The Rugby World Cup turns the spotlight on some of the lesser-known corners of Japan
Claire Webb - 14 September 2019
Ask people what they know about Japan and it’s almost certain that rugby won’t be the first thing they mention. But more than 400,000 fans are expected to flock to Japan for Asia’s first rugby World Cup – and the fixtures are in 12 stadiums across the country, putting the spotlight on cities that first-time visitors don’t usually reach. Home nations’ supporters who find themselves in Sapporo in the far north, Fukuoka in the south and cosmopolitan Kobe will find there’s plenty to keep them entertained between matches.
PRICELESS KOBE
Framed by forested mountains, this laid-back city lies across the bay from Osaka on the southern coast of the mainland — the island of Honshu.
CABLE CARS AND CALM WATERS
Catch an antique cable car to Mount Rokko for a panoramic view of Kobe, neighbouring Osaka and the calm waters of the Seto Inland Sea. The finest view in town is from the observation deck of the Kobe Port Tower — a column of red pipes that had a cameo in one of the Godzilla movies. The best place to sample rice wine is the Nada district’s old-school sake breweries.
RARE BEEF
Kobe’s buttery, marbled beef (below) is one of the world’s most expensive meats, but connoisseurs won’t regret splurging.
TEMPLES AND HOT SPRINGS
Step back in time at Arima, a quaint village with cobbled lanes, centuries old wooden buildings, traditional inns, temples and hot springs — the oldest onsen in Japan.
FESTIVAL OF LIGHT
The city centre glows with 200,000 hand-painted lights for two weeks in December. Kobe Luminarie
is a moving tribute to the 6,400 people who died in the 1995 earthquake.
FLY OR RIDE?
Kobe is a just over an hour’s flight or 160-minute bullet train from Tokyo.
SNOWY SAPPORO
Capital of the rugged northern island of Hokkaido, Sapporo has a buzzing downtown and fantastic
Food, but is best known for its annual Snow Festival. Enormous snow edifices and dazzling snow and ice sculptures appear in the city during the week-long festivities in February.
ISLAND HISTORY
Learn what life was like for the colonists who settled on the island in the late 1800s and early 1900s at the Historic Village of Hokkaido. Seafood lovers should head to Sapporo’s Nijo market, where locals tuck into sea urchin and salmon eggs on rice for breakfast. Glide to the top of the mountain that looms over the city on a cable car.
NOODLES WITH EVERYTHING
When you’ve had your fill of seafood, try miso broth ramen — every ramen shop has its own take on the dish. Wash it down with Japan’s oldest beer, Sapporo lager.
PARK LIFE
Shikotsu-Toya National park has a lush active volcano and a hot spring resort town.
FLY OR RIDE?
Sapporo is the furthest host city from Tokyo — a 90-minute flight or an eight-hour train ride.
SUNNY FUKUOKA
Closer to Seoul than Tokyo, this multicultural port has been a trading centre for some 2,000 years and is the biggest city on Kyushu — the most southerly of Japan’s main islands.
STAY ZEN
Explore the temples and shrines in Hakata Old Town. Fukuoka is a shopping mecca: buy traditional handicrafts at its oldest mall, Kawabata Arcade. Seek spiritual solace at Japan’s first Zen temple, Shofukuji.
STREET FOOD AND SUSHI
Have a steaming bowl of tonkotsu ramen (pork-bone broth) from one of the carts that appear at sunset.
TAKE IN THE BAY
Hop on the ten-minute ferry to Nokonoshima, an island in Hakata Bay.
EARLY-MORNING PROCESSION
During Hakata Gion Yamakasa in July, there’s an unusual 5km race: decorated floats are dragged through the city in the early hours.
FLY OR RIDE
Five hours by bullet train, or two hours by plane.
Ask people what they know about Japan and it’s almost certain that rugby won’t be the first thing they mention. But more than 400,000 fans are expected to flock to Japan for Asia’s first rugby World Cup – and the fixtures are in 12 stadiums across the country, putting the spotlight on cities that first-time visitors don’t usually reach. Home nations’ supporters who find themselves in Sapporo in the far north, Fukuoka in the south and cosmopolitan Kobe will find there’s plenty to keep them entertained between matches.
PRICELESS KOBE
Framed by forested mountains, this laid-back city lies across the bay from Osaka on the southern coast of the mainland — the island of Honshu.
CABLE CARS AND CALM WATERS
Catch an antique cable car to Mount Rokko for a panoramic view of Kobe, neighbouring Osaka and the calm waters of the Seto Inland Sea. The finest view in town is from the observation deck of the Kobe Port Tower — a column of red pipes that had a cameo in one of the Godzilla movies. The best place to sample rice wine is the Nada district’s old-school sake breweries.
RARE BEEF
Kobe’s buttery, marbled beef (below) is one of the world’s most expensive meats, but connoisseurs won’t regret splurging.
TEMPLES AND HOT SPRINGS
Step back in time at Arima, a quaint village with cobbled lanes, centuries old wooden buildings, traditional inns, temples and hot springs — the oldest onsen in Japan.
FESTIVAL OF LIGHT
The city centre glows with 200,000 hand-painted lights for two weeks in December. Kobe Luminarie
is a moving tribute to the 6,400 people who died in the 1995 earthquake.
FLY OR RIDE?
Kobe is a just over an hour’s flight or 160-minute bullet train from Tokyo.
SNOWY SAPPORO
Capital of the rugged northern island of Hokkaido, Sapporo has a buzzing downtown and fantastic
Food, but is best known for its annual Snow Festival. Enormous snow edifices and dazzling snow and ice sculptures appear in the city during the week-long festivities in February.
ISLAND HISTORY
Learn what life was like for the colonists who settled on the island in the late 1800s and early 1900s at the Historic Village of Hokkaido. Seafood lovers should head to Sapporo’s Nijo market, where locals tuck into sea urchin and salmon eggs on rice for breakfast. Glide to the top of the mountain that looms over the city on a cable car.
NOODLES WITH EVERYTHING
When you’ve had your fill of seafood, try miso broth ramen — every ramen shop has its own take on the dish. Wash it down with Japan’s oldest beer, Sapporo lager.
PARK LIFE
Shikotsu-Toya National park has a lush active volcano and a hot spring resort town.
FLY OR RIDE?
Sapporo is the furthest host city from Tokyo — a 90-minute flight or an eight-hour train ride.
SUNNY FUKUOKA
Closer to Seoul than Tokyo, this multicultural port has been a trading centre for some 2,000 years and is the biggest city on Kyushu — the most southerly of Japan’s main islands.
STAY ZEN
Explore the temples and shrines in Hakata Old Town. Fukuoka is a shopping mecca: buy traditional handicrafts at its oldest mall, Kawabata Arcade. Seek spiritual solace at Japan’s first Zen temple, Shofukuji.
STREET FOOD AND SUSHI
Have a steaming bowl of tonkotsu ramen (pork-bone broth) from one of the carts that appear at sunset.
TAKE IN THE BAY
Hop on the ten-minute ferry to Nokonoshima, an island in Hakata Bay.
EARLY-MORNING PROCESSION
During Hakata Gion Yamakasa in July, there’s an unusual 5km race: decorated floats are dragged through the city in the early hours.
FLY OR RIDE
Five hours by bullet train, or two hours by plane.