Japan

Tokyo at its most kinetic: the Shibuya scramble crossing, the neon alleys of Omoide Yokocho and the lanes of Golden Gai. A short walk from Shinjuku's towers, Shinjuku Gyoen offers formal gardens and some of the city's finest cherry and maple trees, a calm counterpoint to the evening crowds.

Our tip Watch the scramble from a high observation deck at dusk, then walk down to cross it once the lights come on.

Tokyo's oldest temple sits behind the great red lantern of the Kaminarimon gate, approached along Nakamise-dori, a street of snack and craft stalls that has served pilgrims for centuries. Incense smoke drifts across the main hall, and the five-storey pagoda glows softly after dark.

Our tip Arrive before eight in the morning, when the precinct belongs to locals saying their prayers rather than tour groups.

Hakone pairs hot-spring inns with long views of Fuji across Lake Ashi, linked by a ropeway over the steaming Owakudani valley and a gentle lake crossing. The open-air sculpture museum is a quiet surprise, and an evening soak in a private onsen bath is the essence of a stay here.

Our tip Fuji is most often visible in the clear, cold mornings of late autumn and winter, so plan any viewpoint for the early hours.

Thousands of vermilion torii gates, each donated by a business or family, climb the wooded slopes of Mount Inari in long, tunnelled corridors. Stone foxes, messengers of the rice deity, guard small sub-shrines along the way, and the upper trail opens onto views across southern Kyoto.

Our tip Start at dawn and walk at least to the Yotsutsuji intersection, beyond which the crowds thin almost entirely.

On Kyoto's western edge, a path runs through towering stands of bamboo that creak and sway in the breeze, leading towards Tenryu-ji, a Zen temple with a pond garden designed in the fourteenth century. The Togetsukyo bridge and the Hozu river frame the hills beyond.

Our tip Enter the grove from the Tenryu-ji north gate early in the morning, and save the riverside for the late afternoon light.

Japan's first permanent capital is home to Todai-ji, whose vast wooden hall shelters a bronze Buddha some fifteen metres tall. Free-roaming sika deer bow politely for crackers in Nara Park, and the lantern-lined approach to Kasuga Taisha is especially atmospheric in the soft light of late afternoon.

Our tip Visit Todai-ji first thing, then wander the quieter Naramachi merchant quarter while day-trippers fill the park.