Travel Notes

A few things to read before you go. What is useful to know, chosen from our pages.

Periods to avoid

Published in Perspectives on 14 February 2025

Everything we say about activities in our articles and itineraries is based on an ordinary day. Waiting times, opening hours, how busy a place gets: all of it shifts sharply during the busiest periods. If your trip falls in one of them, read this article carefully. Golden Week is a week in which several public holidays fall one after another, which lets Japanese people take time off. It is the busiest travel period in Japan, and most Japanese people are away. Hotels cost more as a result, and the well-known sites

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How to keep clear of the crowds on a trip to Japan

Published in Perspectives on 4 January 2020

Japan is a popular destination, and it draws a lot of visitors. Avoiding the crowds altogether is not possible, but the advice below will help you shape a route that keeps you out of the heaviest periods. Shifting your trip by a week or two is sometimes enough to miss the busiest stretches. Planning matters here: watch the main tourist periods, and watch the Japanese holidays too. For more on the most congested times of year in Japan, see our guide to the seasons to avoid in Japan. Starting your day early is a

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Five things you are doing in an onsen that count as rude

Published in Perspectives on 14 February 2025

Bathing in an onsen is one of the things we would make room for on any trip to Japan. Going in does mean following certain rules, so as not to give offence. Here is a short guide to the five mistakes to avoid while you bathe. And if you want to go further into Japanese culture, here is an article on ryokan, traditional Japanese inns Onsen are large baths shared by a lot of people. To keep hygiene where it needs to be, washing BEFORE you get in is compulsory. There is always a small room with showers and everything

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Discovering Japanese ryokans

Published in Hands & Materials on 14 February 2025

If you want your trip to Japan to include something closer to the country itself, a night in a ryokan — a traditional inn — belongs in the plan. Staying in a ryokan is a way into Japanese tradition and hospitality rather than simply a bed for the night. Whether you have travelled in Japan many times or none, it is worth doing at least once. You will also appreciate the hot baths, which loosen the muscles a trip tends to punish. These places offer more than accommodation: they open onto Japanese daily life and

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The minshuku

Published in Hands & Materials on 15 January 2025

When people plan a trip, they often treat where they sleep as an afterthought. It can be the part that stays with you. This article covers a traditional form of Japanese lodging: the minshuku. These are singular places to stay, and they change the shape of a trip. If you are after something more immersive and closer to local life while travelling in Japan, a minshuku may be exactly right for you. The minshuku is the Japanese equivalent of a guesthouse or an inn: a friendly, affordable alternative for your stay. A

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Tokyo in the Rain

Published in Cities on 14 February 2025

You are in Tokyo, you had planned a full day out in the city, and it is raining. Here is what is worth doing in the capital when the weather turns. One note: some of the activities below need booking, so keep an eye on the forecast and plan the rain in. Teamlab is one of the more absorbing digital art experiences you can walk into: sensory, artistic, and firmly turned towards the future. There are two in Tokyo: teamlab planet and teamlab borderless. The latter opened recently and needs booking well ahead; tickets

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Ten places we send people first in Japan

Published in Open Country on 3 January 2024

You want to see Japan but have not settled on where to go. Here are ten destinations we recommend for a first trip. Pick the ones that pull at you. Visiting Japan without Tokyo is like going to France and skipping Paris. The capital does not show you every side of Japan, but it remains essential. Three or four days in Tokyo will let you take in its different quarters without rushing. Some ideas for what to do: Visit Meiji Jingu shrine. Visit Sensou-ji temple. Go to TeamLab. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government

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Five reasons Hiroshima earns a place in your itinerary

Published in Cities on 1 January 2024

A little under two hours from Kyoto or Osaka and four hours from Tokyo, Hiroshima is a city we would build into any route through Japan. Known for the tragedy that followed the atomic bomb, Hiroshima is a livelier and more cheerful place than its history suggests. Whether or not history interests you, there is something here for you. Plenty of travellers leave the city off their itinerary. We think that is a mistake. Here are our five reasons you will be glad you went: The island of Miyajima, also called

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