Any Travels

Japan consists of several thousands of islands, of which Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku are the four largest. Japan's closest neighbours are North Korea, South Korea, Russia and China. The Sea of Japan separates the Asian continent from the Japanese archipelago.

There are four main islands which make up Japan: Hokkaido in the North, Honshu the mainland, Shikoku in the South-East Asia, and Kyushu in the South. More than 4,000 smaller islands surround these four main islands.

Hokkaido Hokkaido is the northernmost of the four big islands that make up Japan. It is really a great place if you are an outdoor enthusiast. There are many many hiking possibilities in the great national parks such as Daisetsuzan and there are some good skiing slopes (Sapporo hosted the winter olympics once). Sapporo is the capital and one of the most lively cities of Japan. It has a great beer drinking culture. The city is an ideal place to arrange everything for a trip to some of the most remote parts of Japan.

Honshu Honshu has all the fun and all the attractions. Tokyo and Kyoto, the imperial cities are both on Honshu. Other big cities with a long history and many sights such as Yokohamaare on Honshu too. The holy mountain of Mr. Fuji is on the island as well.

Nikko in northern Honshu is definately worth a visit. It's one of the most historic towns of Japan and the old city centre is still very much in use.

In central Honshu, the area around Furukawa is pretty and the Japanese alps are great for hiking in summer and winter sports and activities in winter. Matsumo and Takayama are good places for exploring the alps.

In the west Kurashiki is a very charming town. Hiroshima is famous for being bombed in the second world war and a visit to the Peace park is impressive. Although the Seto Naikai or "inland sea" is no longer lined with traditional fishing villages it's still a nice area to spend some time. Pick an island and come to rest in the beautiful surroundings.

Shikoku
Takamatsu - This city is probably the first city you'll reach when traveling by train to Shikoku. One of the largest cities of Shikoku (at 350000 people), it is known for it's cosmopolitan and moderness. Even before the Seto-Hashi Bridge was built, there were many ships and boats in it's harbour. Takamatsu is well-known by it's Ritsurin -Koen Park. It boasts it's wide, spacious gardens which are beautifully designed. Another park to look into is the Tamamo-koen Park. The remains of the ancient Takamatsu-jyo can be found here, although very little still exists. The Kagawa History Museum is found beside (east) of the Tamamo Park. Here you can see much of Kagawa Prefecture's history

Tokushima - A small yet quaint city on the eastern shore of Shikoku has a population of about 250000. The city is known for it's annual Awa-Odori (which is sometimes called the Japan's Mardi Gras) which is held usually in August. While in Tokushima, you can go on the Mt. Bizan ropeway located south of the Yoshino river . You can also have a chance at seeing a Bunraku puppet play at the Awa Jurobe Yashiki. It is located 4km north of the Tokushima train station. Another great place to check out is the Tokushima Castle Museum. Although the castle does not exist anymore, the museum shows how the castle looked like. North to the city are the famous Naruto Whirlpools which you can view by a tour boat.

Kochi - Kochi today is the product of the history of the Tosa-clan. It is found on the southern bend of Shikoku island and has a population of 320000. The star attraction in Kochi is Kochi-jyo Castle which is one of the few remaining castles in Shikoku. The Godaisan-Koen is found on the mountain top looking over the city. Nearby, the Chikurin-ji which is the 31st of the 88 temples of Shikoku called the Hachiju-hakkashou. The weekly Sunday market on the Otesuji-Dori is bustling with farmers selling their produce.

Matsuyama - The largest city in Shikoku (at about 450000), may not feel that large. It's very spacious city. Much of Japan's haiku poetry originated in this city. The magnificent Matsuyama-jyo. It goes back many years ago and has been renovated 5 times since it was built. The Shinonome-jinja is on the east side of the Matsuyama-jyo hill. From Matsuyama, you can go toward the highest mountain in Shikoku, Mt. Ishizuchi. The trainquil gardens of the Ninomaru Shiseki Teien are found on the Ninomaru part of the castle which doesn't exist anymore. You can also eat Okashi and drink green tea for ?300.

Kyushu
Kyushu is the southernmost island of the four main islands of Japan. Although the island is a bit isolated with respect to events in Honshu, it is a major point of entry for influences from the outside world. Kyushu is close to China and South Korea and for centuries it was the sole link with "the West."

It's most recognized city is Nagasaki, one of the two places bombed by the United States in "World War II" with a nuclear bomb. Kagoshima and Kumamoto have interesting castles and gardens. Mt Aso is great for hiking.

In the north Fukuoka City/Hakata is the main point of entry. Ferries to Okinawa leave from here, and the Shinkansen trains from Tokyo Odaiba arrive here.


