TRAVEL

The Japanese clearly value tradition, yet for one reason or another - fire, natural disaster, the second world war, an enthusiasm for progress - there aren't many towns left that truly encapsulate the way things were. Kyoto has its temples, but in between them is a thoroughly modern city. Takayama is different - an old castle town in the mountains of central Japan. You can still see the ruins of the 17th-century castle in the town's Shiroyama Park, but Takayama is much better known for its townscape of narrow lanes and low wooden buildings stained the colour of espresso. With its steep hills the town couldn't produce much rice, so it produced artisans instead. Many were carpenters, who would go on to work on the palaces and temples in Kyoto, then return to construct their signature lattice-front buildings for local merchants. (guardian.co.uk)

Ryokans are Japanese-styled inns from centuries ago and are more than just a place to stay. They offer the visitor a chance to experience traditional Japanese lifestyle; from tatami (rice mats) covered floors and futon beds to Japanese styled baths and local cuisine presented in an authentic manner. They are a window into life in Japan in the old days. Ryokans originated sometime in the 17th century, and their primary purpose was to serve those travelling along Japanese highways such as the famed Tokaido road between Tokyo and Kyoto. They are typically stationed in a quiet, idyllic setting, often next to natural hot springs. While there are quite a few city ryokans in urban areas, seek out the ones next to the hot springs, known as onsen ryokan, for a tranquil Japanese holiday. The key to having a great time at a ryokan is to understand Japanese traditions beforehand. A quintessential ryokan experience would start when hosts greet their visitors at the street door. After the customary bowing, your shoes are replaced with slippers. According to Japanese tradition, it is considered impolite to ask for your shoes before the stay is over. Tea is served in a large entrance hall, where people can sit and talk, after which guests are shown to their rooms. (totaltele.com)

Wild and remote, cold and barely inhabited, Hokkaido is unlike any other place in jam-packed Japan. Most of the country's northernmost island consists of wilderness, hot springs, forests and national parks, all contributing to a palette of striking mountain and coastal scenery. The island's capital, Sapporo, began in the 19th century as an administrative centre designed to discourage foreign incursions, but American and European advisers helped chart its future economy. Possessing few ancient historic relics like Nara, Hiraizumi and Kyoto do Sapporo instead has wide streets, mostly modern architecture and lots of parks, gardens and scattered green belts. But it's mid-winter, when the greens shed their colour and up to 6m of snow tumbles down, that Sapporo really shines, attracting two million visitors to the glittering Sapporo Snow Festival. (adelaidenow.com.au)

Japan loves top threes. Since the Edo Period (1603-1867), when it's said Confucian scholar Hayashi Shunsai traveled and wrote his great work "Nihon Sankei" ("Three Views of Japan"), magazines, tourist associations and local governments have captured the public imagination with their own interpretations of gold, silver and bronze. On this week's agenda, is the trio of celebrated "float-based" festivals; the Chichibu Shrine Night Festival, in mountainous western Saitama, earning it's berth alongside Kyoto's Gion Matsuri and the Takayama Matsuri in Gifu Prefecture.　With drum beats and flutes to the fore, six huge floats will display their gilded wood carvings, tapestries, and of course - it takes place in the evening after all - lanterns. They will weave through the crowds and toward City Hall, where a 2.5-hour firework display will celebrate their arrival in style. (Japan Times)

WITH international tourism numbers declining in light of its nuclear disaster, why not divert to Japan's southern islands for a slice of the country you will not find in any tourist brochure? Turquoise water and stunning coastal scenery will show you there is far more to Japan than the tourist-heavy mainland. When you think of Japan, people usually conjure up romantic images of picture-perfect gardens, geishas walking neatly through Kyoto or vast swathes of neon lights illuminating the Tokyo skyline. Well, there is a different Japan. A Japan where the intense heat is tempered by cool winds and sand so soft, and water so turquoise, that you question your preconceived images of the country. (Irish Times)

Evening was falling in the old Japanese capital of Kyoto, and I was tucking myself into a container slightly larger than a refrigerator. I pulled down the shade and, after a bit of contorting, lay down, the wall a few inches from my feet. It was a dainty little space, about 3 ¼ feet wide and 6 ½ feet long, charmingly traditional with rice-paper latticework and two woven-reed mats. I felt like an origami crane as I folded my 6-foot-2-inch frame into this "tatami capsule." The eight units at Capsule Ryokan (204 Tsuchihashicho, Shimogyo-ku; capsule-ryokan-kyoto.com) go for 3,500 yen a night, about $46 at 76 yen to the dollar. You don't get a lot of real estate for your yen, though the box had plenty of modern conveniences: a small LCD TV, high-speed Wi-Fi, dimmable lighting and a wall-mounted alarm clock. (New York Times)

