Japan

Formerly known as Sanuki, Kagawa Prefecture (香川県) is the smallest of Shikoku's four regions and the smallest of the country's 47 prefectures. The region's hospitable weather and welcoming people have always been a comfort to pilgrims as they come to the end of their journey. To henro, Kagawa is known as Nehan-no-dōjō, the 'place of completion', as it has the last 22 of the 88 pilgrimage temples.

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.

Even though it's just a 30-minute train ride south of central Tokyo, Yokohama (横浜) has an appealing flavour and history all its own. Locals are likely to cite the uncrowded, walkable streets or neighbourhood atmosphere as the main draw, but for visitors it's the breezy bay front, creative arts scene, multiple microbreweries, jazz clubs and great international dining.

Ebisu and Meguro are gateways to largely residential (some artsy, some upscale, some both) districts, where Tokyo takes on a more human scale. There are some excellent art museums in Ebisu and Meguro and trend-setting boutiques in Daikanyama and Naka-Meguro. Ebisu in particular has a dynamic dining and bar scene – worth checking out even if you pass on the sights.

Depending on the suffix used, Okinawa (沖縄) can refer to the prefecture (-ken, 県), its enclosing archipelago (-rettō, 列島), the main island (-hontō, 本島) or the eponymous city on the main island (-shi, 市); but when most visitors say they're 'going to Okinawa', they mean they're visiting the Southwest Islands.

The remote and mountainous Kii Peninsula (紀伊半島, Kii-hantō) is a far cry from central Kansai's bustling urban sprawl. There are two top attractions here that make the area a worthy stop in your itinerary: the mountaintop temple complex of Kōya-san, one of Japan's most important Buddhist centres, and, further south, the ancient pilgrimage trails, sacred shrines and rustic onsen of the Kumano Kodō. With more time, you can explore the rocky southern coast, which makes up the Nanki Kumano Geopark and has some interesting geological formations.

Sunny, friendly Fukuoka (福岡) is Kyūshū's largest city and Japan's eighth-largest population centre. It's made up of two former towns: the castle town of Fukuoka on the west bank of the Naka-gawa and the merchant town of Hakata on the east bank. Although the two towns merged in 1889 as Fukuoka, the name Hakata is still widely in use (for instance, it's Fukuoka Airport but Hakata Station) and a cultural touchpoint.

Kumamoto (熊本) is deeply proud of its greatest landmark, Kumamoto-jō, the castle around which the city radiates. Even though the castle suffered significant damage in the April 2016 earthquake, it remains a focal point of the city. There's a lively and tempting collection of restaurants, bars and shops in the busy arcades east of the castle.

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.

En magisk temapark full med inslag från den hyllade animationsstudions allra mest älskade karaktärer ska öppna i närheten av staden Nagoya.