Off the Beaten Track in Japan

Tokyo oscillates between heightened refinement and sense-scrambling extremes. Stroll amid the moats and formal gardens of the Imperial Palace and the tranquil Meiji Shrine, then plunge into the vibrant whirl of Harajuku's anime-inspired fashion scene. The city’s charm lies in its ability to juxtapose timeless tradition with cutting-edge trends, from the historic Asakusa Kannon Temple to the eclectic street styles of Omotesando. Tokyo is where the past, present and future coexist in electrifying harmony.

If you hiked the Nakasendo Way during the Edo Period, it would have been bustling with samurai, feudal lords and pilgrims. Today, you can expect to have its roadside shrines and fragrant cyprus forests mostly to yourself. Meaning “the road through the mountains”, this path connects Tokyo with Kyoto via a series of tiny postal villages. This trip allows you to hike between two of the most attractive: Magome and Tsumago, both of which have been restored to their wooden-housed, car-free former glory. 

Although its inky bay is smattered with islands containing hundreds of shrines and ancient traditions, Mie Prefecture’s Ise-Shima Peninsula flies below most international travelers’ radars. The Ise Shrines – known collectively as Ise Jingu – are the size of Paris and the complex is so sacred it was once recommended that every follower of Shinto visits at least once. The national park’s 150,000 acres include rustling bamboo groves and deep forests that can be explored on foot or mountain bike. The climb up slopes such as Mount Asama are steep, but views over Isla Bay and on clear days Mount Fuji more than justify the effort. 

As Japan’s former imperial capital for more than a thousand years, a place of shrines, bamboo groves and treasures, Kyoto has long been an incubator and preserver of high-art forms, from calligraphy and ceramics to tea ceremonies and refined geisha entertainments. Get a taste of this beguiling city at its private teahouses, Buddhist temples and traditional gardens. Or, indeed, over dinner – though barely one-ninth the size of Tokyo, Kyoto has the highest Michelin-star quotient per capita of any city on earth. Nearby Nara offers a different pace, where free-roaming deer and the colossal bronze Buddha at Todai-ji Temple anchor travellers in a landscape that feels timeless.

It may be just 30 miles from Osaka but Koyasan is a portal to another age. Founded in the 9th century and sprawling amongst cedar forests, this mountain-top monastic complex is the headquarters of the Shingon school of Esoteric Buddhism. Around 50 of its 117 temples offer accommodation to travelers seeking enlightenment – or at the very least to be gently awakened at dawn by the smell of incense and sounds of distant chanting. Hiking through the verdant forests that line the Nyonindo pilgrimage route, stopping at the decorative halls built by women at the entrance to each mountain, is a meditation in itself. 

It may not have the reputation of Tokyo and Kyoto, but Japan’s third largest city is arguably its coolest. By day, the streets of Amerika-mura are filled with art students dressed in street wear and coffee bars serving slow drip alongside a blaring hip-hop soundtrack. By night, the focus is very much on anything edible: from Michelin-starred kappo counters with just three seats to Dotombori, a neon-lit strip dominated by street-food hawkers, many serving family recipes that have been passed down through generations. In spring, the grounds of Osaka Castle are filled with frilly cherry blossoms, as well as throngs of locals picnicking among their petals.