Japan

There are countries you visit and countries that transform you. Japan is the latter. A place where every detail is considered, where beauty is found in the everyday, where courtesy is art and punctuality, religion. A country that seems from another planet yet feels deeply human. First visits usually follow the classic route: Tokyo, the megalopolis of the future running with Swiss precision. Kyoto, the cultural capital where a thousand temples and gardens guard ancient Japan's soul. Nara with its sacred deer. Osaka, the city that never sleeps where the food is best. And perhaps an escape to the Japanese Alps, where villages of traditional thatched-roof houses seem frozen in time. But Japan has infinite layers. The rural Japan of ryokans with steaming onsens. The spiritual Japan of pilgrimage paths. The artistic Japan of ceramics, washi paper, kaiseki cuisine. The natural Japan of spring cherry blossoms or autumn's red momiji. Each trip reveals something new, and none is ever enough.