hiroshima prefecture, and it takes about 10 minutes to get there. It is said to be an "island of the gods," and since ancient times, the island itself has been revered as a Shinto deity. The Itsukushima Shrine, located on the island, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996 and is known worldwide as a must-visit destination in Japan. The shrine was built about 1,500 years ago and is dedicated to three sister deities revered as goddesses of navigation. As these "goddesses of navigation" are believed to have the power to protect the safety of ships, the shrine is revered for its effectiveness in preventing water damage and ensuring traffic safety. The Itsukushima Shrine is known for its unique feature of being built in a place where the tide ebbs and flows, giving the impression of floating on the sea. The natural scenery that extends in the background has a beautiful harmony with the massive torii gate and the shrine's complex of buildings, built in the shinden-zukuri style, whose religious devotion and beauty make the shrine a "sacred land floating on the sea." When the tide is low, you can walk around the torii gate, but a wonderful sight is to see the torii gate as the sun sets during high tide, and when it is illuminated after sunset. In addition to the Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima has much to offer, with charming deer freely roaming the island and numerous beautiful natural landscapes. It is particularly popular as a tourist destination in autumn when the leaves change color. Among the particularly famous things that Miyajima offers is momiji manju, maple leaf-shaped sponge cakes filled with cream or chocolate, or sweet bean paste.

Although being about 1,500 years old, Osaka is now an extremely modern international business centre – the third largest town in Japan after Tokyo and Yokohama. Its cuisine is widely appreciated, as well as its castle, its underground shopping malls, and its aquarium, one of the best in the region. Above all, Osaka is a major gateway to Japan: the international airport of Kansai, designed by Renzo Piano and built on an artificial island as a safety measure against earthquakes and hurricanes, was listed by the American Society of Civil Engineers amidst the ten “millennium monuments” in the world.

Mount Koyasan (Mount Koya) in Wakayama Prefecture is a UNESCO World Heritage site as one of the sacred sites and pilgrimage routes of the Kii Mountain Range. Koyasan is located on the beautiful forested Kii Peninsula and is characterized by long avenues of tall Japanese cedars and hundreds of temples and temple gardens. Koyasan has been open to tourism since the mid-20th century. The temples that practiced shukubo, accommodations previously reserved for pilgrims, quickly transformed into hotels with rooms equipped with televisions and were hugely successful. The commercialization of the sacred has not spared Mount Koya, and it is not uncommon to see monks in robes going shopping in their luxury cars. Today, accommodations in Mount Koya quickly sell out in spring and autumn. Yet the spirit of Koyasan is still very much present. Even overwhelmed by modernity, the community still lives outside of time. The local specialty, gomadofu, is still produced according to ancient traditions at the Hamadaya boutique, and in 2004 the town was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Even skeptics cannot deny the unique and deeply spiritual experience of staying in Koyasan. After a day or a year, it is impossible to set foot on the ground unchanged.