Japan,
the short version

Temples, gardens, Fushimi Inari's thousand red gates. Go early in the morning before the crowds, and stay a night or two rather than day-tripping.

Hokkaido in winter is another country: powder snow, the Snow Festival in February, and the best seafood, miso ramen and soup curry in Japan. Bring real boots.

Turquoise water, its own food and its own pace. Naha is fun: Kokusai-dori at night, awamori, and the market. Winter is the trick: mild and empty while Tokyo shivers.

The home of tonkotsu ramen and the yatai: open-air food stalls along the river where you sit next to strangers and eat until late. Relaxed, friendly, cheap.

A port city squeezed between mountains and sea, with steep streets, old foreign houses in Kitano, a harbor to walk, and the beef you've heard about.

Hills, a harbor, streetcars and old European houses in Glover Garden. Ride the ropeway up Mount Inasa for the night view, eat champon, and take the ferry to Gunkanjima, the abandoned island.

Louder, funnier and hungrier than Tokyo. Dotonbori's neon, takoyaki and okonomiyaki on every corner, and people who actually talk to you. Half an hour from Kyoto.

Kenroku-en, one of Japan's three great gardens, a preserved geisha district, a samurai quarter and a famous fish market. Everything Kyoto has, at a fraction of the crowd.

A mountain town built around a steaming hot-spring field in its centre. Sulphur baths, wooden inns, yukata in the street. A few hours from Tokyo, best as an overnight.