HOKURIKU

Taste the best food cultures that make the most of an abundance of ingredients and preparation methods.

In the snow belt between Hokuriku and Gifu's Hida Mountain Range, take a bus tour down a road lined with three-star tourist spots listed in the Michelin Green Guide Japan.

Despite their combined population of only 900, the villages of Shunran no Sato drew 11,000 visitors in 2014, attracted by the prospect of experiencing traditional Japanese life from locals only too happy to share.

Most of the subjects of this story didn't see themselves where they are now—but all of them found something incredible in the Japanese countryside, leading each to develop a unique and indelible bond to the local community.

First I traveled from Nagoya Station to Takayama via JR Ltd. Express Hida (Wide View).

Check out this brilliant and terrifying promotional stunt for Dino-A-Live, an animatronics exhibition that lets visitors feel like they’ve met a real, living dinosaur.

SnowJapan is greeting the 2015/2016 season with a sprawling travel section upgrade.