WILD JAPAN

It may be renowned for neon lights and karaoke bars – but away from the megacities, a calmer, greener Japan is waiting to be explored…

There’s a wilderness to discover at the heart of Japan. Nearly 70% of the country is covered by forest, striped with snowcapped mountain ranges and pocked with rumbling volcanoes. There are fairytale woodlands, sprawling national parks and tropical islands teeming with weird and wonderful wildlife. You can get your fix of food and late-night fun in the cities, but if you want a taste of the real Japan, head to the countryside where few travellers venture…

SCENIC HIKING

It’s no surprise that hiking is a favourite Japanese pastime: two-thirds of its land is mountainous. Walking is especially popular in Hokkaido, northernmost of Japan’s main islands, where temperatures are cooler than in the rest of the country. The scenery here is soul-stirring – trails snake over hills strewn with alpine flowers, through mossy forests and past the bluest of lakes.

Keen hikers should head for Daisetsuzan, Japan’s largest national park – a virtually unspoiled wilderness in the heart of Hokkaido. It’s a place where sika deer and brown bears roam, and geothermal steam spurts through cracks in the earth. Autumn is one of the best times to visit, when the landscape is ablaze with red and orange foliage.

Other great walking spots in Hokkaido include Furano, where the famous fields bloom in a vast purple carpet each May, and the Unesco-listed Shiretoko Peninsula, jutting out into the ( Admire the steaming crater of Sakurajima; hike among the lakes created by Mount Bandai; lavender blooms carpet Furano in spring

( Watch for sika deer in Hokkaido; steam in open-air hot springs; hike to remote waterfalls on Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula

A great place from which to admire majestic Mount Sakurajima is the traditional Sengan-en garden across the bay.