Category
Travel
ActivitiesTravel
Not every trip to Japan is built around a single activity, and this section covers the rest: cultural travel, eco-tourism, adventure travel, onsen and hot spring culture, and the practical planning that ties a trip together. Start with our Best Time to Visit Japan guide if you’re still deciding when to go, or our guide to Takaragawa Onsen in Gunma if a great hot spring is part of the plan. This is also the broadest section on the site, so use the subcategories below to narrow in on a specific region, culture, or travel style.
Onsen
Takaragawa Onsen: Japan’s Great Riverside ...
Giant stone baths beside a mountain river in Gunma — everything to know before visiting Takaragawa Onsen, Japan's iconic rotenburo.
Travel
Best Time to Visit Japan: A Season-by-Season Gui...
When to go depends on what you're going for — skiing, hiking, cherry blossoms or empty beaches. Here's Japan's calendar, season by season.
Adventure Travel
Uncovering the Hidden Flow of the Kumano Kodo Is...
The Kii Peninsula, a vast and mountainous hand reaching into the Pacific, has been my lodestar for over twenty years. It is an ar...
Travel
Rewilding the Soul in Gujo’s Satoyama
The heart of Japan is often found not in its neon-drenched metropolises or manicured temple gardens, but in the quiet interstitia...
Travel
Retracing Bird’s Trail: Three Days in Yamagata’s...
In the late 19th century, British explorer Isabella Bird walked across northern Japan. She was the first Western woman to make su...
Cycling
The Sado Golden Trail
A seven-day cycling exploration of Niigata and Sado Island Niigata Prefecture is a land where the bounty of the earth meet...
Adventure Travel
Pride and Preservation in Amami Oshima
The Amami Islands have long existed in the crosswinds. Locals have endured powerful typhoons and shifting geopolitical winds,...
Adventure Travel
A Legacy of Adventure at Sea in Itoman
Travelers come to Okinawa to unplug and refresh, to dip their toes in the sand or their fins in the water. Yet the most memor...