Japan

Japan is the only country where you can eat a 200-year-old sushi recipe for lunch, ride the world's fastest train in the afternoon, bathe in a volcanic hot spring by evening, and sleep in a capsule the size of a coffin by night -- and none of it will feel contradictory. This is a nation that treats tradition and innovation not as opposites but as dance partners. Tokyo is sensory overload in the best possible way. Shibuya's scramble crossing pours thousands of people across an intersection every two minutes. Akihabara pulses with anime, electronics, and maid cafes. Shinjuku's Golden Gai packs 200 bars into six alleyways. And then, a five-minute walk takes you to Meiji Shrine, where a forest of 100,000 trees donated from across Japan creates a silence so complete the city becomes a rumor. Kyoto is Japan's soul. Over 2,000 temples and shrines sit among bamboo groves, rock gardens, and geisha districts that look unchanged since the 17th century. The golden pavilion of Kinkaku-ji reflects in its mirror pond. The thousand torii gates of Fushimi Inari climb a mountain in tunnel of vermillion. And in the tea houses of Gion, the ancient art of the Japanese tea ceremony continues with a precision that borders on meditation. Beyond the big cities, Japan reveals itself in quieter ways. The pilgrimage trails of Kumano Kodo wind through forests of cedar and cypress. The snow monkeys of Nagano soak in hot springs with an expression that suggests they've figured out something humans haven't. And the food -- from a standing-only ramen counter in a train station to a twelve-course kaiseki in Osaka -- operates at a level that makes Michelin stars feel like an understatement.