Japan, place by place

The Japanese Alps spine runs through Chubu, giving it some of the country's most dramatic mountain scenery. Nagoya anchors the coast with its castle, Toyota museum, and confident regional cuisine (miso katsu, hitsumabushi eel). The Kiso Valley preserves Edo-period post towns. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is a theatrical mountain crossing. The Izu and Miura peninsulas dip south into the sea.

Western Honshu stretches between the San-yo coast (facing the Seto Inland Sea) and the quieter San-in coast (facing the Japan Sea). Hiroshima carries the weight of history alongside one of Japan's finest oyster cultures. Miyajima's floating torii gate is among the country's most photographed images. Izumo Taisha is Japan's oldest shrine tradition. The art islands of the Seto Inland Sea sit offshore, anchored by Naoshima's world-class contemporary art museums.

Japan's northernmost island is a vast wilderness of volcanic calderas, flower fields, ski resorts, and seafood culture entirely unlike the rest of the country. Hokkaido sits outside the historical Edo circuit, giving it a frontier energy - wide roads, dairy farms, and grid-plan cities built in the Meiji era. Summers are cool and uncrowded when the rest of Japan swelters; winters deliver world-class powder snow.

The Japan Sea coast stretches through a region of heavy snow winters, extraordinary craft traditions, and the beautifully preserved samurai city of Kanazawa - often called Japan's second Kyoto but with far fewer tourists. Fukui has the country's highest density of Soto Zen temples. The Noto Peninsula curves into the sea with its own food culture and ancient fishing villages. The Hokuriku Shinkansen now connects this coast to Tokyo in under 2.5 hours.

The cultural heartland. Kyoto carries 1,200 years of imperial history across 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Osaka counters with unrelenting energy, street food obsession, and the warmest people in Japan. Nara has free-roaming deer and Japan's largest bronze Buddha. Kobe blends mountain and harbour. Himeji has the finest surviving feudal castle. The ancient pilgrimage mountains of Koya-san and Yoshino sit within reach. This region alone could fill two weeks.

The engine of modern Japan. Tokyo alone could absorb two weeks without repetition - from the neon labyrinth of Shinjuku to the quiet lanes of Yanaka. The wider Kanto plain contains Nikko's ornate mountain shrines, Kamakura's coastal Buddha, Yokohama's cosmopolitan waterfront, and the pilgrimage circuit of the Izu Peninsula. Mount Fuji sits at the region's edge, close enough for a day trip but better with a night.

Japan's southwestern island pairs active volcanic landscapes with a confident food culture and deep China-trade history. Fukuoka (Hakata) is arguably Japan's most liveable city - compact, food-obsessed, and cheap. Mount Aso's caldera is the world's largest active. Nagasaki has a melancholy beauty from its Portuguese and Dutch colonial heritage. Beppu and Kirishima are onsen powerhouses. Yakushima, offshore, is a UNESCO rainforest island of 1,000-year-old cedar.

Japan's subtropical southern chain stretches 1,000 km from Kyushu toward Taiwan. The main island has a complex history as the Ryukyu Kingdom and site of World War II's Pacific theatre - Shuri Castle and the Peace Memorial Park are profound places. The outer islands (Miyako, Yaeyama, Ishigaki, Iriomote) offer some of Asia's clearest water and best diving. The culture, cuisine, and even the language are distinct from mainland Japan.

Japan's fourth main island is defined by its 88-temple Buddhist pilgrimage circuit - the Shikoku Henro - which encircles the whole island on foot, bicycle, or bus. Beyond the pilgrimage, the Iya Valley has vine bridges and a dramatic gorge. Kochi prefecture has Japan's most extroverted festival culture (Yosakoi) and the richest seafood outside Hokkaido. Matsuyama has the country's most celebrated hot spring, Dogo Onsen, in a Meiji-era bathhouse.

Six prefectures of mountain ranges, samurai castle towns, hot spring valleys, and deeply traditional festivals that most foreign tourists skip entirely. Tohoku rewards the curious with empty shrines, local izakayas where you might be the only foreigner, and some of Japan's most dramatic winter landscapes. The Shinkansen slices through on its way north but most visitors don't stop.