Japan Unrivalled

Today we'll bounce out of bed ready and raring to uncover Tokyo. The ancient Buddhist temple of Asakusa Senso-ji, the lake woven grounds of the Imperial Palace & the  Meiji Jingu shrine are just some of the doors we will open to this city. If history and religion don't get you going, the wild fashion of Harajuku & the shopping district of Nakamise Street might see you more wide-eyed. Or perhaps your idea of fun is to take to the streets of Shibuya, attempting to cross the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. 

Tonight, we top it off with a quintessential Japanese quirk: the Robot Restaurant Experience.  A bonkers multi-million dollar production that's set to blow your mind.

Today is yours to take on Tokyo your way. Maybe choose to visit a traditional Japanese hot-spring bath with an Onsen experience,  all in the name of culture of course! Or perhaps you're more about doing a sushi crawl, eating until your waist is the shape of Futomaki (that's the large roll). Love records? Head to the narrow city buildings to discover some eclectic finds. 

Before we leg it out of Japan's capital we have some very serious business to tend to - a guided tour of famous Tsukiji - the world's largest and busiest fish market. Here, why not opt to learn the art of sushi making, or just kick back in one of the markets sushi bars and soak in the atmosphere.

Dark wooden buildings, Kanji signs & surrounding hillsides will see us totally taken by Takayama. Grab a bike and take a cycle, then unwind from it all with a Japanese footbath in our hotel's very own hot springs overlooking the mountains. There's not many places where relaxation feels quite like this. Tonight is yours to explore as you wish, but we have an inkling you won't want to miss the mouthwatering hida beef for dinner. 

In usual circumstances we'd be quite sad to be leaving the soul-stirring town of Takayama, but with the bullet train experience whipping us to Hiroshima it's hard not to get excited. 

A city mourned over as the world's first atomic bomb target during World War ll, the mood will turn reflective as we enter Hiroshima. Thankfully, today this historical great has been declared a City of Peace, symbolised by coloured paper cranes denoting people’s prayers. Our day here will be one of learning as we take in the tragic recounts of World War II at the Peace Memorial Museum.  

With 3 more destinations left to uncover on the Japanese map, we hit the road this morning and leave the historical metropolis of Hiroshima behind.