GOLDEN WEEK

It's hard to take a bad picture at these gorgeous locations!

Back in the day, getting ocean fish to Kyoto was back-breaking work. You can still hike the 1,300-year-old path that brought mackerel to the ancient capital.

The varied history of this port town has endowed it with a unique combination of ancient castles, modern gardens, and elegant turn-of-the-century architecture.

2016 is a golden year for Japan's big Golden Week holiday. Not only can you catch a few traditional annual Golden Week events, but also some pretty rare ones as well!

Find out about the nation's most popular holiday!

The end of April sees all but the nation's northernmost cherry blossoms fall to the ground. But on the island of Hokkaido, the annual wave of pink and white is only about to begin.

There are a number of gorgeous cherry blossom spots just waiting to be enjoyed in the greater Tokyo area that are virtually unknown to visitors.

Since northern Japan gets its cherry blossoms later than the rest of the country, even if you've missed the first round of 'sakura' to the south, you can often catch late blooms in Tohoku and Hokkaido as late as the end of April or even early May.