Japan Photo Guide

Hakone is close to Mount Fuji and about 100 km away from Tokyo. Hakone is perhaps most famous for the hot springs but also offers great views of Mount Fuji and outdoor activities such as camping and hiking.

One of my favorite places in Hakone is the Open Air Museum, where the above photo was taken. This outdoor museum displays lots of modern, abstract and interesting artwork in the surrounding grounds with mountains, vallies and the ocean as the backdrops. I highly reccomend checking this place out if you make it to Hakone.
For more information please see the Japan-Guide.com.

Tokyo has pretty much everything you can imagine, including beautiful temples, shrines, museums, gardens, parks, sky scrappers, and much more. For a city as dense and urban as Tokyo there is a fair amount of nature and parks, such as Ueno Park and Yoyogi Park. There is so much to see and do and even if you live there for a year you will not be able to see and do it all.

Here is a short list of places you shouldn’t miss (in no order):

• Roppongi Hills–modern shopping and business district, the tower has a great 360 degree view and art musem at the top. I reccomend going just before sunset.
• Yoyogi and Ueno Park–Both really nice parks on opposite sides of Tokyo.
• Harajuku on a Sunday–This is when and where all the goth and cosplay people gather.
• Shinjuku and Shibuya–Two of the very urban areas of Tokyo. Great for neon lights, buildings, and people photographs.
• Ginza–This is the expensive shopping district
• Asakusa–This is where the famous big latern is you have seen in photographs.
• Akihabara–Electric Town but is kind of turning into Anime/Cosplay Town.
• Tsukiji–The largest fish markets in the world, go early and don’t dress up!