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Visit Tokyo

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Kyoto

The green bamboo of Arashiyama, swaying in a gentle breeze, is a hypnotic sight. No wonder this serene, shady forest, one of the best places to visit in Japan, has captured the imagination of poets and artists for hundreds of years. There’s almost perfect symmetry as you wander along the path, almost impossibly tall, slender bamboos arching gracefully overhead. The Arashiyama Mountains are a scenic area on the western outskirts of Kyoto. It’s a popular area for hiking and cycling, with trails running through the bamboo forest. The grove is outside Tenryuji, a Buddhist temple established in 1339. That took the place of a ninth century one that was Japan’s first Zen temple.

Dōtonbori, Osaka

Dōtonbori is the shopping district at the heart of modern Osaka. A sea of neon signage and modern buildings, its most famous sight is the giant running Glico Man breasting a tape. This flashing neon logo for a food company has been a symbol of this Japanese city since the 1940s. It was the first large advert restored after the destruction of World War II.

Machiya, Kyoto

Machiya (“town houses”) are the traditional 19th-century wooden houses of Japan, built long and narrow, as tax was paid on street frontage then. They were the homes, shops or workshops of merchants and wealthy artisans. Kyoto, spared by World War II bombing, is lucky enough to have about 10,000 machiya left. They are very familiar from the city’s Gion and Pontocho geisha districts. Kyoto is cold in winter and humid in summer, so “Kyomachiya” (Kyoto machiya) have layers of sliding doors to help adjust internal temperatures. Garden courtyards also help bring light into the long interiors. Their recognition as a visitor attraction has boosted the ongoing restoration of machiya with traditional techniques. Many have been turned into restaurants, shops and even hotels and offer a wonderful insight into Japan’s more recent history.

Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima

Shinto shrines have a great affinity to water, and the “floating” torii gate of Itsukushima is a picturesque and remarkable sight. Fifty feet tall, the scarlet gate seems to float on the sea at high tide. The shrine is in the sea off Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Bay. As one of the most beautiful torii gates in Japan, it has been a popular subject for Japanese artists for centuries. Its pillars are made of camphor wood, topped with cypress bark. The current torii dates to 1875 and takes the form of a wooden box weighted down with stones.