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99 destinations
City Akita
"Bamboo poles hung with dozens of lanterns, balanced on a palm, a forehead, a hip."
Water Amami Oshima
"Subtropical mangroves and brown-sugar shōchū on an island the guidebooks forgot."
Water Amanohashidate
"A pine-covered sandbar that becomes a bridge to heaven when you look at it upside down."
Mountain Aso Caldera
"A volcano still breathing inside one of the largest inhabited calderas on Earth."
City Beppu
"Steam rising from every crack in the ground in a city that boils from below."
Mountain Chichibu
"Lantern-lit festival floats hauled through the December dark, ninety minutes from Tokyo."
Mountain Daisetsuzan
"Japan's first autumn colour igniting an alpine plateau where brown bears roam unchallenged."
Mountain Dewa Sanzan
"Mountain ascetics blowing conch shells on a 2,446-step stair through centuries-old cedars."
City Fukuoka
"Yatai street stalls steaming under canvas where the city eats ramen at midnight."
Wilderness Furano and Biei
"Lavender fields running to the mountains in ruler-straight purple rows."
City Ginzan Onsen
"Gas-lit wooden inns lining a snowbound gorge, a Taishō-era postcard come to life."
Mountain Gokayama
"Thatched farmhouses like praying hands, where a secret gunpowder trade once hid in the snow."
Water Hachijojima
"Two volcanoes wearing jungle, cliff-top onsen over the Pacific, three hundred kilometres south of Tokyo."
Mountain Hachimantai
"A volcanic plateau where the spring thaw opens a sapphire eye called the Dragon's Eye."
City Hakodate
"A million-dollar night view over a narrow waist of lights squeezed between two bays."
Mountain Hakone
"Hot-spring inns above a volcanic lake with Fuji framed in the window on a clear day."
City Himeji
"A white heron of a castle above the blossom: original timber, four centuries old, never taken."
City Hirosaki
"Apple orchards around a castle moat where fallen cherry petals form a pink floating carpet."
City Hiroshima
"Paper cranes by the million beside a dome that refused to fall."
Wilderness Iriomote
"A jungle island where the wildcat skulks, rivers run through mangroves and no road crosses inland."
Water Ishigaki
"Mangrove kayaks at dawn, manta cleaning stations by noon, Yaeyama soba by sunset."
Mountain Iya Valley
"Vine bridges swaying over gorges so deep the river sounds arrive late."
City Izumo
"The shrine where Japan's eight million gods are said to gather, leaving everywhere else godless."
Wilderness Jigokudani Monkey Park
"Snow monkeys soaking in a hot spring while the snow piles up on their heads."
City Kagoshima
"Volcanic ash drifting like grey snow on a city living beneath an active cone."
City Kamakura
"A bronze Buddha meditating outdoors for five centuries, since the sea took his hall."
Mountain Kamikochi
"A river the colour of glacial flour through an alpine valley closed to private cars."
City Kanazawa
"Samurai and geisha districts untouched by war where gold leaf gilds everything, even ice cream."
City Karatsu
"A pottery town where enormous lacquered floats charge through the streets each November."
Wilderness Kawayu Onsen
"Dig your own hot spring in the riverbed — hot water seeps up wherever you scrape."
Water Kerama Islands
"Water so clear the reef casts shadows on white sand far below the boat."
Water Kii-Katsuura
"A tuna port with Japan's biggest raw-tuna market, and hot-spring baths inside a sea cave."
City Kinosaki Onsen
"Willow-lined canals and seven public baths where you wander in yukata and wooden clogs."
Mountain Koyasan
"Lanterns guiding pilgrims through two hundred thousand graves beneath centuries-old cedars."
Wilderness Kumano Kodo
"Thousand-year pilgrim trails through dripping cedar where stone guardians watch each step."
Wilderness Kunisaki Peninsula
"Stone Buddhas staring out of cliff faces on a volcanic peninsula that grew its own Buddhism."
City Kurokawa Onsen
"A ravine of cedar-shaded baths where one wooden pass unlocks three different ryokan pools."
City Kyoto
"Lantern-lit alleys where geiko vanish around corners and incense trails from every doorway."
City Matsue
"A lakeside castle city where Lafcadio Hearn heard ghost stories the West had never imagined."
City Matsumoto
"A black crow castle mirrored in its moat against a wall of three-thousand-metre Alps."
Water Miyajima
"A vermilion gate floating on the tide while deer doze on the beach beside it."
Water Miyako Island
"Bridges spanning to tiny coral islands across water so blue it hurts to look."
City Murakami
"Salmon hanging by their tails from the eaves of old houses, the air salt-sweet and amber."
City Nagasaki
"A harbour city layered in Dutch, Chinese and Portuguese ghosts, where the churches went underground."
Water Naoshima
"A fishing island where pumpkins glow yellow and museums burrow underground."
City Nara
"Sacred deer bowing for rice crackers beneath one of the world's largest wooden buildings."
City Narai-juku
"A kilometre-long wooden post town where the street narrows until the Edo sky closes in."
Water Naruto
"Whirlpools twenty metres across spinning beneath a bridge where two seas collide."
Wilderness Nikko
"Gold-encrusted shrines hidden in cedar forest where a sleeping cat guards the gate."
