https://www.scmp.com/rss/312457/feed British-born travel writer Steve John Powell has spent around 20 years living in Spain, and another 20 in Japan. Together with his photographer wife Angeles Marin Cabello, Powell has written extensively about both countries for numerous publications, including BBC Travel, CNN Travel, The Japan Times, and inflight magazines around the world. He feels equally at home practising zazen (seated meditation) in a rural Japanese temple, or exploring the marvels of Modernist architecture in Barcelona. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Trains are not always just a quick way of getting from A to B. Recent years have witnessed a proliferation of luxury sightseeing trains in Japan. From the futuristic champagne-gold carriages of the Shiki-shima, in Tohoku and Hokkaido in northern Japan, to the old-world elegance of the Seven Stars in Kyushu down south, luxury trains transport their passengers through spectacular scenery while pampering them with high-class cuisine and sophisticated amenities. They abide by the maxim of T.S. Eliot... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3189477/kyoto-nara-osaka-luxury-train-japan-takes-passengers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3189477/kyoto-nara-osaka-luxury-train-japan-takes-passengers?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Aug 2022 04:45:19 +0000 When Japan reopens to international travel, a treat awaits hikers, “forest bathers” and those who like getting close to nature. The newly opened Michinoku Coastal Trail runs for an astonishing 1,000km (620 miles) through four prefectures – Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima – in the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu. The ends can be found in the cities of Hachinohe (in Aomori) and Soma (in Fukushima), both of which can be reached by bullet train from Tokyo. The trail passes through rugged... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3157439/how-japans-new-1000km-hiking-trail-through-earthquake-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3157439/how-japans-new-1000km-hiking-trail-through-earthquake-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Nov 2021 23:15:11 +0000 It’s barely 6am, yet already some 30 photographers are taking up positions on the No 1 Tadami River Bridge Viewpoint, high above the Tadami River. The sun hasn’t been up long enough to burn off the morning mist, which garlands the forested mountains surrounding the river. Drifting river mists are a part of life along the Tadami as it flows through the Oku Aizu region of Japan’s Fukushima prefecture. According to local lore, shape-shifting mountain gods roam inside the mist. All lenses are... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3120727/worlds-most-romantic-railway-japan-and-its-sudden-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3120727/worlds-most-romantic-railway-japan-and-its-sudden-change?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Feb 2021 23:45:14 +0000 Autumn is a magical time in Japan. Summer's humid heat has finally abated. Days are bright and nights are cool. The rice harvest is in full swing and celebrated with festivals. But above all, it's koyo time. In Japan, koyo — the spectacular colours of autumn leaves — inspires a reverence that borders on the spiritual. For a few brief weeks, momiji-gari (maple viewing) becomes the national obsession. None can resist this annual call of the wild. By early October, signs of koyo fever are... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1605050/japan-viewing-colours-maple-leaves-autumn-cultural-obsession?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1605050/japan-viewing-colours-maple-leaves-autumn-cultural-obsession?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Oct 2014 14:15:15 +0000 HANAMI IS INVARIABLY translated as “flower viewing”, but that is quite inadequate to convey the true spirit of cherry blossom time in Japan. There is no word in English for “getting gently inebriated under a tree and sharing scrumptious food with friends while contemplating the transient beauty of the blossom”. “A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” wrote the poet Keats. For the Japanese, joy derives from the fleeting nature of sakura. The season triggers a nationwide fervour, spanning all ages... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1432682/joys-spring-different-view-japans-cherry-blossom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1432682/joys-spring-different-view-japans-cherry-blossom?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Feb 2014 14:30:45 +0000