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Lonely Planet Japan (Travel Guide)

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Other temples offer a different experience: the chance to spend the night, dine on traditional vegetarian Buddhist cuisine, and wake up early for morning meditation with the resident monks. Key events: Matsue Suitōro (Matsue), Asama Onsen Taimatsu Matsuri (Asama hot springs area), Oktoberfest (Yokohama), Kurama-no-hi Matsuri (Kurama, Kyoto), performing arts festivals (nationwide), Halloween (major cities) November brings fall color to the major cities Japan Airlines, which includes Hokkaidō Air System (HAC) and Okinawa carrier Japan Trans Ocean Air (JTA), has the most extensive domestic network; All Nippon Airways is second. Most cities have domestic airports.

in Shikoku is a surfer’s paradise. The jewel-like blue water is warm year-round and sees very few visitors. Akihabara in Tokyo is the promised land for anime otaku (fanatics). Even if you aren’t a fan, Akihabara is worth experiencing for the height of artistic geekiness done the Japanese way. In Japan, anime is more than something you watch – it is toys, video games, fashion... and a way of life. Even big banks sometimes print anime characters onto their credit cards. Step into this neighborhood and see fans bringing characters to life in costume.You can try them in many ryokan and in resort towns such as Kusatsu and Beppu, where budget options are available in public bathhouses. To literally dip your toes in, there are free outdoor public foot baths in onsen towns. Key events: Shōgatsu (New Year, nationwide), Coming-of-Age Day (nationwide) February is for winter warmers and snow sculptures Naoshima is one of Japan's great success stories: a rural island on the verge of becoming a ghost town, now a world-class center for contemporary art. Riding the funicular up to the sacred Buddhist monastic complex of Kōya-san feels, appropriately, like ascending to another world. There are over a hundred temples here, the highlight of which is Oku-no-in, where paths weave their way among towering cryptomeria trees and time-worn stone stupas covered in moss and lichen.

December brings blue skies and cold temperatures across most of Japan. Bonenkai (year-end parties) fill city bars and restaurants, commercial strips are decorated with seasonal illuminations, and small Christmas markets sell mulled wine and festive trinkets. Japan has a color-coded classification entry scheme for all countries, which will continue even after travel rules ease on October 11. The system sets out distinct rules depending on what country you’re entering Japan from. Travelers coming from a “blue” country – a list that currently includes the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, Mexico, Thailand and many EU nations – no longer have to quarantine and have the option to show proof of vaccination or negative test results before traveling. Travelers from “yellow” and “red” countries are subject to additional entry requirements, such as testing upon arrival and quarantine. You can view the complete list of countries and categories here. Key events: Summer fireworks festivals (nationwide), World Cosplay Summit (Sakae, Nagoya and Aichi), Sendai Tanabata Matsuri (Sendai region), Nebuta Matsuri (Aomori Prefecture), O-Bon (Festival of the Dead), Peace Memorial Ceremony (Hiroshima), Awa-odori Matsuri (Tokushima City), Rōsoku Matsuri ( Koyasan), Daimon-ji Gozan Okuribi (Kyoto), Earth Celebration (Sado Island) September is the ideal beach season Late summer and fall bring another surge in visitor numbers and big crowds of domestic tourists. Mid-August is the start of the busy O-Bon (Festival of the Dead) season – the summer counterpart to Golden Week. National holidays, colorful festivals and blistering temperatures keep sights crowded and accommodations expensive (and often fully booked). Ferries are pretty much never the cheapest way to get anywhere and are always the least time-efficient, but the boat rides themselves can be memorable: long-haul ferries in Japan have communal bathhouses, dining halls and even karaoke rooms.

