Ways to Be a Local

• Learn to enjoy karaoke. A willingness to stand up and make a fool of yourself for the benefit of others is considered entertainment.
• Shop till you drop. Any major city in Japan is filled with shops, and people love, at the very least, to see what's on offer.
• Peel your fruit. Japanese people always peel grapes and apples before eating them.
• Don't blow your nose in public. An old chestnut and one which is becoming less relevant, but still worth bearing in mind.
• Eat unusual vegetables. The Japanese eat all sorts of things that Westerners would never consider trying - ferns and water-lilies for example.
• Wear a mask if you have a cold. Many Japanese wear a sort of surgical mask if they catch a cold in winter.
• Buy a lunch box (bento). Office workers often buy a boxed set lunch from local take-aways.
• Don't stick your chopsticks upright in your rice. That is how offerings are made to the dead.
• Remember that the taxi door often opens automatically and that you will fall out if you are leaning on it.
• Do remove your shoes when walking on tatami mats and other places like temples and changing rooms in stores.

Good Places to Have Lunch

• Cook's (Moderately priced) ADDRESS: Kenkyusha Eigo Centre Building, 1- 2 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo PHONE: (03) 3235 9535. Restaurant serving British-style lunch with English beer.
• Shin-Hokkaien (Moderately priced) ADDRESS: 2F, 3-16-15 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo PHONE: (03) 3505 881. Authentic Beijing restaurant with excellent dim sum.
• Fisherman's Grill (Moderately priced) ADDRESS: Sunset Beach Restaurant Row, 1-3-5 Daiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo PHONE: (03) 5531 5007 (O-daiba Kaihin Koen sta). Western seafood restaurant with great view of the beach and Rainbow Bridge.
• Hinazushi Sushi Bar ADDRESS: 1-3-5 Daiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo PHONE: (03) 5531 0017. One of a chain of sushi bars with excellent-priced menu offering 'all you can eat'.
• Kikunoi (Expensive) ADDRESS: 459 Shimo Kawaramachi, Yasaka Torii Mae, Shimo Kawaramachi-dori, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605 PHONE: (075) 561 0015. Japanese haute cuisine in traditional restaurant in the heart of one of Kyoto's most famous areas.
• Sasaki (Inexpensive) ADDRESS: 139 Kurumajicho, Kamitkano, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto PHONE: (075) 712 7879. Inexpensive Japanese noodle restaurant. Closed Wed. English spoken.
• Kawafune (Moderately priced) ADDRESS: Nagaragawa Hotel, 51-1 Nagara Ukaiya, Gifu-shi, Gifu-ken PHONE: (058)232 4111. Japanese restaurant serving excellent set lunch. Some English spoken.
• New Takeya Saloon (Inexpensive) ADDRESS: 2-6-44 Nakadori, Akita-shi, Akita-ken PHONE: (0188) 34 5521. Restaurant serving Japanese, Chinese and Western food with varied lunch specials. Closed first Mon of each month. English spoken.
• Bistro D'Azur (Moderately priced) ADDRESS: 2-3- 21 Shinsaibashi-suji, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka-fu PHONE: (06) 211 4752. Mediterranean restaurant just 7min walk from Subway/Kintetsu Namba station, offering a special lunch menu at excellent prices. English spoken.
• Okaru (Inexpensive) ADDRESS: 13 Higashimuki Nakamachi, Nara-shi, Nara-ken PHONE: (0742) 24 3686. Restaurant specialising in okonomiyaki, a type of pancake whose name literally means 'cook to one's taste'. Customers select the ingredients from the menu and cook the pancakes themselves on a hotplate in the centre of the table. English spoken.

Top Activities

• Going on a pilgrimage: most people in Japan lead at least a nominal religious life and visits to temples appropriate to a wish or a need continue to play an important role. More than that, for the serious follower of Buddhism, there are circuits to follow that will involve a round of visits to famous temples or long hikes up holy mountains.
• Having communal baths: bathing is an important pastime in Japan among people of all ages. There are some 2,000 communal public baths (known as sento) in Tokyo alone. The system involves sitting on a small stool, soaping the body with a cloth and rinsing thoroughly so you are clean before immersing oneself in the communal hot bath.
• Hiking: nearly all the national parks in Japan have hiking routes. Maps are readily available in hiking areas but are rarely in foreign languages. The most beautiful places for hiking are in the Japan Alps and in Hokkaido.
• Martial arts: practised worldwide as forms of self-defence, Japanese martial arts come in many forms. Karate and judo are the most famous but there are many others, including aikido ('The Way of Harmony'), kendo ('The Way of the Sword') and kyudu, which is Japanese archery.
• Watching a sumo match: the one sport that is associated with Japan and nowhere else is the esoteric form of wrestling called sumo. It is performed on a hard-packed clay circle, 4.5m in diameter, by huge, top-knotted specimens of Japanese manhood wearing nothing more than a sort of rigid loincloth with a fringe. Salt is thrown to purify the arena. The combatants square up to each other. One launches himself at the other. In the ensuing struggle the winner is he who shoves the other out of the ring. There are six annual tournaments in Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Tokyo. Sumo is very popular, and the top wrestlers enjoy celebrity status.

Famous Hot Springs (Onsen)

• Arima: 1,300-year-old hot spring behind Mount Rokko, close to Osaka.
• Arita Kanko Hotel: hotel offering hot baths in a cable-car over dramatic coastal scenery.
• Asakusa Kannon Onsen, Tokyo: public bath with hot spring water.
• Atami: close to Tokyo and popular with tourists.
• Beppu: one of the most famous resorts in Japan - tacky but entertaining.
• Dogo Onsen: famous spa close to Matsuyama.
• Hakone Onsen: 14 hot springs with views of Mount Fuji.
• Ibusuki Onsen, Kyushu: bury yourself in hot sand and enjoy the steam from underground natural springs.
• Noboribetsu Onsen, Hokkaido: there are 11 types of spring water at this hot spring.
• Sakino-yu Onsen, Shirahama is built into rocks by the sea.