Miyako Island

Tokyo

The world's greatest city: 14 million people, 200+ Michelin stars, and more to discover than any single trip can hold

Hiroshima

Peace Park, Miyajima's floating torii, and the best okonomiyaki in Japan: a city that turned tragedy into hope

Kyoto

A thousand years as Japan's capital: geisha in Gion, vermillion torii tunnels, and kaiseki cuisine elevated to art

Osaka

Kuidaore city: Dotonbori's neon, Shinsekai's kushikatsu, and Japan's friendliest strangers

Kamakura

Tokyo's favorite day trip: the Great Buddha since 1252, zen temples, hydrangeas at Hasedera, surf beaches, and shirasu-don an hour from the city

Yokohama

Japan's largest Chinatown, Cup Noodles Museum, and a waterfront that actually breathes (25 minutes from Tokyo)

Hakone

Two hours from Shinjuku: volcanic onsen, the Hakone Loop, and Mt. Fuji (when she shows up)

Nikko

Gold-leaf Toshogu, 97m Kegon Falls, and yuba soba: Japan's most opulent shrine town, 2 hours from Asakusa

Nara

1,200 bowing deer, the world's largest bronze Buddha, and temples that predate Kyoto, 45 minutes from Osaka

Kanazawa

Kyoto's calmer cousin: Kenroku-en at dawn, Omicho seafood, and 99% of Japan's gold leaf

Takayama

Preserved Edo streets, world-class Hida beef, and six sake breweries you can walk between in the Japanese Alps

Fukuoka

Yatai stalls at sunset, the best tonkotsu ramen in Japan by the Naka River, and all of Kyushu on your doorstep

Sapporo

Miso ramen at midnight, powder snow at Niseko, and a beer garden in Odori Park: Hokkaido's capital delivers

Nagoya

Miso katsu, golden shachihoko, and Toyota's textile-to-car story: the city everyone skips on the Shinkansen, and shouldn't

Kobe

Kobe beef that ruins all other steak, historic Kitano mansions, and Arima Onsen in the mountains

Nagasaki

Japan's only window to the outside world for 200 years: now champon, Dejima, and the Peace Park

Hakodate

One of the world's three best night views, a star-shaped fort, and the freshest kaisen-don in Japan at sunrise

Otaru

Gas-lit canals, port-fresh sushi, and Hokkaido's most romantic winter festival

Asahikawa

The zoo that redesigned how Japan thinks about animals, a ramen style with a pork-fat layer to beat the cold, and the gateway to Japan's largest national park

Sendai

Tohoku's capital: grilled beef tongue since 1948, Date Masamune's ornate mausoleum, and streamers across the sky every August

Aomori

Honshu's northern edge: Japan's most electrifying summer festival, world-class Jomon archaeology, and one of the last virgin beech forests on Earth

Morioka

Three completely distinct noodles, 1,000 cherry trees on a ruined castle, and Hiraizumi's Golden Hall 45 minutes south

Akita

Gravity-defying lantern poles at the Kanto Festival, Tohoku's finest samurai streets in Kakunodate, and sake from over thirty breweries

Yamagata

Yamadera's 1,015 steps, Ginzan Onsen's gaslit snow, sacred mountains, and Japan's best cherries

Fukushima

A blossom-covered mountain, a volcanic sky road, 200-yen Edo bathhouses, and Japan's best peaches, 90 minutes from Tokyo

Matsushima

One of Japan's three great views: 260 pine-clad islands, Date Masamune's Zen temple, and oysters grilled on the bay

Hirosaki

Japan's greatest cherry blossom castle, fan-shaped warrior floats at Neputa, and a city that produces one in five of Japan's apples

Aizuwakamatsu

A red-tiled castle, nineteen graves of teenage samurai, thatched Edo villages, and some of Japan's most decorated sake

Chiba

Narita-san Shinsho-ji, Tokyo DisneySea, and 100 km of Pacific coastline: most visitors see only the airport terminal

Saitama

Kawagoe's Edo warehouse street, Japan's first Shinkansen prototype, and the Chichibu Night Festival: Saitama earns a day

