Lonely Planet Discover Japan

Japan is truly timeless, a place where ancient traditions are fused with modern life as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

There's an intoxicating buzz to Japan's urban centres, with their vibrant street life, glowing streetscapes, 24-hour drinking and dining scenes, architectural wonders that redefine what buildings and cities should look like. Leave them behind and you've got a country that is more than two-thirds mountains, with bubbling hot springs at every turn. In the warmer months there is excellent hiking, through cedar groves and fields of wildflowers, up to soaring peaks and ancient shrines (the latter founded by wandering ascetics). In the winter, all this is covered with snow and the skiing is world class. (And if you've never paired hiking or skiing with soaking in onsen, you don't know what you've been missing.)

Travelling around the country offers numerous opportunities to connect with Japan's traditional culture. Spend the night in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), sleeping on futons and tatami mats, and padding through well-worn wooden halls to the bathhouse (or go one step further and sleep in an old farmhouse). Chant with monks or learn how to whisk bitter matcha (powdered green tea) into a froth. From the splendour of a Kyoto geisha dance to the spare beauty of a Zen rock garden, Japan has the power to enthral even the most jaded traveller.

The city that has it all

Tokyo is one of the world's reigning cities of superlatives the dining, the drinking, the shopping are all top class. It's a city always in flux, which is one of its enduring charms, forever sending up breathtaking new structures and dreaming up new culinary delights. It truly has something for everyone, whether your ideal afternoon is spent in an art museum or racing through the streets of Akihabara in a go-kart.