It was the summer of 2018, and I had a plan. My girlfriend and I would travel together to Wakayama Prefecture, where I would propose to her at the base of Nachi Waterfall, Japan’s biggest and the ...

In southern Japan there exists a 1,000-year-old trail that is stop-in-your-tracks stunning but almost completely devoid of crowds. It stars towering trees, fragrant forests, ancient stepping stones, ...

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). In the hazy mid-morning sun, dappled light dances across the dank woodland soil as the tips of gangly black pines sway gently in the ...

Tucking into our tofu hotpot at the end of our first day’s hike, our host started to play music. His three-stringed instrument, the sanshin, resembles a banjo, except that its body is covered in ...

Gnarled roots of cedar trees protrude like varicose veins along the narrow trail. The roar of the river fades as our group of 12 climbs higher, until we reach the silence of a small cave called Tainai ...

Walk Japan offers guided tours along the Kumano Kodo on the Kii Peninsula, a triangular landmass some 50 miles south of Osaka. The trail network has led the faithful through Japan¿s hinterland for ...