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Japan

Neon cities, snow monkeys, thousand-year temples

Best time · Mar – May & Oct – Nov (year-round works) Trips from · $4,389 Trips on offer · 2

Japan: Organised Chaos, Perfectly Executed

Japan runs on contrasts that shouldn't work and absolutely do: neon Tokyo nights and silent temple mornings, bullet trains past Mount Fuji, vending machines that sell everything and streets with no bins that are somehow spotless. It's the most fascinating country most backpackers ever visit.

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The lowdown

Get to know Japan

Tokyo: the city that out-parties everyone

Nothing prepares you for Tokyo at night. You'll cross Shibuya's scramble with a thousand strangers, duck into a bar in Golden Gai that seats six, then find yourself in a private karaoke room at 3am absolutely destroying a Silverchair track with people you met four hours ago. Daytime is just as unhinged in the best way, Harajuku's fashion chaos, Akihabara's arcades, ramen slurped standing up at a counter for less than a schooner costs back home. Both our Japan Adventure trips (13 days Tokyo to Kyoto, 17 to Osaka) kick off here, because there's no better place on Earth to bond a crew fast.

Fushimi Inari: the walk that beats every photo of it

You've seen the pictures, thousands of vermilion torii gates tunnelling up a mountainside in Kyoto. What the photos don't show: it's free, it's open 24 hours, and the higher you climb Mount Inari, the fewer people you share it with. The full loop takes two to three hours past mossy fox statues and tiny shrines, and the viewpoint halfway up looks over all of Kyoto. Go at dawn or after dark with your hostel crew and you'll have whole stretches of gates to yourselves. Pair it with Arashiyama's bamboo grove across town and you've had one of Japan's best days for the price of a train ticket.

Snow monkeys and a night with the monks

Two side-trips that turn a good Japan trip into a legendary one. First: Jigokudani, up in the mountains near Nagano, where wild macaques soak in a steaming hot spring while snow settles on their heads, you're metres away, they could not care less. Winter is peak monkey-bathing season. Second: Koyasan, the sacred mountain south of Osaka, where you sleep in a working Buddhist temple, eat the monks' vegetarian shojin ryori dinner, and join morning prayers at 6am. Then you walk Okunoin cemetery, 200,000 moss-covered stone monuments under giant cedars. It's the quietest place you'll ever stand.

Izakayas, hostel bars and the Osaka send-off

Japan's social scene runs on izakayas, cheap, loud, tiny pubs where you order rounds of small plates and highballs and the table next to you inevitably joins in. Hostels in Tokyo and Kyoto have proper common-room culture, and travelling with a small group means you land with a ready-made crew for every karaoke booth and 100-yen sake stop. Then there's Osaka, Japan's self-declared party capital: Dotonbori's neon canal strip, street-food stalls running past midnight, and locals who'll adopt a table of backpackers on sight. Our 17-day trip finishes here, which is exactly where a Japan trip should end, loudly.

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Japan travel guides

Good questions, straight answers

When is the best time to visit Japan?

March to May and October to November are the sweet spots, mild weather, cherry blossoms in early spring, fiery autumn leaves in November. But honestly, Japan works year-round: winter means snow monkeys and cheap ski fields, summer means festivals and fireworks. Avoid Golden Week (late April to early May) if you can, the whole country travels at once and prices spike.

How many days do you need in Japan?

Two weeks is the minimum to do it justice, enough for Tokyo, Kyoto and a couple of side trips without sprinting. Our 13-day Tokyo-to-Kyoto trip covers the essentials; the 17-day version adds Osaka and more mountain time. Any less than ten days and you'll spend half your trip wishing you'd booked longer. Everyone does.

Is Japan expensive for backpackers?

Less than you think. Hostels and capsule hotels run cheaper than Australian dorms, convenience-store meals are genuinely good (onigiri, inari, noodles), and a filling ramen costs less than a Sydney schooner. The big cost is transport, the bullet train isn't cheap, which is why bundling it into a group trip with transport sorted usually beats piecing it together yourself.

What's the top thing to do in Japan for first-timers?

Start with Tokyo's big three, Shibuya crossing, a night in a karaoke box, and ramen at a counter bar, then take the bullet train to Kyoto for Fushimi Inari's torii gates. That combo gives you neon-future Japan and thousand-year-old Japan in the same week, and neither needs any planning skill or language. From there you'll be hooked and want the weird stuff.

How do you get to Japan from Australia?

Direct flights run from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns to Tokyo, around nine to ten hours, with Cairns the shortest hop. Tokyo has two airports: Haneda is closer to the city, Narita usually has the cheaper fares. Osaka's Kansai airport also takes direct Aussie flights and works well if you're doing the classic route in reverse. Australians get 90 days visa-free.

Is Japan good for solo travellers?

One of the best countries on Earth for it. It's extremely safe, the trains run to the second, and eating alone is completely normal, half the ramen bars are built for it. The catch is that meeting people can be harder than in Southeast Asia, since nightlife happens in tiny venues. That's exactly why a small-group trip works: instant crew, zero logistics stress.

What wildlife and seasonal highlights should I plan around?

The snow monkeys of Jigokudani are the headliner, wild macaques soaking in a natural hot spring, best seen December to March when the snow's down. Cherry blossom season sweeps the country from late March into April, and November turns Kyoto's temples red and gold. Nara's park is full of semi-tame deer that bow for crackers year-round. Time your trip to catch at least one.

What are the best day trips in Japan?

From Kyoto: Nara, 45 minutes away, for the bowing deer and the giant bronze Buddha at Todai-ji. From Tokyo: Hakone for hot springs and, on a clear day, Mount Fuji views across the lake. From Osaka: Koyasan for the temple stay, though that one deserves an overnight. All are doable on regular trains, no rental car or tour bus required.

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