Warmer weather and blooming cherry trees make April a fantastic month to be in Japan, though cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto can get very crowded. Hotel prices also go through the roof, especially for rooms overlooking sakura groves in public parks and gardens. February is the coldest month of the year, and this is the time to warm your insides with hot sake and steaming bowls of ramen noodles. It's still high season on the ski slopes, but if you prefer admiring the snow to slaloming down it, head to Hokkaidō for the annual Sapporo Snow Festival (Yuki Matsuri) – enormous, intricately crafted snow and ice sculptures are showcased throughout Sapporo City. Japan has a comprehensive network of long-distance buses connecting the islands of Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū. They're nowhere near as fast as the shinkansen, but they're significantly cheaper. Buses also travel routes that trains don't. Japanese roads are generally in excellent condition. You're far more likely to encounter roadworks in progress than a road in need of repair. Bear in mind that mountain roads tend to be narrow, as are many in the cities (where you'll also have to contend with one-way streets). It feels like there’s always something exciting brewing in Japan. While the pandemic may have paused momentum, it’s now full speed ahead for the opening of some much-anticipated new attractions. After the world's first Super Nintendo World opened in Osaka during the pandemic, the next big thing is Ghibli Park, a theme park based on the works of animation legend Hayao Miyazaki set to open in Aichi Prefecture on November 1. Unlike traditional theme parks, you won’t find rides here: instead, you’ll walk through the dreamy, watercolor-style landscapes and architecture from Ghibli movies like My Neighbor Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle.

November is marked by crisp and cool days with snow starting to fall in the mountains. Koyo (autumn foliage) reaches Tokyo and Kyoto, drawing crowds to parks, gardens and surrounding hills. The autumn leaves linger much longer than the cherry blossoms, so there’s less urgency among locals to charge out in great numbers, and it's a quieter experience than the spring melee to view sakura. In old daimyo (feudal lord) gardens, such as Rikugi-en in Tokyo and Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, the fiery leaves are illuminated after nightfall. Kabira-wan on Ishigaki-jima is a stunning sheltered bay with white-sand shores and a couple of interesting clumplike islets offshore. Swimming is not allowed here, as pearls are cultivated, but there's no shortage of glass-bottomed boats offering a look at the vibrant reef life below. Coastal towns such as Kamakura and Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula provide the perfect combo of sunny afternoons, beachfront Airbnbs and temperate waters, making this a great time to hit the beach. Major resorts such as Hokkaidō’s Niseko and Hakuba in Nagano host Olympic-quality slopes and are well set up for non-Japanese-speaking tourists. Be sure to finish off the day with a rejuvenating dip in one of Japan’s many onsens (hot spring bathhouses). Tokyo is a city forever reaching into the future, pushing the boundaries of what's possible on densely populated, earthquake-prone land, adding ever taller, sleeker structures.August brings hot, humid weather that can head north of 38°C (100°F), and festivals continue apace. During the Japanese school holidays, crowds descend on beaches and flood cooler mountain areas, especially Mt Fuji. Expect peak crowds and prices during O-Bon, the Festival of the Dead. Taking a yakatabune (riverboat) tour during the 300-year-old Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival in Tokyo is strongly recommended; it's well worth the high price tag to avoid the gargantuan crowds (which can reach up to one million people). It gets very hot and humid as July draws to a close; savvy travelers head to cooler Hokkaidō or the Japanese Alps, or hit the slopes of Mt Fuji, which opens to hikers in the middle of the month. Key events: Bonenkai parties (nationwide), Luminarie (Kobe), Toshikoshi Soba (nationwide), Joya-no-kane (nationwide) Japan has a surf scene of one million surfers, who know where to find turquoise waters and sparkling sand. Even if you can’t yet catch a wave, the best surf beaches in Japan have a chilled vibe that you can enjoy. You can learn to surf at one of the schools at Shira-hama, which has year-round, easygoing breaks. Swells tend to be smaller in Japan (outside of typhoons), making it a great spot for newbies. And temples are only the beginning. There's the culture of tea, which you can appreciate at one of the city's many elegant teahouses; the art of the geisha, those iconic performers of traditional music and dance; and also a rich food culture, including kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine). 3. Naoshima

Key events: Cherry-blossom viewing; Takayama Spring Matsuri (Takayama) May rewards outdoorsy travelers with abundant activities You can probably get a room at a basic business hotel without a reservation in a pinch, but why risk it? Top accommodations can book up weeks or even months in advance, so plan ahead. Particularly busy travel periods include the first week of January, cherry blossom season (late March through April, depending on the destination), “Golden Week” (April 29 to May 5) and August.

Many of Japan's most lauded architects have contributed structures, including museums, a boutique hotel and even a bathhouse – all designed to enhance the island's natural beauty and complement its existing settlements.

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