JAPAN'S HIGHLIGHTS
Imperial Palace, Tokyo
In the centre of Tokyo is the Imperial Palace, or Kokyo, a functional palace where the emperor and his family reside. Much of the palace grounds are closed to the public, but Kokyo Gaien, the palace's impeccable outer garden to the southeast, is where most tourists come for their obligatory photograph. The famous postcard scene is Niju-bashi, a distinctive bridge across an inner moat and one of the most widely recognised landmarks in Japan.
Yasukuni-jinja, Tokyo
Japan's largest torii (shrine gate) - eight stories high, made of high-tension steel plates and weighing 100 tons - boldly announces the shrine of Yasukuni (lit. peaceful country), built in 1869. The souls of more than 2.5 million Japanese soldiers killed between 1868 and World War II are enshrined here. This is Japan's most controversial Shinto shrine: proponents say it honours those who died for Japan and the emperor; opponents say it glorifies Japanese aggression and honours convicted war criminals.
Ginza, Tokyo
Of all places in Japan, Tokyo's famous shopping area, Ginza, has perhaps the greatest name recognition in the world after Tokyo and Kyoto. During the super-heated economy of the late 1980s, land in Ginza was the most expensive real estate anywhere and priced in square centimetres. Immense department stores cascade onto the sidewalks, and in the alleys southwest of Harumi-dori are numerous art galleries with offerings of the highest calibre. An evening's entertainment in the area's exclusive and unmarked clubs can easily empty your bank account.
Edo Tokyo Museum
One of the finest museums in Japan, the Edo Tokyo Museum is a spectacular hall that encompasses a massive reconstruction of a part of shitamachi (downtown lowlands) Edo from the 19th century. It is like walking onto the set of a samurai drama. There are intricately constructed models of villages and a life-size reconstruction of Nihom-bashi, the Edo-Period bridge.
Yokohama
Although Yokohama is an integral part of the Greater Tokyo area, it is a major urban centre in its own right and has a distinctive personality and even a mystique. It benefits from a superb natural harbour and is one of the greatest international seaports of the Far East. The city centre is dominated by the massive Minato Mirai 21 shopping and leisure complex, which was trumpeted as the last great Japanese mega-complex to be constructed before the millennium (and after the economic meltdown in the 1990s).
Kamakura
Just an hour from Tokyo by train, Kamakura is best appreciated at leisure, with visits to its famous historical sites - there are 65 Buddhist temples and 19 Shinto shrines - interspersed with walks through the quiet, surrounding hills. The Daibutsu (Great Buddha) is 11 metres in height - minus the pedestal - and weighs 93 tons. For a fee, you can crawl around inside the statue.
Mount Fuji
Sweeping up from the Pacific to form a nearly perfect symmetrical cone 3,776 metres above sea level, the elegantly shaped Fuji-san (or Mt Fuji) watches over Japan. The region around Fuji-san has been the inspiration for the works of many of Japan's most celebrated writers, poets and artists - it would be hard to find a mountain more highly praised for its beauty. The "official" climbing season for Fuji-san begins on 1 July and ends on 31 August; the trails are well travelled and hard to miss.
Kyoto
For nearly 1,100 years, from AD 794 until 1868, Kyoto was home to the emperor, and thus capital of the nation. Japan's fifth-largest city, home to 1.5 million people, offers some 1,600 Buddhist temples, 400 Shinto shrines, dozens of museums, two imperial villas, a palace, castle, and thousands of arts and crafts shops. As the country's artistic and cultural depository, and home to 17 United Nations World Heritage Sites, Kyoto ranks with Athens, Cairo, and Beijing as a living museum.
Hiroshima
At 8.15am, on 6 August 1945, an atomic flash signalled the instant destruction of Hiroshima and the eventual loss of over 200,000 lives, and forever linked the city's name with nuclear holocaust. The Heiwa Kinen-koen (Peace Memorial Park) is adjacent to the Genbaku Domu (Atomic Dome), which marks ground zero of Hiroshima's atomic explosion. The Peace Memorial Museum contains graphic portrayals of the bombing and is an emotional experience for most visitors.
Miyajima
Though it is formally called Itsuku-shima (Strict Island), this major Hiroshima-area tourist attraction is better known as Miyajima, the Island of Shrines. The large crimson torii (shrine gate), rising out of the sea in front of the Itsukushima-jinga, is representative of Shintoism and probably the most familiar Japanese cultural icon. But this torii , which is plastered on nearly every travel poster and guide book that has anything to do with Japan, has not suffered from the overexposure and is especially breathtaking at sunset.
Nikko
The main attraction of Nikko is the temple, Tosho-gu, comprising 42 structures, 29 of these embellished with some sort of carving - 5,147 in all. Yomei-mon is a masterpiece of a gate - a 12-column, two-story structure, and every surface of the gate adorned with delicate carvings - beyond which only the highest-ranking, samurai could pass into the inner sanctum of the shrine. Beyond Toshu-go's 40-metre-high, five-storey pagoda, there is what may be the most famous carving of all - the Three Monkeys: Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil.
Matsushima
Just north of Sendai in the northern part of Honshu is Matsushima, considered by Japanese to be one of the three officially designated most-beautiful spots (Nihon-sankei) in Japan. Be warned: such a banner guarantees crowds, tackiness and considerable noise, and Matsushima is just that. Still, the bay is filled with beautiful pine-covered islets of all shapes and sizes, and a fleet of cruise boats cruises the islands, sometimes in the form of ridiculous peacocks and other such fantasies.
Shiretoko Peninsula
A beautiful, barely civilized finger of volcanic peninsula jutting into the Sea of Okhotsk, Shiretoko Peninsula in northern Hokkaido is nearly the end of the earth for the Japanese. A car or bike is necessary for exploring most of the 390-sq.-km of Shiretoko National Park, and many places require backpacks and sleeping bags for overnight stays. Just north of the active volcano of Iwo-yama is Kamuiwakka no Taki, whose waterfall, hot spring, and breathtaking views of mountain and ocean are for many visitors the highlight of Shiretoko.
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