Japan

Take urban adventure to new heights within Tokyo’s endless side streets or slow down in rural Hida-Takayama’s old town; snorkel along Okinawa’s white-sand beaches or ski Nagano’s snow-covered alps; explore Kyoto’s untouched temples and shrines or bask in Fukuoka’s volcanic hot springs—Japan’s blend of tradition, natural wonder, and hyper-modernity is like nowhere else on Earth.

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Photo by Peter Bohler

Overview

When’s the best time to go to Japan?

In general, the best time to visit Japan is mid-March through May and again in October, but this depends on what you want to do during your trip.

READ MORE: The Best Time to Visit Japan For Every Type of Trip

Culture in Japan

The Japanese are serious about their cultural heritage and artisans—known as shokunin, masters of their craft—are recognized as national treasures. Shinto and Buddhism are the main religions and the Japanese celebrate the seasons and Buddhist and Shinto holidays with festivals throughout the year.

READ MORE: Temples, Tipping, and Train Rides: A Guide to Japan for First-Timers

Can’t miss things to do in Japan

From sumo wrestling and multi-day hikes to shopping for artisan goods and cooking classes, there’s something to do for every interest in Japan—we suggest venturing out of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto (the three most popular cities for visitors) if you can.

Food and drink to try in Japan

You could easily plan an entire journey throughout Japan based on food alone. Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world, and every region of Japan touts its own specific cuisines, Try at least one kaiseki, a traditional multi-course meal that is often served at Japanese inns known as ryokan. Read these articles for other not-to-miss Japanese dishes.

How to get around Japan

Japan’s largest airports are Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports and Osaka’s Kansai airport. It’s generally easiest to get around Japan by train.

