The enormous face of the Tengu looks down, menacingly with a scowl. With its red face and its big nose, it has been proposed by some that this mythological figure was inspired by the fleeting glimpses of shipwrecked Western sailors during Japan’s 250 year sakoku period, a time when the country was closed to outsiders. ...
Many heading south from Kyoto notice the castle poking out above the final reaches of the Higashiyama range. This pair of castle keeps were built in 1964 to commemorate the old Fushimi Momoyama castle. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of their construction in 2014, the Kyoto Isshū Trail was extended an additional 9.5 kilometers,...
A winter snowstorm was blowing as I was waiting at the Shin Yamaguchi bus station to finish my 10 hour journey across the mountains to Hagi, my homestay on the west coast of Japan. During the previous three days, 5-7 February 2026, I had joined Heartland Japan’s Shingu Oto Matsuri tour, Sacred Flames of Kumano....
Winter on the Kii Peninsula. When December arrives and the powerful northwest winds begin to blow, my heart starts to stir. “That season of swirling fervor and divine frenzy is coming once again.” Deep within the World Heritage site of Kumano, in Shingu City, lies the Oto Matsuri It transcends the mere framework of a...
The morning cool makes it feel earlier than it is, due to a light breeze blowing off the bay, and the shade of the canopy spreading massively above. A couple of the camphors of Asuka Jinja would have been saplings around the time that the nobility began passing by in their finery. It was shirtsleeves...
On the Ise-ji, Yakiyama terrifies most. The height and length of the pass are well out of scale from that of anything else on the entire walk. Getting an early start out of Owase is a good idea, and the road leading from town is narrow and straight but for a long detour around the...
There is something wonderful about walking low passes in Japan. You follow a long valley out to its farthest reaches, and after the up and over, you enter a new landscape, with another broad valley opening before you. This next section is through a quiet village, stretched high above the river which wends slowly...
Long before coming to Japan, I’d been intrigued by the Kumano Peninsula, that geologic mandala haunted by gods, and by the holy mountain men who set out to meet them. The roads too that traverse the area had great appeal not only to me but to the nobility of a millennium before, whose pilgrimages were...
One of Kyoto’s best features are the mountains that ring the city on three sides. These mountains were one of the primary reasons why in 794 Emperor Kammu chose the basin between to be his new capital, Heian-kyo. According to ancient Chinese principles of feng shui, the hills surrounding the city would help protect it,...
It is no secret that the city of Kyoto is a treasure chest. Home to over 2000 Buddhist temples and Shrines shrines, it is difficult to choose which to visit. The best and most beautiful tend to be at the city’s edges, nestled amongst the green hills that encircle the city like a horseshoe. The...
Traveling around Japan by rail is one of the best ways to explore the country. Whether zipping across at 320 kph (200 mph) on the high-speed Shinkansen bullet train, photographing rice fields with Mount Fuji as a backdrop on the Fuji Excursion Limited Express, or squeezing into a packed subway for a jaunt across town,...
Tourism in Japan is booming, with visitor numbers approaching an unprecedented 40 million per year. Japan hosts more foreign visitors than Italy and nearly matches France and Spain. With a national population of 124 million people (as of 2025), foreign travelers now represent the equivalent of one-third of the country’s population. That’s one visitor for...