Mountain Niseko
"Powder so dry and deep that falling into it feels like sinking into cold silk."
Water Noto Peninsula
"Rice terraces falling into the sea and lacquer villages on a coast an earthquake reshaped."
Wilderness Oirase Gorge
"A dozen waterfalls threading through autumn beech in a gorge carpeted with moss and ferns."
Water Oki Islands
"Cliff-girt islands of the Japan Sea where exiled emperors and bull sumo survive."
Water Okinawa Main Island
"A subtropical kingdom with its own language, its own martial art and famously long-lived people."
Water Okunoshima
"A former poison gas island now overrun by hundreds of fearless wild rabbits."
City Onomichi
"A hillside temple walk above a strait where cats watch you from every stone step."
City Ouchi-juku
"Thatched-roof inns lining a mountain highway frozen since the samurai stopped passing through."
Water Rebun Island
"Alpine wildflowers blooming at sea level on a wind-battered island at Japan's edge."
Mountain Rishiri Island
"A solitary volcanic cone rising from the Sea of Japan like a misplaced Fuji."
Water Sado Island
"An exile island where gold miners, taiko drummers and crested ibis coexist in the fog."
Water Sasebo and Kujukushima
"Pine-capped islands scattered across a bay like a spilt jar of green marbles."
Wilderness Shikoku Pilgrimage
"Eighty-eight temples circling an entire island, walked in white over 1,200 kilometres."
Water Shimanami Kaido
"Six islands strung across the Inland Sea on a bicycle lane suspended over blue."
Water Shimanto River
"Japan's last clear stream, where bridges are built to vanish beneath every flood."
Water Shimoda
"Perry's black ships forced Japan open here; now it is white sand, sleepy surf and snapper."
Wilderness Shirakami-Sanchi
"The last virgin beech forest in Japan, where the floor lives in permanent twilight."
City Shirakawa-go
"Thatched roofs steep as praying hands, built for snow that buries the ground floor."
Wilderness Shiretoko Peninsula
"Brown bears fishing for salmon on a peninsula the Ainu named the end of the Earth."
Water Shodoshima
"Olive groves and soy-sauce breweries on a Mediterranean mirage in the Inland Sea."
Mountain Takachiho
"A basalt gorge where the sun goddess hid, and a night dance that has never stopped."
City Takamatsu
"The udon capital, where you carry your own bowl and queue before the doors open."
City Takayama
"Morning-market mist over a merchant town where cedar balls hang above every sake brewery."
Mountain Takeda Castle Ruins
"Stone ramparts adrift on a sea of cloud at dawn — Japan's Machu Picchu."
Water Taketomi Island
"Water buffalo pulling carts through coral-walled lanes on a turquoise coral island."
Water Tanegashima
"A surf island where Japan launches rockets and Portuguese sailors first brought guns."
Water Tatami Ridge (Kumejima)
"Hexagonal basalt slabs stretching into turquoise shallows like a giant's abandoned floor."
Mountain Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
"A road cut through snow walls twenty metres high, towering above the bus roof."
Water Teshima
"A single raindrop museum on a terraced island where art and rice paddies merge."
Wilderness Togakushi
"A ninja village hidden behind a tunnel of 400-year-old cedars on a sacred mountain."
City Tokushima
"An entire city dancing through the streets for four August nights, feet pounding together."
Water Tomonoura
"A harbour so intact that Miyazaki lived here two months and drew Ponyo's world from it."
City Tono
"A folklore valley where kappa haunt the ponds and every farmhouse once stabled a horse."
Wilderness Tottori Sand Dunes
"Wind-rippled dunes rise above the Sea of Japan, with camel rides across the sand."
City Tsumago
"A Nakasendō post town frozen in the Edo period where no wires cross the sky."
Wilderness Tsushima
"An island nearer Korea than Japan, where a wildcat found nowhere else stalks the forest."
City Tsuwano
"Koi swimming through the stone-lined gutters of a valley town the modern world forgot."
Mountain Unzen
"A hot-spring town where Christians were martyred in the boiling pools and the earth still steams."
Wilderness Yakushima
"Ancient cedar forest wrapped in mist where roots swallow granite boulders whole."
Mountain Yoshino
"Thirty thousand cherry trees blooming up a sacred mountain in pink tidal waves."
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Legendary Destinations
Little-known places, unlike anywhere else, that leave you awestruck and full of stories.
10 destinations
Legendary Destination
In these waters, even the algae have learned to become spheres.
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Legendary Destination
An island holds a volcano. That volcano holds another.
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Legendary Destination
Upstairs, a bedroom. Downstairs, the boat rides the tide.
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Legendary Destination
Even throwing something away requires a very particular choice.
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Legendary Destination
A thousand kilometres of ocean between the mainland and these whale waters.
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Legendary Destination
Small churches hold the stories of a faith once kept hidden.
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Legendary Destination
Little windmills turn beside sulphur-stained ground and thoughts of the afterlife.
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Legendary Destination
One breath, a dive, then a whistle at the surface.
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Legendary Destination
The walls are snow, the light is a candle, the hosts are children.
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Legendary Destination
At the country's far edge, stone terraces lie beneath the waves.
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