Every guide about Nature, mountains & onsen for a trip to Japan, in one place.
How the sakura forecast works, what kaika and mankai actually mean, roughly when each region blooms, and why the booking decision has to be made long before the first forecast appears.
Why many hot springs still refuse tattooed bathers, how to find the ones that do not, when cover stickers are worth trying, and the private bath options that sidestep the question entirely.
Why skiers fly across the world for Japan's powder, how Hokkaido, Honshu and Tohoku resorts differ, what a ski trip costs next to the Alps, and the onsen ritual that finishes every good day on snow.
What climbing Mount Fuji actually involves: the short official season, the four trails, the fee and hut system, altitude and cold at the summit, and an honest read on whether a first Japan trip is the time to attempt it.
Japan's northern island, where the snow is the lightest on earth, the summer is cool and dry, and Sapporo eats better than cities twice its size.
Okinawa sits closer to Taipei than to Tokyo: white sand, coral reefs, a separate island culture and a long swimming season, plus how many days it honestly deserves.
How onsen actually work: the washing ritual before you get in, the small towel, the tattoo question, what a ryokan night involves, and how to find a bath you can have to yourself.
Koyo runs from the northern mountains in September to the southern cities in December, lasts longer than the cherry blossom and is arguably more beautiful.
A tatami room with no bed in it, a bath everyone shares, a dinner of fourteen small dishes and a robe you are expected to wear to it: how a night in a Japanese inn works.
Fuji is visible far less often than the photographs suggest: where to stand, which months actually work, and what to do with the lakes when the mountain refuses to appear.
Ninety minutes from Tokyo: a volcanic valley you tour by switchback railway, cable car, ropeway and pirate ship, with Mount Fuji at the end of it if the weather agrees.