Destinations

Japan's capital is really dozens of neighbourhoods stitched together by rail — neon Shinjuku, fashion-obsessed Harajuku, electric Akihabara and the old wooden lanes of Yanaka.

Getting around: Get a Suica or Pasmo IC card at the airport and tap through JR, Metro and Toei lines.

A thousand years of temples, tea houses and machiya townhouses. Kyoto rewards early starts — the famous sites are calm at sunrise and packed by ten.

Getting around: Buses cover the temple districts; rent a bicycle for the flat central grid.

Japan's kitchen. Loud, funny and food-first, with a nightlife district that photographs like a film set and easy day trips to Nara and Kobe.

Getting around: The Midosuji subway line links almost everything you'll want to see.

Japan's first permanent capital, now a compact park city where sika deer bow for crackers beneath the world's largest bronze Buddha.

Getting around: Everything in Nara Park is walkable from Kintetsu Nara station.

The classic onsen escape from Tokyo: sulphur valleys, a pirate ship on Lake Ashi and — on a clear morning — Mount Fuji straight ahead.

Getting around: The Hakone Free Pass covers the train, cable car, ropeway, boat and buses in a loop.

A moving, thoughtful city rebuilt around its Peace Memorial Park, with the floating torii of Miyajima a short ferry ride away.

Getting around: Streetcars cross the city centre; the JR ferry reaches Miyajima in ten minutes.

Hokkaido's easy-going capital: beer halls, the best miso ramen in Japan, powder-snow mountains in winter and cool green summers.

Getting around: A compact subway grid plus buses out to the ski resorts and Otaru.

Kyushu's food capital, famous for tonkotsu ramen and riverside yatai food stalls, with beaches and hot springs close by.

Getting around: The airport is two subway stops from downtown — the easiest arrival in Japan.