Easy walk
Fukiware Falls: The Echoes of Water
Tucked in Gunma's countryside, the "Niagara of Japan." A powerful story of water carving rock, with local snake legends to discover.
Ogijima, the Crooked Island
Ogijima, a tiny Seto Inland Sea island off Takamatsu: a steep village clinging to the slope, sovereign cats, Setouchi Triennale art and an 1895 granite lighthouse.
Shōrinzan Daruma: The Market and the Flames
Every 6–7 January, Shōrinzan Daruma-ji in Takasaki holds its great daruma market — before returning the past year's wishes to the flames in the otakiage fire.
Comiket: A Day at the World’s Biggest Manga Fair
Comiket is the world's largest doujinshi fair: half a million fans, twice a year, at Tokyo Big Sight. What it is, the next dates, and how to actually go.
Megijima: The Demons Have Retired
Megijima, the oni island of the Seto Inland Sea: a beach, an ageing village, stone walls and a startling retro American cinema, 20 minutes by ferry from Takamatsu.
Off the map
Kyu-Sento-ji: At the Crossroads of Beliefs
Discover the mysterious ruins of Kyu-Sento-ji, an ancient mountain temple blending Buddhism and Shinto on the Kunisaki Peninsula.
Takachiho Gorge: Boats, Gods and Volcanic Walls
Kyushu's most photographed gorge: rowboats under the Manai waterfall, 100-metre volcanic walls, gods, a demon, and noodles that race down a bamboo flume.
Eiheiji: Silence in the Ranks
I came to Eiheiji expecting a sleepy mountain temple. I found the opposite: a living Sōtō Zen monastery, taut with discipline, wrapped in cedar, wood and moss.
Serene
Hasedera: Peonies and Steps
Hasedera temple in Nara, a spiritual jewel nestled in greenery, famous for its legendary 400 steps and its enchanting peonies.