The Asahi beer is ice-cold. Naoki Doi takes sips from it between bites of curry. The bespectacled tour guide has asked me and my family to eat fast: he's taking us around some of Kyoto's outstanding shrines and temples, and there's a lot of them to see. He is, he says, relieved to have some business again. In March this year, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of East Japan, sending a devastating tsunami towards the shore. The tsunami wiped out entire towns across the country's Pacific coast, and caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant. But while Japan has rebuilt large parts of the damaged areas, tourism in the country took a huge hit. Kyoto may be 500 miles south of Fukushima Prefecture, but it still felt the impact. (guardian.co.uk)

Japan hoteliers have experienced a hit from the recent quake and tsunami, with major cities witnessing a double-digit drop in average hotel prices for the first six months of the year. Feeling the brunt of natural disasters, Japan's cities Hiroshima and Kyoto witnessed double digit price falls of 38 percent, 33 percent in average rates. Despite experiencing similar impacts, New Zealand's Wellington and Auckland have experienced an adverse effect, welcoming a 15 percent and three percent growth for the same period. According to Hotels.com, Australian hotels also welcomed growth, with the country achieving three times the global average three percent hotel price growth with a nine percent increase over the period. (etravelblackboardasia.com)

The world's largest bonfires will illuminate the hillsides of Kyoto's surrounding mountains Aug. 16 bringing this year's Bon festival to a close. The Gozan no Okuribi, or ceremonial bonfires, are formed in the shapes of various Japanese characters. The most famous of these is lit on Mount Daimonji and takes the form of the kanji "dai," meaning "large." After that bonfire is set ablaze at around 8 p.m., four other gigantic fires are lit in approximately 10-minute intervals. By 8:30 p.m. all the hillsides will be alight, each lasting for about 30 minutes. (Japan Times)

The Kansai region is the heart of Japan because you have so many places which are rich in history and the diversity of the region is amazing. Kobe is a lovely city because the city is well designed and the surrounding area is very beautiful. The city of Osaka is the economic powerhouse in Kansai and this city is vibrant and ultra-modern and ranks easily within the top ten commercial cities in the world (ranked 7th). Also, Awaji Island is very close and this island adds to the stunning diversity of Kansai and is a pleasant holiday destination. Kyoto and Nara are famous because of being former capitals in Japan and the essence of Buddhism remains strong within stunning architecture. The city of Nara is the cradle of high culture in Japan. Meanwhile Himeji and Wakayama are blessed with magnificent castles and Himeji castle dominates this city and in Wakayama you have so many places to visit and Koyasan and Kumano are stunning. (moderntokyotimes.com)

Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital, is a laid-back counterpart to Tokyo that was first established more than a thousand years ago. Far to the west, it is a good place to forget the current capital's woes. Kyoto's wide avenues follow a grid pattern that invites easy walking, one of the best ways to explore. Strolls reveal a modern city, but one where traditional touches -- a tiny shrine, upswept temple roofs -- are never far away. FRIDAY 6 p.m. - Walk through one of the hanamachi, or geisha districts, and you may see a geisha or apprentice geisha heading out for the evening. Sightings of these women in elaborate kimono, thick white makeup and gleaming hair are especially likely in the Miyagawa-cho district, where taxis line up to whisk the geisha away to engagements at exclusive traditional restaurants. (Reuters)

Most of Japan is back to normal following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11 March. Many parts of Japan, including popular holiday destinations such as Hokkaido, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Mt. Fuji, Nagasaki and Okinawa, incurred no disruption to infrastructure and everything in these areas has continuously operated as normal. Tokyo is back to normal with trains once again running like clockwork, water safe to drink and the beer and yogurt shortages now over (yes, there were temporary shortages due to packaging factories having been in the earthquake-hit region!). (eturbonews.com)

A unique corridor of Yogenin, the Buddhist temple in Kyoto known for its links to Go, the eponymous heroine of an NHK period drama, is now on the verge of losing its well-known feature, chirping sounds similar to those of a small bird that are produced as a visitor moves through the corridor. The wood-floored corridor in the main hall of the temple in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, is called the "uguisu-bari no roka" (nightingale corridor). Since January, when the period drama depicting the vicissitudes of the life of Go (1573-1626), a niece of warlord Oda Nobunaga and wife of shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, started, the temple has been overrun with throngs of sightseers. (Yomiuri)