Japan

Japan is one of those places we thought about for a few years and were inspired by a TV channel called NHK. NHK were one of my clients in the TV business and it was great to share the Japanese culture to a UK audience. NHK is a major public broadcaster in Japan and they have an international NHK channel distributed across the world . It‘s not just a news channel but gives an insight into the culture of Japan, shows some interesting places to visit and it's also a very calming TV channel if you don't want anything too loud. . They also show highlights of Sumo wrestling during the major tournaments held in major Japanese cities and explain the rules in their Sumopedia segment after the show.

First timers in Japan are likely to stay mostly on the island of Honshu, one of the four main provinces of Japan where Tokyo is located alongside other major cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima to name a few. Other major islands of Japan are Kyushu with cities such as Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Kagoshima. In the north there is Hokkaido which has Sapporo, Hakodate. Finally Shikoku, a smaller island province south of Honshu. There are also thousands of smaller islands.

My advice would be a two week holiday and recommend the following.

Tokyo - a large city and suggest staying there 4-5 days. The best way to enjoy Tokyo is to simply absorb the city, look up and down as well as around you as there's so much to see. There are as many restaurants at the top of buildings as there are below and at street level and the same with shopping.

In Japan you may visit many temples, shrines and palaces but perhaps just try a few in some cities and enjoy what else Japan has to offer.

Hakone. -not to be missed a few days in the Mt fuji region . Its about 90 mins away from Tokyo by train and a chance to get into the country and hike, stay in a Japanese guest house with spa (Onsen) , visit the Hakone open air museum with installations with breathtaking views of the mountains as a backdrop, ride in the little switchback train in the mountain, travel on a ropeway (cable car) and take a boat ride on the lake. A 3 day Fuji Hakkone Pass can be purchased on the website.

Kyoto

Around 2.5 hours by bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo and a popular city but with low level buildings, quaint restaurants, beautiful gardens and the Philosophers' Walk.

Osaka

This is around 15 mins from Kyoto so suggest going there after Kyoto if you're travelling here.

it's a modern city with museums, a castle, Expo Memorial park and Universal Studios Japan

Hiroshima and Miyajima island

Hiroshima is one of the two cities detonated by atomic bombs during WWII (the other city is Nagasaki) . Only one building from this period remains today and a constant reminder of what happened here.

Here there is a beautiful peace park and you can ring the bell of peace. There's also a museum in the park. Today HIroshima is a modern city and it's well worth spending a day of two here and at the wonderful Miyajima island nearby (by taxi and boat). This is a very spiritual place, with Itsukushima shrine and its possible to either take the ropeway (cable car ) or walk up the mountain with amazing views of the inland sea. Its possible to stay on the island or stay in hotels in Hiroshima.

The Japan rail pass can be purchased on line in the UK and this is useful if travelling on bullet train across Japan. These are usually 7 or 14 day passes and can be used on most trains (although some they are not valid) . Once purchased the pass has to be activated when in Japan (either at the airport or at major railway stations) . If travelling across Japan, it's a good idea to stay near to the major Shinkansen stations. The bullet trains are amazing, always on time and you'll find your inner train spotter just admiring these locomotives! You'll find you can travel so far in a very short space of time so there's lots of places to see and enjoy.