The season of sakura - cherry blossoms
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Dmitry Lukyanchuk
The author of the DESTINATIONS travel project
01-28-2025

The season of sakura - cherry blossoms

Dmitry Lukyanchuk, the author of the travel project ‘Destinations’, told EcoTourism EXPERT what time is the best to go to Japan to climb the sacred Mount Fuji, and how to recognize the deadly-but-delicious puffer fish, or fugu, among delicacies.

- Even at first glance, Japan amazes with its diversity. What is the best way to organize your first trip to this country to visit the most important culture and tourism anchors?

- Of course, you need to start exploring Japan with its capital. Tokyo is a real metropolis of the future, not only in attractions, but also in the structure of the city. Tokyo has no traditional center as the city is a combination of 23 special wards (districts) that are very different from each other.

In Shibuya, a special ward in Tokyo, there is the Shibuya Crossing, the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world, with as many as 3,000 people crossing it at a time during rush hours. 

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The Harajuku neighborhood (located in the Shibuya special ward and known internationally as a center of Japanese youth culture and fashion) can surprise you - especially on weekends - with the number of cosplayers, young people looking like the characters from films, books, comics, and computer games. It looks really very unusual. The Akihabara neighborhood (in the Chiyoda special ward of Tokyo) is a real ‘electronics city’, a major shopping district for gadgets and all kind of accessories. There is also a huge number of stores and cafes related to anime (Japanese cartoons).

Another district worth visiting is Asakusa neighborhood (in the Taitō special ward of Tokyo) known for the ancient Buddhist temple Sensō-ji, and the landmark of Asakusa is Nikamise-dori, a quintessential Japanese shopping arcade right by Sensoji Temple. In turn, the Ginza neighborhood (in the Chūō special ward), the most famous upmarket shopping, dining and entertainment district, is of great interest for tourists with its restaurants and brands, it also features numerous architectural landmarks. By the way, land plots are very expensive in this area, a square meter costs an average of $1 million. 

To embrace all the diversity of Tokyo at once, you need to go to Shinjuku Station (located in in Shinjuku and Shibuya special wards of Tokio), a major railway station in Tokyo that is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most visited railway station in the world. The City Hall building is located nearby with a free viewing deck on the 45th floor, where tourists can see sacred Mount Fuji in the morning in sunny weather. Ironically, just north of the City Hall is the Kabukichō neighborhood (an entertainment district in Shinjuku), Tokyo’s red-light district. Another famous viewing deck offering a bird’s eye view of the city is Tokyo Skytree (a broadcasting and observation tower located in the Sumida special ward of Tokio). Unlike the City Hall’s viewing deck, tourists should pay a fee to visit it.

- What other cities should be included in your travel itinerary?

- The best route for the first acquaintance with Japan is Tokyo - Kyoto - Osaka.

Unlike ultra-modern Tokyo, Kyoto has been the capital of Japan for over a thousand years and remains the realm of history and ancient culture. Time seems to have stopped in Kyoto with its imperial palaces, gardens, old wooden houses, shrines, and numerous Buddhist temples.

 A breathtaking must-see is the most colorful Kinkakuji Temple, or the ‘Golden Pavilion’ (with its top two floors completely covered in gold leaf), as well as the Ryoan-ji Temple famous for its mysterious rock garden, and, of course, the Gion district in Kyoto, Japan’s most famous geisha neighborhood. A walk between the Kiyomizudera Temple (Pure Water Temple) and the Yasaka Shrine (also known as the Gion Shrine), along narrow streets past wooden buildings and traditional shops is a great experience for those who want to feel the spirit of the ancient capital of the country.

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The next stop is Osaka where travelers can admire unusual stunning skyscrapers, stroll along the ‘Japanese Broadway’ in the Dōtonbori (or Dōtombori) district, visit a huge aquarium and a real samurai castle at some distance from the center.

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From Osaka, it is convenient to go to Nara (less than an hour by train from Kyoto and Osaka) to see the giant bronze statue of Buddha and the largest wooden building. There is also a convenient connection from Nara to Kobe, the city looking like a European city, a kind of ‘Europe in miniature’, where the Japanese travel to have a tour of the city. In Kobe, there is a museum of Kawasaki, one of the world’s leading industrial giants, and tourists can also taste the legendary delicacy in Kobe because Wagyu beef that is among the most expensive meat varieties in the world comes from this area.

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- Were you impressed by Japanese cuisine, fish dishes? Have you tasted the famous ‘poisonous fugu fish’?

- First of all, I want to say that real Japanese cuisine always offers very fresh products, high quality of cooking and relatively low price. In Japan, wherever you are - at a restaurant or in a food court, the highest-quality food is served. The difference is only in the atmosphere of the place.

Sushi (slices of raw fish on rice) and sashimi (just thin slices of raw fish) are served here, there and everywhere in Japan. The choice of fish is also almost the same as in any sushi bar in Moscow. The difference is that it is freshly-caught and has not been frozen. I advise you to taste several types of fresh tuna and Japanese amberjack. Unlike in Moscow, shellfishes, octopuses and shrimps can also be tasted there raw, not boiled.

Fugu (puffer) fish is very special. They say that the nerve poison contained in one puffer fish is enough to poison several dozen people. It is cooked at restaurants by specially trained chefs. The highest level of skill is to leave just enough poison to make the guests feel a little euphoric. I admit, I didn’t feel any unusual taste or any special sensations.

By the way, if you like seafood, be sure to visit the bustling Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, the best marketplace for customers to buy fresh seafood, and a haven for street food lovers; everything that has just been caught from the sea is cut and cooked right there, including sushi, oysters, tuna sashimi, and scallops. Everything is very clean, neat and appetizing.

- What would you recommend to ecotourists? What places to visit?

- Despite the triumph of technology and many megacities, the beautiful and clean nature is an integral part of the modern Japan. In Kyoto, in addition to gardens, travelers usually are delighted with bamboo groves. In the urban Nara Park, there are many deer walking in the forest next to people, begging for food and trying to get into your bag.

In the area of ​​Mount Fuji, there is Japan’s most visited Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park with its lakes, volcanic islands, waterfalls, and hot water springs. This is a real paradise for ecotourism, with hiking and long routes, including climbing Mount Fuji.

As for seasons, active tourism in Japan is good almost all year round, except, perhaps, July and August, the hottest months in Japan. The most beautiful time is late autumn and early winter when fiery red maples appear there, and the spring when the sakura - cherry blossoms - season comes.

Photos courtesy of Dmitry Lukyanchuk

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