Hidden Europe
Koyasan: Sleeping Among Monks' Tombs at the Sacred Heart of Japan
Stay in a Buddhist temple, dine on shojin cuisine and walk among 200,000 graves in the mist: Koyasan is a Japan to be meditated upon.
Jul 5, 2026Japan off the beaten track: little-known destinations
Japan off the beaten track goes beyond Tokyo and Kyoto: rural villages with thatched roofs like Shirakawa-go, the wild coasts of Tohoku, the island of Shikoku and its pilgrimages, mountain onsen and fishing villages. Far from the crowds you will discover a slow, authentic Japan. Explore its most hidden destinations.
21 guides in Giappone · 🛏 Dove dormire in Giappone
Hidden Europe
Onomichi: The City of Temples and Cats That Climbs from Sea to Hillside
Twenty-five temples linked by a panoramic trail, steep lanes full of cats and a literary soul all its own: Onomichi is the Japan that takes its time.
Jul 5, 2026
Hidden Europe
Yakushima: Inside the Ancient Forest Where It Rains Three Hundred Days a Year
Three-thousand-year-old cedars, moss carpeting every surface, trails wrapped in silence: Yakushima is the wild Japan no mainstream guide will show you.
Jul 5, 2026
Guides and itineraries
Instead of Tokyo: Kanazawa, the Japan of Samurai and Gardens Where Time Slows Down
Kenroku-en among Japan's three finest gardens, the samurai quarter and the geisha district of Higashi Chaya — all without Tokyo's relentless pace.
Jul 5, 2026
Churches and cathedrals
Sengaku-ji: where the 47 ronin of Ako rest, in Takanawa (Tokyo)
In Takanawa, the temple where the 47 ronin of Ako are buried beside their lord. Incense, stone and a 1703 act of revenge.
Jun 28, 2026
City corners
Sumiya in Shimabara: Kyoto's last banquet house, between geiko and conspirators
In Shimabara, Kyoto's pleasure quarter, Sumiya (1641) survives: the only ageya in Japan, bearing the sword marks of the Shinsengumi.
Jun 28, 2026
Churches and cathedrals
Genko-an in Takagamine: the two Zen windows and Kyoto's blood-stained ceiling
Genko-an, a Zen temple in the northern hills of Kyoto: two philosophical windows, a ceiling made from the blood of samurai, and almost no visitors.
Jun 28, 2026
Wild nature
Gio-ji, the hidden moss convent north of Arashiyama (Kyoto)
Gio-ji in Sagano (Kyoto): a tiny convent with a carpet of moss beneath the maples, tied to the dancer Gio. Twenty minutes from Arashiyama.
Jun 28, 2026
Castles, palaces and monuments
Otagi Nenbutsu-ji: the 1,200 stone rakan at the far end of Saga-Toriimoto, Kyoto
Beyond Arashiyama, in Kyoto, a hillside temple with 1,200 rakan statues in the moss: each face is different, carved by amateur devotees.
Jun 28, 2026