From classic sights to lesser-known gems and transport tips to seasonal highlights, here’s the lowdown on visiting Japan.

The first thing I noticed about ryokans were the slippers. They're everywhere, waiting at every threshold, marking the countless invisible lines between public and private, inside and out.

It is closer to this 'Hell Valley' than any of the other ryokan in the area. Noboribetsu Hell Valley is only a three-minute walk from Dai-ichi Takimotokan. A variety of mineral hot springs gush from ...

The 12th Littoral Combat Team was established in a ceremony at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, on March 3 and is the third and final element of the Marine Corps' latest answer to Chinese influence in the ...

U.S. Marine Corps Lt Col. Jacob Godby uncase the 12th Littoral Combat Team colors during a designation ceremony of 12th Marines to 12th MLR on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Mar. 5, 2025. 12th MLR is ...

Takamatsu Gushiken turns on a headlamp and enters a cave buried in Okinawa's jungle. He gently runs his fingers through the gravel until two pieces of bone emerge. These are from the skulls ...

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Eighty years on from the Battle of Okinawa during World War II, the remains of some of those killed are ...

A forced slowdown would be necessary. When my research brought me to ryokans, it felt like fate. Calling a ryokan a Japanese bed-and-breakfast is a pretty good way to sum it up for Western audiences ...

KIN BLUE BEACH, Okinawa — An hourlong amphibious landing by U.S. Marines and Japanese troops over the weekend served as the “key bilateral training event” of Iron Fist, a defining exercise ...

U.S. Marines disembark from a landing vessel onto a beach in the town of Kin, Okinawa Prefecture, on Saturday. The Yomiuri Shimbun 15:47 JST, March 2, 2025 The Ground Self-Defense Force, the U.S.