Mito

Japan's first flower season: Kairakuen's 3,000 plum trees six weeks before sakura, one of Japan's Three Great Gardens

Utsunomiya

Japan's gyoza capital: 200 shops, underground volcanic caverns at Oya, and Nikko 41 minutes by train

Maebashi

A free rose garden with 7,000 blooms, a volcanic caldera you can walk around, and the budget base for Kusatsu Onsen

Niigata

Japan's sake heartland: 90-plus breweries, Sea of Japan sushi at half the Tokyo price, and a ferry to Sado Island

Toyama

Base camp for the Tateyama snow walls, with white shrimp, firefly squid, and Sea of Japan sushi at half Tokyo prices

Fukui

Japan's dinosaur prefecture: a world-class museum, volcanic sea cliffs, the strictest Zen monastery, and Echizen crab in winter

Nagano

Zenko-ji pilgrims, snow monkeys in hot springs, and Hakuba powder: Japan's alpine heart

Shizuoka

Japan's tea capital: pine-framed Fuji views, the Tokugawa shrine that predates Nikko, and tiny pink shrimp found only in Suruga Bay

Gifu

Cormorant fishing by firelight, a mountain castle at sunset, and the gateway to Shirakawa-go's thatched villages

Kofu

Japan's wine capital: cellar tours a short walk from the station, hoto noodles, and the granite cliffs of Shosenkyo Gorge

Hakuba

Olympic powder, alpine hiking, and the most international mountain town in Japan

Matsumoto

Japan's oldest castle, alpine gateways, and a city that punches well above its size

Wakayama

Pilgrimage country: sleep in Koyasan's temples, walk the Kumano Kodo, and stand under Japan's tallest waterfall

Otsu

Kyoto's lakeside escape: Enryaku-ji's World Heritage halls, Japan's largest lake, and hotel rates Kyoto forgot, 10 minutes away

Tsu

Ise Jingu 50 minutes, Matsusaka wagyu 20 minutes: Tsu is the affordable base for the best of Mie Prefecture

Miyajima

A floating shrine gate, a 535-metre sacred mountain, and Hiroshima oysters grilled on the waterfront

Okayama

Korakuen garden, Crow Castle, Kurashiki canals, plus Naoshima art island 50 minutes away

Tottori

Japan's only coastal sand dunes, 50 meters high and 16km wide, where the desert meets the Sea of Japan

Matsue

One of Japan's five original castles, moat boats through samurai streets, and Lake Shinji sunsets, with mythical Izumo next door

Yamaguchi

Ruriko-ji's 1442 national treasure pagoda, Japan's largest limestone cave, and the gateway to Hagi and fugu country

Matsuyama

Japan's oldest hot spring, one of 12 original castles, and the gateway to the Shimanami Kaido cycling route

Takamatsu

Japan's udon capital, a Michelin three-star garden, and the ferry gateway to Naoshima's art islands

Tokushima

Japan's wildest dance festival, vine bridges over mountain gorges, and tidal whirlpools at the edge of Shikoku

Kochi

One of Japan's five original castles, a 300-year-old Sunday market, and katsuo no tataki seared over straw flames

Kumamoto

Japan's fiercest castle, garlic-laced ramen, and the world's largest active caldera: Kyushu's samurai heart

Beppu

Eight volcanic 'hells,' Takegawara sand baths, and Japan's densest onsen: steam rises from every corner

Kagoshima

Sakurajima erupting on the horizon, kurobuta pork on your plate, and Yakushima's 7,000-year-old cedars a ferry away

Miyazaki

Takachiho Gorge by rowboat, a shrine built into a sea cave, and chicken nanban from the city that invented it

Saga

The birthplace of Japanese porcelain, a hundred balloons over a river at dawn, and A5 wagyu at a fraction of Kobe prices

Oita

12th-century stone Buddhas in a cedar valley, toriten from its originator, and Beppu's steaming hells 28 minutes down the line

Naha

Shuri Castle, Kokusai-dori, and goya champuru: Japan's subtropical capital where Ryukyu royalty once ruled

Ishigaki

Kabira Bay emerald waters, world-class diving, and Japan's southernmost island gateway