What to see in Japan

Anyone who’s ever eaten sushi, read manga, or sipped sake may feel they know something about this slinky archipelago of some 6800 volcanic islands. And yet, from the moment of arrival in Japan, it’s almost as if you’ve touched down on another planet. Thats is why i have geathered my top 5 destiantions in Japan.

 

TOKYO TOWER

The Tokyo Tower is one of the most common places to visit in Tokyo because it gives a panoramic view of Tokyo. It’s modeled after the Eiffel Tower and is the tallest self-supporting steel structure in the world. At the base of the tower is a building called Foot Town that houses restaurants, museums and exhibits. It is planted with a huge variety of flowering trees and open fields. It's perfect for picnics, strolls and just about any sport you can think of. It is said, that the park is most beautiful in the plum- and cherry-blossom seasons (late February and late March)

KYOTO IMPERIAL PALACE

Sitting in the middle of the sprawling Kyoto Imperial Palace Park, the Kyoto Imperial Palace is a walled compound containing several sumptuous buildings built in the classical Japanese style. If you’re expecting a European-style palace, you might be surprised to discover the low rooflines and wooden construction of the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

JIGOKUDANI MONKEY PARK

The Jigokudani Monkey Park offers visitors the unique experience of seeing wild monkeys bathing in a natural hot spring. The park is inhabited by Japanese Macaques, which are also known as Snow Monkeys. It is located in the monkey's natural habitat, in the forests of the Jigokudani valley in Yamanouchi, not far from the onsen towns of Shibu and Yudanaka.

The park has one man-made pool around which the monkeys gather, located a few minutes' walk from the park entrance. Visitors will likely already encounter monkeys along the path to the pool. The monkeys live in large social groups, and it can be quite entertaining to watch their interactions. Accustomed to humans, the monkeys can be observed from very close and almost completely ignore their human guests. Naturally, it is prohibited to touch or feed the monkeys.

The park has a small information center with information mostly in Japanese. However, there is a small explanation of the alpha male system of the monkey troop in English, as well as portraits of the park's present and former alpha males, dating back dozens of years. There is a live camera beside the monkey pool that is accessible online.

MT. FUJI

Mount Fuji, the iconic 3776 meter active volcano a stone’s throw from Tokyo, is arguably the most celebrated landmark in Japan. With over 300,000 people climbing her summit during the summer months, Mt Fuji thrives on the Japanese proverb “A wise man will climb Mt Fuji once; a fool will climb Mt Fuji twice.” And with UNESCO’s recent designation of Mount Fuji as a World Heritage site, many wise men (and women!) are making the trek up Japan’s most iconic mountain.

FUSHIMI INARI-TAISHA

With seemingly endless arcades of vermilion torii (shrine gates) spread across a thickly wooded mountain, this vast shrine complex is a world unto its own. It is, quite simply, one of the most impressive and memorable sights in all of Kyoto.

The entire complex, consisting of five shrines, sprawls across the wooded slopes of Inari-san. A pathway wanders 4km up the mountain and is lined with dozens of atmospheric sub-shrines.

Fushimi Inari was dedicated to the gods of rice and sake by the Hata family in the 8th century. As the role of agriculture diminished, deities were enrolled to ensure prosperity in business. Nowadays, the shrine is one of Japan’s most popular, and is the head shrine for some 40,000 Inari shrines scattered the length and breadth of the country.