The clash of old culture meets new is amazing; from beautiful the mountainous landscape of the countryside on the outskirts of Kyoto, to the super busy and incredibly huge city of Tokyo with its amazing architectural and technological presence there is lots to be seen.

 A global culinary center of excellence: The cuisine is simply amazing. They have incredibly high standards when it comes to ingredients and presentation is paramount. I would describe it as an evolved Asian-French fusion....the food is incredibly flavorful and rich. It seems as perfectionists they have made something out of this world from the most amazing sushi to the incredibly tender and butter like kobe beef.  There is also something about the sweets, there are far more sweet shops and bakeries than restaurants every where you go. I definitely could not get enough matcha ice cream or langue du chat that is made in Kyoto . Tokyo apparently has more Michelin rated restaurants than any other city in the world.

A picturesque mountainous country:  About 70% of Japan is mountainous, with an endless wavy mountain range running through about every main island. Japan's highest mountain is Mount Fuji, with an ear popping elevation of 3,776 m. All this makes for great sunset scenery and plenty of eye candy especially in fall and winter (see pictures below).