Japan Features

Japan Features

• Top Attractions in Japan
  

  Mt. Fuji, the nation's highest peak, rises 3,776 meters. One of Japan's most famous symbols, the symmetrical Fuji-san inspires artists and commoners... Read more

• If You Like
  

  Cocktails with pizzazz or chicken on a stick, dreamy jazz or thumping techno beats—you'll find it all under urban Japan's neon-soaked night... Read more

• On the Calendar
  

  Matsuri (festivals) are very important to the Japanese, and around 30,000 are held throughout the year. Many of them originated in folk and religious... Read more

• Top Experiences in Japan
  

  Sumo pits two extremely large athletes against one another in a ring (dohyo). A wrestler who breaches the ring's boundary or touches the ground... Read more

• Japanese Fine Arts
  

  What raises Japanese handicrafts to the level of fine arts? It is, one could argue, the standards set by the nation's Ningen kokuho: its Living... Read more

• Performing Arts
  

  Gorgeous costumes, sword fights and tearful reunions, acrobatics and magical transformations, spectacular makeup and masks, singing and dancing... Read more

• Onsen and Bathing
  

  A chain of volcanic islands on the fiery Pacific Rim, Japan has developed a splendid subculture around one of the more manageable manifestations... Read more

• The Ryokan
  

  You're likely to find Japanese hospitality polished, warm, and professional pretty much anywhere you stay—but nowhere more so than in a... Read more

• Budget Travel Tips
  

  Travelers posting in the Travel Talk Forums at Fodors.com recommend the following money-saving tips.... Read more

• Japanese Etiquette
  

  Many Japanese expect foreigners to behave differently and are tolerant of faux pas, but they are pleasantly surprised when people acknowledge... Read more

• Baseball in Japan
  

  Sumo may be the national sport, but without question, the most popular sport in Japan is baseball. It was first introduced in 1872 by Horace... Read more

• Japanese Martial Arts
  

  Take all that chop-socky stuff in the movies with a grain of salt: the Japanese martial arts are primarily about balance—mental, spiritual... Read more

• Sumo
  

  This centuries-old national sport of Japan is not to be taken lightly—as anyone who has ever seen a sumo wrestler will testify.... Read more

• The Geisha
  

  The geisha—with her white makeup and Cupid's-bow red lip rouge, her hair ornaments, the rich brocade of her kimono—is as much an... Read more

• The Tea Ceremony
  

  The Way of Tea—in Japanese, Cha-no-yu or Sado—is more than a mere ceremonial occasion to have a cuppa: it is a profound spiritual... Read more

• Japanese Gardens
  

  Oases of calm and contemplation—and philosophical statements in their own right—Japanese gardens are quite unlike the arrangements... Read more

• Religion in Japan
  

  Although both Buddhism and Shinto permeate Japanese society and life, most Japanese are blissfully unaware of the distinction between what is... Read more