Travel journal · Summer 2026

Japan, between light and stillness

Some journeys begin long before you leave. And stay with you long after you come home.

Lorenzo Angelini · 30 September 2026

Tokyo’s first evening lights.

For me, Japan begins with a strange kind of nostalgia: for things you have never seen in person, yet somehow feel you know. The anime, the Pokémon, the streets and tiny details that have sparked your curiosity for years. Going there means seeking them out and discovering what it feels like to finally stand in front of them.

Then there are the things pictures cannot quite capture. The care shown to another person, the hospitality known in Japan as omotenashi. The attention given to preparing tea, serving sushi, guiding you through a meal. I felt that even an everyday gesture could become an invitation to pause and be present.

I came home remembering how safe I felt, and how naturally green spaces seemed to sit alongside modern life. This is our route through Japan: part memory, part practical account of how we put the trip together.

Explore the itinerary

01 / Tokyo

A different city in every neighbourhood

Tokyo is enormous, wonderful and hard to sum up. It can be chaotic, orderly or quiet: sometimes all it takes is a change of neighbourhood. That is what struck me most. You can find almost anything here, and the city never settles into a single identity.

Shibuya and Shinjuku are movement, signs and crowded streets. Asakusa and the greenery of Meiji Jingu offer a different pace. That is how I would plan each day: choose an area and give it time, rather than criss-crossing Tokyo to get through a checklist.

Before leaving, we had booked dinner at Shibuya Sushi Lab, a kintsugi workshop in Asakusa, wagyu at Cossott’e and teamLab Planets. Everything else could fit around those fixed points. Food deserves as much time as the places you visit: it is part of the journey, too.

Yellow and red lanterns above a narrow alley lined with small bars and restaurants — Narrow streets and lantern light.

A large wooden torii gate framed by green tree canopies — Green space within the city.

A busy Shibuya street filled with signs and hanging decorations — Shibuya, a different rhythm.

Tokyo Tower glowing orange against the night sky — Tokyo Tower after dark.

The Senso-ji complex seen from beneath a large red lantern — Asakusa, beneath the lantern.

A tatami room with warm lamps and sliding doors opening onto greenery — Care in every space.

02 / Kamakura and Enoshima

A day by the coast

Among my pictures from the trip are a train passing in front of the sea and the Great Buddha of Kamakura. I like seeing them alongside the Tokyo photographs: they show how much the scenery can change within the same journey.

We set aside a day for Kamakura and Enoshima before heading to Kanazawa. It is a break worth considering if, after several days in the city, you want to spend some time on the coast.

A purple and yellow train crossing a road with the sea behind it — The train and the sea.

The bronze Great Buddha of Kamakura beneath a blue sky — The Great Buddha.

03 / Kanazawa

The city centre and its gardens

What stayed with me from Kanazawa was the city centre and the beauty of its gardens. After Tokyo, the memories feel smaller in scale: greenery takes the lead, and the city invites you to look a little more slowly.

Kenrokuen was a key stop in our itinerary, alongside the castle and historic districts. We had one night here and dinner at Jinjin already booked. On a short stay, deciding what matters to you beforehand helps keep the day from turning into a race.

04 / Takayama

Making room to slow down

For me, Takayama is above all the onsen and a feeling of peace. A stop where you do not constantly need something to see or do. Simply pausing can be an important part of a trip.

We had booked two nights at Takayama Ouan. Two evenings in the same place made room for a slower rhythm before continuing to Kyoto. It is a choice I would keep in mind when planning a route: balance the more intense cities with somewhere you can catch your breath.

05 / Kyoto

Getting lost, especially after dark

Kyoto brought me face to face with the Japan I had imagined: temples, rituals and spirituality. Gion, the Golden Pavilion, Kiyomizu-dera, Arashiyama. Names that had lived in my imagination became real places during the trip.

But the memory I return to most is walking at night with no particular destination. Following an alley, turning down another street, walking a little further. Kyoto had that magic for me, even outside the planned visits.

We had booked a tea ceremony near Kiyomizu-dera. It belongs to the same thread that struck me throughout Japan: attention to a gesture, time devoted to one thing. My advice would be to leave room for both these experiences and walks with no plan at all.

A traveller in a blue and white robe between red-painted wooden buildings — Kyoto in daylight.

A succession of red torii gates forming a corridor along a path — The rhythm of the torii gates.

A paved Kyoto street at night, lined with wooden buildings and an illuminated pagoda — Wandering after sunset.

06 / Koyasan

Okunoin as evening falls

Koyasan offers a pause among greenery and quiet, with an atmosphere quite different from the cities. It is somewhere to slow down and let the place speak for itself.

The recommendation I brought home is to see Okunoin at sunset. The fading light and the atmosphere make the walk especially evocative, almost mystical.

07 / Osaka and Nara

Bright lights and a lighter mood

Osaka stayed with me for its lights, music, nightlife and sense of excess. After Kyoto, it brought a different energy: wanting to stay out, get swept up in it and enjoy the trip without overthinking.

Then Nara, with its deer and temples, brings another change of tone. We had planned a day there from Osaka. I like that the route ends this way, moving once again from the intensity of a city to something different, without having to settle on just one version of Japan.

A close-up of a deer with its tongue out against a softly blurred background — An encounter in Nara.

A traveller among Osaka’s illuminated signs, with Tsutenkaku Tower behind him — The lights of Shinsekai.

Before you go

What we booked in advance

These were our choices, shared as a starting point. When planning your own trip, check availability and conditions directly with the properties and providers.

The experiences that mattered to us: Sushi Lab, Cossott’e and teamLab Planets in Tokyo; Jinjin in Kanazawa; the tea ceremony in Kyoto. We booked these first and planned the rest of each day around them.
Kintsugi: have an alternative: We originally wanted to do the workshop in Kyoto, but could not find availability. Instead, we booked one in Asakusa, Tokyo. If there is a particular experience you want, look early and consider more than one city.
Travel between stops: We booked the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kanazawa, the bus from Kanazawa to Takayama, and trains from Takayama to Kyoto via Nagoya. With those journeys settled, it was easier to decide how long to spend in each city.
Accommodation as part of the experience: For our onsen break, we chose two nights at Takayama Ouan. When the stay itself is part of the experience, I would choose it while planning the route, rather than leaving it until last.

Already wanting to return

Japan left me wanting to find those small things that had fascinated me long before I went, and surprised me with everything I had not imagined. The hospitality, the food, the nature, and the moments when the pace changes.

And then there was the desire to go back, which arrived almost as soon as I got home.