A local's guide to Saga in Kyushu—the porcelain towns of Arita and Imari, the beauty hot springs of Ureshino and Takeo, the Yayoi ruins of Yoshinogari, and the autumn balloon fiesta.
Dazaifu Tenmangu was built over the grave of Sugawara no Michizane—a 9th-century scholar exiled by political rivals who died in Dazaifu and was later deified. Understanding his story changes everything about the shrine.
A local's guide to Shiga—Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, the original Hikone Castle, the mountaintop monastery of Enryakuji, and an easy escape from the Kyoto crowds.
Japanese people don't climb Mount Fuji for the views. They climb it for what the climb does to you—the discomfort, the altitude, the 3 AM darkness, the moment the sun rises over a country that feels impossibly small below.
Ueno holds Tokyo's densest concentration of museums—including a UNESCO World Heritage building—and two blocks away, the city's last great standing-bar culture. A guide to experiencing both halves.
