Japan
16 stories from 10 places visited between 2022 and 2026
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Tokyo, Japan
What actually happens inside an Akihabara maid cafe Inside an Akihabara maid cafe: the greeting, the rules, the drawing on your omelette rice and the photograph you are not allowed to take yourself.
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Tokyo, Japan
The Monster Girls show in Harajuku The Monster Girls show in Harajuku: a small basement venue, a lot of noise and colour, and one of the strangest hours we have spent in Tokyo.
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Tokyo, Japan
Dinner at Ninja Tokyo, the shinobi restaurant in Otemachi What eating at Ninja Tokyo in Otemachi is actually like: a hidden door, a guide in costume, sleight of hand between courses and food that plays along.
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Tokyo, Japan
Nissan Crossing, the free showroom on the Ginza crossing Nissan Crossing sits on the Ginza crossing, costs nothing to walk into, and usually has something on the turntable worth ten minutes of anyone’s day.
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Tokyo, Japan
Shibuya, the crossing and everything behind it Shibuya beyond the crossing: the streets that run uphill behind it, the screens, the crowds and the best places to watch the whole thing happen.
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Tokyo, Japan
teamLab Planets, a pig cafe, a ninja dinner and Golden Gai Two runs at Tokyo: wading through teamLab Planets and a micro pig cafe on the first, then a ninja dinner, a monster show and Golden Gai on the second.
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Fukuoka, Japan
A look inside a Hakata love motel Inside a Japanese love motel in Hakata, Fukuoka: themed rooms, proper privacy and a check-in machine instead of a receptionist. Here's how they actually work.
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Fukuoka, Japan
Ringside at the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament A day at the Fukuoka Grand Sumo Tournament 2024: the ring-entering ceremony, bouts settled in seconds, and the bow-twirling ritual that closes the tournament.
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Beppu, Japan
Walking all seven Hells, the hot springs you can't bathe in Walking all seven Hells of Beppu - cobalt ponds, bubbling mud, blood-red water and a punctual geyser in Japan's most geothermally active town.
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Fukuoka, Japan
The Yufuin no Mori, Japan's most scenic train into Hakata Riding the Yufuin no Mori, one of Japan's most scenic trains: 2 hours 15 minutes of forests and countryside between Yufuin and Fukuoka, captured authentically.
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Yufuin, Japan
An onsen town with a storybook European village and owl forest Yufuin Floral Village: a fairy-tale European lane at the foot of Mount Yufu, complete with cobblestones, themed cottages and an owl sanctuary.
- Nara, Japan The deer bow, and then they mug you A day trip from Osaka to Nara in cherry blossom season, where 1,200 wild deer bow for crackers and then help themselves to whatever else you’re holding.
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Jigokudani, Japan
Snow monkeys bathing in a steaming mountain onsen Japan's snow monkeys in February: the walk through a frozen forest above Nagano to Jigokudani, where wild macaques soak in a steaming hot spring.
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Osaka, Japan
The Glico man after dark, and Shinsekai at its scruffiest Osaka was our base for Christmas 2022: winter sun at Osaka Castle, the Glico man over Dotonbori at night, and the retro streets of Shinsekai.
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Hiroshima, Japan
Peace Park in the morning, the floating torii by evening A December day in Hiroshima: the rebuilt castle, the A-Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park, a local No Nukes sign, and the floating torii of Miyajima.
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Kyoto, Japan
Nine seconds alone in the torii tunnels on Christmas morning Christmas Day 2022 in Kyoto: the torii tunnels of Fushimi Inari, gold at Kinkaku-ji, the lanes of Higashiyama and a sake toast in Nishiki Market.