Japan Travel Guide

Mount Fuji rises 3,776 m as Japan's highest peak and an active stratovolcano whose last major eruption, the Hōei event, came in 1707. Straddling Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, its almost perfect cone and long-lasting summit snow have made it a sacred body since antiquity: Sengen Shrine at the foot and the Okumiya on the crater rim anchor a living faith, while Hokusai's Thirty-six Views and Hiroshige's prints carried the silhouette worldwide. In 2013 Fuji was inscribed as a World Cultural Heritage site, 'Sacred Place and Source of Artistic Inspiration', bundling twenty-five component parts including the Fuji Five Lakes, Oshino Hakkai, Shiraito Falls and Miho no Matsubara. During the short summer season the Yoshida, Subashiri, Fujinomiya and Gotemba trails climb to the summit crater, and most hikers walk through the night to greet goraikō, the sunrise seen from the top. Outside the season the classic experience is the long view from the fifth stations, Oshino and the shore of Lake Kawaguchi.

Kiyomizu-dera is one of Kyoto's most famous old temples, famed for its wooden stage over the hillside and four-season beauty - a symbol of Kyoto. On the mid-slope of Otowa Mountain in eastern Kyoto. Its iconic Kiyomizu Stage is a wooden stage jutting over a steep slope, supported by pillars without nails. From the stage overlook the city; best with cherry (spring) and maple (autumn). Inside, the Kannon, and the Otowa waterfall. The approach paths (Kiyomizu-zaka, Ninen-zaka) are quaint.

Universal Studios Japan is a joyful, thrilling world-class theme park in Osaka, with exciting rides and movie-themed areas - fun for all. In Osaka Bay, one of Asia's top film parks. Themed areas: Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Hogwarts, Hogsmeade), Super Nintendo World (Mario), Minion Park, plus thrilling coasters and 4D. Parades, character meet-and-greets, shops and food. A full day. (Peak season busy - buy ahead, use express pass.)

Nagoya Castle was the seat of the Owari Tokugawa—head of the three Tokugawa branch houses—and ranks among Japan's three great castles with Osaka and Himeji. Atop its keep sit gilded dolphin-shaped ornaments called Kinshachi, gleaming in sunlight as the city's symbol. The original keep burned in WWII air raids; today's is a reinforced reconstruction with a museum, while the Honmaru Palace has been faithfully restored with gold-leaf sliding-door paintings. The cherry blossoms along the moat are lovely—allow half a day for Sengoku history and castle-town atmosphere.

Nara Park is an open urban park of about 660 hectares, famous for free-roaming wild deer—revered as divine messengers, gentle and approachable; you can buy shika-senbei crackers from vendors to feed them, a favourite for families and photographers. The park links World Heritage sites and national treasures: Tōdai-ji (with the world's largest wooden hall and Great Buddha), Kasuga Taisha and Kōfuku-ji, beautiful in cherry blossom and autumn leaves alike. Just an hour from Kyoto or Osaka, Nara Park blends natural charm with deep history—plan half a day to wander.

Shirakawa-go, in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture, is world-famous for its gassho-zukuri (prayer-hand) thatched farmhouses. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Gokayama in 1995, the village of over 100 steep-roofed houses scattered across a mountain valley looks like a fairy tale under winter snow. Open farmhouses such as the Wada and Kanda houses let visitors step inside and learn how this unique architecture evolved to survive heavy snowfall. Autumn foliage and winter illumination events are top draws, with direct buses from Takayama and Kanazawa.