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10 Days with a Japan Rail Pass - Rachel McCombie, HolidayLettings.co.uk

10 Days with a Japan Rail Pass

I chose the perfect time of year for my first visit to Japan. It was the beginning of April and the cherry trees were in full blossom. The first thing I noticed was all the vending machines; I spotted fourteen lined up on one street corner, selling everything from umbrellas to beer. I noticed the window displays in restaurants: bizarre plastic replicas of the dishes on offer, which were remarkably useful for a non-Japanese speaker. And the rumours I’d heard about the reliability of Japanese Shinkansen or bullet trains turned out to be entirely true.

My trip began with three days in Tokyo, where the juxtaposition between the ultra-modern and the quaintly traditional is striking. Once you’ve mastered the confusing maze of the Tokyo subway, you can see the dazzling lights of the Akihabara district on the same afternoon as strolling round the picturesque gardens of the Imperial Palace. The Tsukiji fish market – the world’s biggest – is an unexpected highlight of Tokyo, selling the most weird and wonderful fish I’d ever seen. The red and white Tokyo Tower – Japan’s answer to the Eiffel Tower – rises above the metropolis, the upper observation deck swaying in the wind and, on a clear day, offering stunning views as far as the Mount Fuji volcano.

I headed down to Kyoto for the next stage of my trip and was treated to a stunningly clear close-up of Mount Fuji, which is normally shrouded in cloud. The atmosphere in Kyoto is, unsurprisingly, much more peaceful than Tokyo, with a more traditional vibe. The city is home to a whopping 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is dominated by a number of stunning temples, my favourite of which (Kinkakuji) is gold. At Heian Jingu Shrine you can cross the same stepping stones as Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation; the tranquil gardens are especially picturesque amidst the glorious pink bloom of the cherry trees.

From Kyoto I hopped aboard the train again and went down to Hiroshima for a couple of days to witness the moving sight of the only building still standing from the city’s annihilation in the notorious Atom Bomb of 1945. Known simply as the A-bomb Dome, it is a skeletal ruin, kept exactly as it was after the catastrophe as a reminder of the tragic loss of life.

The Japan Rail Pass once again came in handy for a final day trip out to the sacred island of Miyajima in Hiroshima Bay. The Itsukushima Shrine, built on stilts over the water, is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, but it has to be said that the island’s primary appeal is its herd of tame deer. They are sacred in the Shinto religion and wander freely around the island, unfazed by the attention they receive from adoring tourists.

By the time I left Japan, I’d had a deer chase me for ice cream; I’d seen a volcano up close; I’d had my first taste of seaweed; and, at the tender age of 22, I’d finally learnt to use chopsticks.

Rachel McCombie

A geographic researcher at Holiday Lettings, Rachel is passionate about Rome. Since her first visit in 2005, Rachel has returned to this historic city 5 times and dreams of moving there to become an educational tour guide. Rachel has worked for holidaylettings.co.uk since 2006 and has established a high level understanding of the holiday home lettings marketplace.

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