Mandy with tanuki, the good luck raccoon-dog statues, ubiquitous at Japan’s shop and bar entrances.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Why I went to Japan<\/strong>
\nMy partner and I were looking for a long-distance holiday destination that I could tour for two weeks, rather than staying put in the one spot. Japan has always been on my \u2018want to visit\u2019 list thanks to its fascinatingly complex culture. Truth be told, though, my motivations for choosing Japan over another destination were also somewhat financial in nature; flights to Tokyo were remarkably cheap, so I booked them immediately. Our idea? To use the capital as a jumping off point to explore the rest of Honshu island, including the cities of Kyoto and Hiroshima.<\/p>\n

My highlight of the trip<\/strong>
\nMy highlight of the trip was Kurama, a rural hamlet in the northern mountains of Kyoto. We went on 22nd October, the day of the Kurama Fire Festival (Kurama-no-Hi Matsuri), arriving early enough to squeeze in a short but steep forest hike from the neighbouring town of Kibune up to the Kurama-dera mountaintop temple, as well as a blissful soak in a forest-encircled onsen and a steaming bowl of soba, before the festival got underway. The festival sees locals take to the street armed with blazing pine torches, re-enacting the scene of receiving a deity in Kurama.<\/p>\n

What else I love about Japan<\/strong>
\nPerhaps more than any of the sights we saw, the most memorable aspects of Japan for me were the people and the food. Whether we were being shown the way to wherever we were going \u2013 the Japanese seemed to realise we were lost before we even knew it ourselves \u2013 or merely crossing paths with other hikers on mountain trails who unfailingly offered a greeting, the spirit of omotenashi<\/em>\u00a0(the art of hospitality) seemed very much alive.<\/p>\n

Then, of course, there is the food. From my experience, it seems hard to get a bad meal here. Though we forked out for a few splash-out dinners, including a couple of sushi sessions and perhaps most memorably some top-grade\u00a0Wagyu beef at Momonoki in Hiroshima, some of the budget dining options were equally pleasing, whether vending-machine ramen joints or even an on-the-go onigiri (rice wrapped in nori) from a corner store.<\/p>\n