Close your eyes*. Picture the scene: you are in a forest. It is very still, and very quiet. It’s late-afternoon, and brilliant shafts of sunlight pierce the canopy above, illuminating crunchy leaves, lying thick on the forest floor. (more…)

When's the best time to visit Japan? Every month, our Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist Amy Tadehara brings us insider knowledge on how to access semi-impenetrable experiences, avoid crowds, and find hidden delights well away from those tourist-worn pathways. Amy’s extensive experience of Japan includes four years teaching English in Sendai, where she had the chance to truly become immersed in the country. This month, she’s letting us in on the secret of which is the perfect time of year to visit Japan. (more…)

Where are the Best Spots to Experience Japan in Autumn? Good question; everyone swoons when autumn in Japan explodes and its leaves burst into their fierce reds and golds – that’s a given. With a country so vast and diverse however, how the devil are you supposed to choose where you want to experience it? Japan is so huge that autumn even begins at different times across the country. To help you surmount this agonising conundrum and make the most of the season, we’ve shaken down our travel experts for their finest titbits of autumnal wisdom. (more…)

How can we all do our bit on World Tourism Day?  In a week when the world’s oldest tour operator, Thomas Cook, has collapsed and Greta Thunberg has chastised world leaders at the UN climate summit in New York for failing to act on climate change, it has never been more necessary for tourism to consider how best to manage the impacts of its activities.  (more…)

Maneki-Neko: An Investigation   You’re browsing a flea market on a Sunday afternoon, dreamily sifting through limp cardboard boxes spilling over with one-armed barbie dolls, single ballet pumps and cracked china when, suddenly, you spot it. A golden cat, waving at you. (more…)