Japan's area is larger than, for example, Germany's and comparable to the one of Italy or California. Japan's northernmost islands are located approximately on same geographical latitude as Milan or Portland while her southernmost islands are about on the same latitude as the Bahamas. In other words, Japan's North South extension equals about the distance from Oslo to Naples. More than 50% of the area of Japan is mountainous and covered by forests. Japan is politically structured in 8 regions and 47 prefectures.

The population of Japan is about 125,000,000. Almost the whole population is Japanese. More than half of the non Japanese population is Korean.

There are many volcanos in Japan because the country lies in an area where several continental plates meet. A positive side effect is a large number of hot springs. The most famous volcano is Mt.Fuji, which is the highest point of Japan and one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. It can be seen from Tokyo when the weather is clear.

Japan lies in one of the most earthquake active regions of the world.

Due to the large North South extension of the country, the climate varies strongly in different regions. The climate in most of the major cities, including Tokyo, is temperate to subtropic and consists of four seasons. The winter is mild and the summer is hot and humid. There is a rainy season in early summer, and typhoons hit parts of the country every year during late summer. The climate of the northern island of Hokkaido is colder, and snow storms occur frequently during winter. In Okinawa, on the other hand, the mean temperature of January is a warm 16 degrees Celsius.

Culture

If traditional culture is your thing, you can spend weeks in cities like Kyoto and Nara, gorging yourself on temples, shrines, kabuki, no, tea ceremonies and museums packed with treasures from Japan's rich artistic heritage. If modern culture and technology is more your bag, you’ll find Japan's cities an absolute wonderland - an easy peek into the future of the human race, complete with frenzied pop soundtrack.

Until the 19th century, the main influences on Japanese art came from China and Korea, but a distinct Japanese aesthetic was present from early on. There is a fascination with the ephemeral (such as in ikebana, the art of flower arrangement), with the unadorned, and with forms that echo the randomness of nature. A gift for caricature is also present, from early Zen ink paintings right up to the manga (comics) of contemporary Japan. There is a wildness and passion and an interest in the grotesque or the bizarre visible in many works, from Buddhist scrolls depicting the horrors of hell to the highly stylised renderings of body parts in the wood-block prints of the Edo period.

Much of Japan's early literature was written by women, as men wrote in Chinese characters while women, who were denied the educational resources to learn Chinese, wrote in Japanese script (hiragana). Thus, while men were busy copying Chinese styles and texts, women were producing the first authentic Japanese literature. Among these early female authors is Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote one of Japan's most important works of literature, The Tale of Genji, about the intrigues of early Japanese court life. The revered poet Matsuo Basho perfected just-so haiku poetry in the 17th century. More modern literati include controversial Yukio Mishima, provocative Murakami Ryu and cool cat Banana Yoshimoto.

The Japanese aesthetic is writ large in its architecture, from graceful Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, to elaborate castles and practical gossamer-thin houses (built to keep cool in summer and to crumple lightly in earthquakes). Precise physical composition is also evident in Japanese gardens, meticulously planned no matter how haphazard they may look.

Eating is half the fun of being in Japan, and the adventurous eater will be delighted to know that Japanese food is far more than the sushi, tempura and sukiyaki for which it is best known in other countries. With the exception of shokudo (all-round eateries) and izakaya (the equivalent of a pub with meals), most Japanese restaurants specialise in one type of cuisine. In a cook-it-yourself okonomiyaki restaurant, diners choose a mixture of meat, seafood and vegetables to fry up in a cabbage and vegetable batter; a robatayaki is a rustic drinking restaurant specialising in charcoal grills. There are a variety of cook-at-your-table restaurants where you'll end up eating sukiyaki (thinly sliced beef, vegetables and tofu cooked in broth), shabu-shabu (beef and vegies cooked by swirling them in broth and then dipped in sauces) or nabemono (a participatory soup, with each diner dipping ingredients from trays of prepared raw food). It's possible to eat relatively cheaply by sticking to humble shokudo, or eating bentos (boxed lunches) or teishoku (set meals) from cheaper restaurants or cafeteria-style places.

Drinking is the glue that holds Japanese society together. It is practised by almost every adult, male or female, and a good number of teenagers. Beer is the favourite tipple of the Japanese and it's dispensed everywhere from vending machines to temple lodgings. Sake (rice wine) is served warm or cold, with the warm stuff especially likely to go straight to your head. Sake hangovers are memorable, so drink carefully. Japanese green tea contains a lot of vitamin C and caffeine. It's very healthy and refreshing and is said by some to prevent cancer.

Pop music is massive in Japan: indigenous groups usually feature a gorgeous lead singer of irrelevant talents. Girl punk groups have recently been getting a good airing in the hungry world of indie music.

The two most famous Japanese performance traditions are kabuki (melodramatic, spectacular theatre) and no (formal, masked theatre), both of which can be seen in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Ancient Japanese gagaku uses drums and Japanese instruments resembling the lute, plucked zither, oboe and flute.