Japan Cultural Travel Guide
Japan
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Cultural
Considering Japan’s unique cultural heritage, cultural tours are a ‘must-do’ when visiting this country. From the futuristic Tokyo City, with its bustling population, bright neon lights and skyscrapers, to the iconic Mount Fuji in Honshu, with its snow capped peak and surrounding lakes, there is a world of contrasts to be explored. The ancient capital of Kyoto boasts a magnitude of temples and shrines, which were luckily left untouched by the bombings of World War II. Particularly noteworthy is the Fushimi-inari Shrine, with its 4km stretch of orange-red gates, called torii – featured in the film ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’. This shrine is dedicated to the spirit of growing rice and grain, Inari. The Heian-jingu shrine’s gardens, also in Kyoto, are impressive at 355,000 sq ft. and reveal Japan’s spring cherry blossom. Geishas and their apprentices (maikos) are another culturally specific gem of Japan, so head to a famous geisha district to catch a glimpse of one - Gion in Kyoto is a great place to start. If you find you have exhausted Japan’s huge number of temples, shrines and gardens, try out the International Manga Museum (also found in Kyoto), which has some great traditional and contemporary Japanese cartoons to check out.
