Japanese culture rests on a unique conceptual architecture: the double helix of ma (間) and kata (型). Ma denotes negative space, pause, silence — the awareness that absence can be as meaningful as presence. It appears in the composition of a Zen garden, in the silences of a tea ceremony, in the spare elegance of a timber temple. Kata denotes the codified form, the mastered repetition — the perfect gesture that the craftsman or martial artist practises thousands of times until it becomes instinctive. These two principles run through every domain of Japanese life: martial arts, gastronomy, calligraphy, ikebana, the tea ceremony, architecture.
Japan is a civilisation of vertical transmission: the master passes the art to the apprentice, who passes it on in turn, in an unbroken chain reaching back centuries. Traditional craftsmen — tōgishi (sword-polishers), tōki (ceramicists), yukata (dyed textile artists) — are recognised as 'Living National Treasures' (Ningen Kokuhō) by the state. The everyday arts achieve in Japan a sophistication found nowhere else: a station bento (ekiben) is wrapped with as much care as a luxury gift, a mountain onsen has its own code of conduct, a bonsai gardener dedicates an entire life to the balance of a miniature tree.
The religious dimension is present everywhere without being oppressive. Shinto (the way of the natural gods, the kami) and Buddhism have coexisted since the sixth century in a syncretism specific to Japan: people are born and married Shinto, and mourned and buried Buddhist. Shinto shrines (jinja) and Buddhist temples (tera) mark every neighbourhood, every hillside, every mountain. Japan's 25 UNESCO sites include monastic complexes of astonishing antiquity: Hōryū-ji (the world's oldest surviving timber structure), the temples and shrines of Kyoto, and the island sanctuary of Itsukushima, whose crimson torii gate rises dramatically from the sea. The practice of pilgrimage — the Shikoku Henro with its 88 temples, the UNESCO-listed Kumano Kodo ancient trail — remains alive and fully accessible to foreign walkers.
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- Kyoto, Japan's ancient soul — Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama, Gion and cherry blossoms — the old imperial capital in all its splendour.
- Osaka, street food capital of Japan — Dotonbori, takoyaki, okonomiyaki and izakaya — Japan's most convivial and deliciously indulgent city.
- Hokkaido, wild nature and legendary ski — Powder snow at Niseko, lavender fields in Furano, exceptional seafood in Sapporo.
- The Kansai: Kyoto, Osaka, Nara — Japan's cultural and gastronomic triangle, from ancient temples to covered market streets.