Home to Manga, the iconic Japanese comic style; the Shinkansen bullet train; 16 World Heritage sites; and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Japan is a heady mix of ancient traditions, beautiful landscapes, cutting-edge technology, and thoroughly modern living, all underscored with a hint of tragedy.
Japan comprise eight regions, each with its own unique character. Kyoto is home to peaceful beaches and fabulous temples, while the port of Kobe is considered one of the most attractive cities in Japan. Hiroshima has risen to be an ultramodern city, with a memorial garden that reminds the world of the horrors of warfare, and Hakone, sitting in the shadow of Mount Fuji, is a nature-lover's haven of natural beauty, hot springs and parklands.
The Japanese women's hockey team is named after the national flower – the Cherry Blossom – and such is the interest in this beautiful botanical sight that a national activity, known as Hanami, has been created around it. Hanami literally means 'flower viewing' and group excursions are organised to go and look at this phenomenon during the flowering season, which runs from March to April.
Always a popular tourist destination, Japan is preparing for an unprecedented wave of visitors as the host to the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Over the next six years, all eyes will be on Tokyo and its preparations for the two events. The city's promise is to host the 'most compact Games ever' with the majority of the events being held in downtown Tokyo – an area with an eight kilometre radius.
In 1964, sport helped Japan rise from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; 2020 will show that the 2011 Tsunami has also failed to cow this most welcoming of nations.