READ MORE: Here’s how to get around Japan by train

Guide Editor

RELATED GUIDES
  1. Kyoto
  2. Osaka
  3. Tokyo
READ BEFORE YOU GO
Japan’s departure tax, known as the “sayonara tax,” will increase from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 beginning in July 2026 as the country seeks to improve tourism infrastructure and address overtourism.
HOTELS
As travel to Japan continues to boom, we rounded up 23 of the best hotels across the country, many in sublime—and often less-visited—destinations.
Azuma Farm Koiwai, a new farm retreat a two-hour train trip north from Tokyo, opens a window onto Japan’s craft traditions in a region few travelers reach.
After a 19-month renovation of hotel, a former Park Hyatt Tokyo sommelier returns to find that, more than 30 years after its debut, it retains its spacious rooms, disciplined design, and citywide following.
Sleep under the world’s darkest, clearest skies across six continents at one of these 19 dark sky zone hotels.
These 19 hotels around the world immerse you in their destinations while carving out space for unhurried time together.
Afar editors share the 2025 hotel stays they didn’t want to leave—and would happily return to.
Forever immortalized by Sofia Coppola’s indie sensation starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, one of Japan’s most famous hotels is ready for its next chapter.
Gora Kadan, one of Japan’s most respected ryokans, opens its second property, bringing its revered hospitality to a stunning new location near Mount Fuji.
Several new design-forward hotels offer a less-expensive, more-immersive way to visit Japan’s capital city.
The Lucy hotel from luxury brand Hoshino Resorts is opening next to a national park in the Japanese countryside.
RESOURCES TO HELP PLAN YOUR TRIP
Occupying the top nine floors of the Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower, designed by renowned Argentine architect César Pelli, the Mandarin Oriental showcases postcard views of Mount Fuji to the west, Tokyo Skytree and the Sumida River to the east, and Tokyo Bay to the south. The hotel also turns to nature for its design inspiration. The property itself resembles a tree, with its entrance at the bottom of the tower representing the base; on the top floor, fabrics and carpets suggest leaves and branches, creating the feeling of a forest canopy. The 157 rooms and 22 suites were designed with such flourishes as bonsai trees and cherry blossom motifs. At the 37th floor spa, a signature “Totally Tokyo” treatment uses pine, bamboo, plum, green tea, and rice hulls to stimulate the senses and restore a sense of clarity. For dinner, choose between French, Cantonese, and Italian restaurants.
If you’re looking for a chic lodging with personality to spare, Park Hotel is it. Designed under the concept of ART—atrium, restaurant, travel—it occupies 10 levels of the triangular Shiodome Media Tower and pays homage to Japan’s natural beauty with a glass-enclosed courtyard (purported to be the largest hotel atrium in Tokyo) and trees and greenery dotting the spaces between the building’s 25th and 34th floors. An artist-in-residence program ensures that every room on the 31st floor features unique murals and paintings by local creatives, while more conventional rooms come in light, neutral tones, but all are furnished with stylish pieces by B&B Italia. The hotel also houses a wood-paneled spa, an art gallery, and a kaiseki-style Japanese restaurant and casual French bistro where the dishes are pieces of art in and of themselves.
Immortalized on celluloid in the film Lost in Translation, the modernist Park Hyatt may have the sexiest cocktail bar in all of Tokyo. The rest of the property—set on the upper floors of the three connecting columns of the 770-foot Shinjuku Park Tower—is just as attractive, with a bamboo garden, swimming pool, and restaurant seated high in the sky. The interiors are the work of Pritzker Prize–winning architect Kenzo Tange and designer John Morford, ornamented with wood, woven abaca, and granite to add warmth to the hotel’s sleek glass surfaces. Starting at just under 600 square feet, guest rooms are practically palatial and include glass knobs that let you control everything from the lights to the curtains right from your bed, as well as walls paneled with rare water elm from Hokkaido, some sourced from trees that were submerged in lakes for up to 2,000 years.
This 248-room hotel in one of the city’s tallest skyscrapers—Roppongi’s glass-sheeted Tokyo Midtown—offers some of the best views in the city, but the interiors are just as eye-catching. The property starts on the 45th floor and espouses classic European decor, with four colorful abstract works by California painter Sam Francis, each 12 feet high, dominating the lobby. Rooms and public spaces look onto Mount Fuji, the Imperial Palace, and Tokyo Bay; inside delicate woodwork, hand-tufted carpets, patterned chiyogami wall coverings, a lobby waterfall, and Murano chandeliers set the scene. The hotel proudly touts the most expensive guest room in Japan, the Ritz-Carlton Suite, yours for the princely sum of $16,200 per night.
Tokyo’s first design hotel, Claska is a fitting choice for creative types. Not only is it located on a street known for its second-hand furniture stores, its 20 individually decorated rooms—all masterminded by architect Tei Shuwa, who also designs furniture and home appliances—fall into four categories: midcentury-style Modern, traditional Tatami, minimalist Contemporary, and Story, which feature ever-evolving aesthetics carried out in collaboration with Japanese artists and designers. French-influenced dishes take centerstage in the ground-floor restaurant, and the hotel has a shop for Japanese artisanal home products and a gallery with monthly exhibits, as well as a dog-grooming salon and a fleet of custom Tokyo bikes for exploring the cafés of the nearby Nakameguro neighborhood.
A collaboration between New York interior designer Tony Chi and Tokyo-based Shinichiro Ogata, this sleek Andaz property incorporates natural materials like washi paper and walnut wood high atop the multiuse business and lifestyle Toranomon Hills building. Rooms come with skyline views deep soaking tubs, and black-and-white closets and cabinets that recall the sketches of Piet Mondrian, but you won’t be cooped up for long. Snag a seat at the eight-person sushi bar, or dine on grilled snow-aged beef (that is, steaks aged in a natural yukimuro refrigerator of the white stuff) at the Tavant Grill, then end your evening with tea-infused cocktails at the rooftop bar.
Located in Shibuya City, aka the Silicon Valley of Tokyo, Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel is a laid-back lodging close to Meiji Jingu Shrine and Tokyo Tower. Western and Japanese aesthetics mix in simple, unfussy guest rooms with calming colors and marble bathrooms; some have unobstructed views of Mount Fuji in the distance. You can find your moment of Zen in the stone garden in front of the lobby, the handiwork of celebrated landscape architect Shunmyo Masuno, or at the indoor pool. Quirky amenities include a traditional Noh theater and perhaps the only in-hotel dental salon, in case you need a touch-up teeth whitening.
Bold. Innovative. The food of modern Jerusalem bang in the middle of Soho. Customers sit along the long, chrome bar chatting with the chefs in the open kitchen. Pots clank and cocktail shakers keep time with the funky soundtrack as customers line up outside the door. Palomar’s small plate menu is a fusion of flavors from North Africa, Southern Spain and the Levant. Thankfully, sharing plates is encouraged so you can sample a little bit of almost everything, but don’t leave without trying the Polenta Jerusalem! Make sure to book ahead. There is a small dining room if sitting at a bar isn’t your thing. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself on your phone, booking another table before the bill arrives.
In the Akihabara neighborhood, giant anime billboards, towering Sega arcades, and electronics shops dominate the streets. The area’s denkiya, or electric appliance stores, boast an unparalleled selection of gadgets for gear geeks. The giant among them is Yodobashi-Akiba, an electronics megastore located directly east of Akihabara Station. Yodobashi-Akiba has nine levels of appliances, electronic toys, sports gadgets, and travel items. Check out 700,000 yen (about $7000 USD) Leicas as well as the many non-electronic offerings: lightweight kimonos known as yukata, anime figurines, bicycles, and books. The first and eighth floors offer sustenance and a break from shopping, with restaurants serving up ramen, tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), soba, and sushi at any hour from the popular Tokyo chain Sushi Zanmai. The ninth floor is devoted to golf and baseball, complete with a driving range and batting center.
Tokyo’s morning rush hour can leave you feeling like a drone. I stepped out of the river of people leaving Shinagawa Station and into The City Bakery to pause for a peaceful breakfast and iced latte. Delicious all around, especially the shaved carrot and pumpkin seed salad. (One of two heaping salads that came with the French toast set — they’re a thing at breakfasts in Japan. Just go with it.) The meal and drink cost 1,200 yen. The City Bakery has a restaurant and bar at one end and a separate bakery and cafe for take-away items. As you’re leaving Shinagawa’s east exit, it’s on the left.