Japan consists of four small Pacific islands, together about the size of the state of Texas, but with ten times as many people. Honshu is the main island and the largest with the densely populated urban centers of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Hokkaido, the northernmost and second largest island, is a land of snow-capped mountains, with minimal industrial development. Shikoku, the smallest island, shares the Inland Sea with Honshu and has fine beaches and a rural, historical flavor. Farthest south is mountainous Kyushu, with the ancient port of Nagasaki, where early missionaries brought Christianity to a predominantly Shinto and Buddhist culture.

In Tokyo, tourism focuses on the Imperial Palace and Ueno Park, where the national museum, art gallery, science museum, and zoo are congregated. Elsewhere, visitors can explore rock gardens, wildlife parks, ancient religious shrines, smoking volcanoes, and hot springs. Excursions from Tokyo offer visits to resorts, lakes, waterfalls, and natural hot springs at the year-round Hakone resort area to the southeast and Nikko to the northwest.

Subtropical resorts are found on the island of Ryukyu, Hokkaido, and Nikko. Sapporo, the site of the 1972 Winter Olympics, is a popular stepping-off point on Hokkaido. Other noteworthy sites include the Tokugawa shogun shrine and temples at Nikko and the Great Buddha at Nara. Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park is filled with lush landscape and breathtaking vistas.

The metropolitan area of Tokyo is accentuated by the scenic splendor of Mount Fuji, Tokyo Bay, and Nikko and Hakone national parks. Places to visit include the Emperor's Palace on the site of a fifteenth-century castle, the Diet Building (Parliament offices), Hibiya Park, Meiji Shrine, Ueno Park museums, and the Iris Garden. Traditional theater features the arts of Kabuki, Noh, and Bunraku (the art of the puppet). Music in Tokyo ranges from country music and rock to classical and jazz. Tokyo has more than 50 galleries and museums, many of which contain masterpieces of Asian, American, and European painting and sculpture. The Museum of Western Art houses one of the best collections of French impressionist art and Rodin sculptures in the world. The Ginza is a popular tourist attraction offering shopping and active Tokyo nightlife.

In Kyoto, the "Cultural Heart" and ancient capital of Japan, are the Heian Shrine, Imperial Palace, Ryoanji Temple, the shimmering Kinkakuji Temple, Nijo Castle, Classical Gardens, and Sacred Deer Park. In 1994, Kyoto will celebrate its 1,200th anniversary. Traditional Japanese dwellings, called machiya, can still be viewed in Kyoto. The machiya were built entirely of natural materials–wood, clay, paper, and sand. Outside Kyoto, historic Sanneizaka, or monzencho ("town outside the temple gate"), has been preserved from urban development. An average of 50,000 tourists tread up the cobbled steps leading to the Kiyomizu temple on the Sanneizaka slope every day.

Osaka is the financial, commercial, and industrial hub of western Japan. Umeda District features shops, nightclubs and department stores, Osaka Castle, Temmangu Shrine, Shitennoji Temple, Kabuki and Noh theaters, and Bunraku (puppet plays).