Japan

Formerly known as Shinshū and often referred to as the 'Roof of Japan', Nagano Prefecture (長野県) is a wonderful place to visit for its regal mountains, rich cultural history, fine architecture and cuisine.

The capital of Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai (仙台) is a lively regional city and the pick of Tōhoku's urban centers. The city's wide, tree-lined streets fill up in summer for spectacular Tanabata Matsuri, one of Japan's most famous festivals. At other times the nightlife district is impressive for a relatively small city, and domestic visitors enjoy making this familiar entry into Tōhoku life en route to the wilder climes further north. Sendai is also a popular base for visits to the southern section of Sanriku Kaigan, as well as to Yamadera and Ginzan Onsen in nearby Yamagata Prefecture.

Affable Nagoya (名古屋), birthplace of Toyota and pachinko (a pinball-style game), is a manufacturing powerhouse. Although Nagoya's GDP tops that of many small countries, this middle child has grown accustomed to life in the shadow of its older siblings, Tokyo and Osaka.

Det är över 30 år sedan Arlanda hade en direktförbindelse till Tokyo. Men till sommaren 2020 startar Japans största 5-Star flygbolag All Nippon Airways en direktlinje mellan Stockholm och Tokyo.

The vibrant city of Matsumoto (松本) sits in a fertile valley, with the magnificent northern Japan Alps, in all their splendour, to the west. Formerly known as Fukashi, Nagano Prefecture's second-largest city has been here since the 8th century. In the 14th and 15th centuries it was the castle town of the Ogasawara clan and it continued to prosper through the Edo period to the present.

Legendary for its nightlife, Roppongi also offers the chic Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown complexes where you'll find several excellent art museums. To the south you can't miss Tokyo Tower, nearby which are a couple of venerable temples. A short walk northeast is Akasaka; the proximity of Japan's parliament in Nagatachō has long given Akasaka's watering holes an upmarket cachet; you'll also find a major Shintō shrine here, as well as an imperial palace and several gardens.

Det finns en damm i Japan som ser ut som att självaste Claude Monet målat den med verklighetens pensel. Länge var den okänd för de stora massorna, men sedan 2015 har det vackra vattendraget lockat till sig mängder av turister. Kolla in videon för att se varför.

Flattened during WWII, the prefectural capital of Naha (那覇) is now a thriving urban center that looks like most other tidy, small-to-medium Japanese cities, except for the frequent splashes of leafy green, rows of palm trees, or glimpses of azure waters from between the modern high-rises, which make up Naha's rapidly expanding skyline.

Japans tredje största stad, Osaka, har oförtjänt hamnat i Tokyos skugga. Men det kan vara den bästa staden för turister som vill komma närmare lokalbefolkningen och stadslivet i Japan.

Ginza is Tokyo's most polished neighborhood, a luxury fashion centre resplendent with department stores, art galleries and exclusive restaurants; the city's principal kabuki theatre, Kabukiza, is here, too. Tokyo's main fish market may no longer be based at nearby Tsukiji, but this area remains packed with shops providing all you need to eat and make a great meal. Also here, next to Tokyo Bay, is one of the city's most beautiful traditional gardens.