The Ryukyu Islands & the Maiden Voyage to Japan

Glide into Victoria Harbour as the skyline ignites, SeaDream III overnights here, so the Symphony of Lights becomes your private nightcap from the deck. Ride the century-old Star Ferry at dusk, hunt Michelin-starred dim sum in Central, then take the funicular up Victoria Peak for the whole city laid out at your feet. A dawn sampan through Aberdeen's floating village and a fitting with a bespoke tailor round out a port that rewards those who stay long past sundown.

Manta rays glide through cleaning stations off this Yaeyama Islands hub in numbers rare anywhere else in Japan, drawing serious divers from around the world for a close encounter most only see on film. Kabira Bay's black-pearl farms and impossibly clear, multi-hued water are protected from swimming to preserve the ecozystem, best seen instead from a glass-bottom boat. Egrets and herons crowd the island's mangrove river mouths, while a beach-forward, laid-back pace sets the whole island apart from mainland Japan. Japan's tropics, genuinely.

Manta rays glide through cleaning stations off this Yaeyama Islands hub in numbers rare anywhere else in Japan, drawing serious divers from around the world for a close encounter most only see on film. Kabira Bay's black-pearl farms and impossibly clear, multi-hued water are protected from swimming to preserve the ecozystem, best seen instead from a glass-bottom boat. Egrets and herons crowd the island's mangrove river mouths, while a beach-forward, laid-back pace sets the whole island apart from mainland Japan. Japan's tropics, genuinely.

Shuri Castle, seat of the independent Ryukyu Kingdom for four centuries before Japan absorbed it, reflects a distinct culture, cuisine and even language found nowhere else in the country. Okinawa's population includes some of the highest concentrations of centenarians on earth, a longevity researchers have studied for decades and one that shows up in the local diet of bitter melon, purple sweet potato and slow-cooked pork. Coral reefs ring the main island for some of Japan's best snorkeling, while herons and egrets work the coastal wetlands. Japan, but genuinely, distinctly its own place.

A UNESCO World Heritage subtropical rainforest covers much of this Ryukyu island, home to the Amami rabbit, a primitive, dark-furred species found nowhere else on earth and often called a living fossil. Traditional Oshima tsumugi silk, dyed in mud using a centuries-old technique, is still handwoven here and prized as one of Japan's finest textiles. Mangrove kayaking and some of the clearest coral reef in the Ryukyus round out an island that feels closer to Okinawa's wild heart than to mainland Japan.

Ancient cedar trees, some more than a thousand years old and one estimated at over seven thousand, stand deep in this UNESCO World Heritage rainforest, the same moss-draped landscape that inspired Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. Waterfalls tumble through forest so wet it rains, locals joke, thirty-five days a month, while onsen dot the coastline for a soak after the hike. One of the most primeval landscapes anywhere in Japan.

Ancient cedar trees, some more than a thousand years old and one estimated at over seven thousand, stand deep in this UNESCO World Heritage rainforest, the same moss-draped landscape that inspired Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. Waterfalls tumble through forest so wet it rains, locals joke, thirty-five days a month, while onsen dot the coastline for a soak after the hike. One of the most primeval landscapes anywhere in Japan.

Shikoku's Sunday market, running for well over a mile through the center of town, is the largest and oldest street market in Japan, farmers and fishermen selling directly from stalls much as they have for over three hundred years. Bonito, seared over a straw fire and sliced thick, is close to a civic dish here, best eaten with a shot of the region's own sake. Ryoma Sakamoto, one of the key figures in ending Japan's feudal era, was born in this city and is honored with a striking bronze statue overlooking the bay. An unpretentious, proudly local corner of Shikoku.

Few views of Mount Fuji rival the one from Miho no Matsubara, a UNESCO-listed pine grove sweeping along the shore here that has been painted and photographed for centuries as the classic frame for the mountain beyond. Shimizu's port lands more tuna than almost anywhere else in Japan, and a proper sushi lunch here is close to essential. A round of golf with Fuji on the horizon and a soak in one of the region's onsen round out one of Japan's most scenically blessed ports.

Few cities anywhere absorb this much contrast this comfortably, centuries-old shrines sit blocks from neon-lit crossings, and a Michelin-starred meal is as easy to find as a standing-room ramen counter. Meiji Shrine's forested grounds, planted from donated trees a century ago, shelter a genuine variety of birdlife within sight of Shibuya's skyscrapers, while Tsukiji Outer Market still trades on the same seafood obsession that built the city's reputation. A round of golf at a classic Kanto course and an evening in Ginza or Shinjuku round out a capital that never quite runs out of new things to show you.