Japan is a favorite destination for tourists worldwide. It has quietly but strongly emerged as a hot favorite of the tourists round the year. A holiday vacation in Japan begins from the New Year and continues till the next New Year! In fact, the Japanese businesses all shut down from January 1 to January 3 as people use this holiday time to spend time together with their loved ones. The Japanese give a lot of prominence to this holiday period and is locally called ‘shogatsu’ or ‘oshogatsu’. At the end of the year the Japanese celebrate with typical year forgetting parties called ‘bonenkai parties’. These signify leaving behind the gone years worries and troubles with a forward looking approach to a fresh start.

The New Years Eve sees the entrance gates being decorated and cleaning in all Japanese homes. This is followed by the serving of buckwheat noodles which according to tradition symbolize longevity. The Japanese lay a lot of emphasis on enjoying January 1st with a lot of fun bereft of stress and anger. A lot many also take this opportunity to visit a shrine or temple at sunshine. In Tokyo, the ‘Meiji Shrine’ attracts several million people over a period of three days in the beginning of the year. Previously people would participate in games which have decreased in popularity in recent years.

Japan being an all the year destination attracts tourists in every season of the year. The international tourists can enjoy the now internationally popular Japanese entertainment industry. One of the world’s largest entertainment industries it has innovatively created a niche for itself by overcoming the culture and language barrier to cater to an international audience. One must not forget to spend time in Japan’s amusement parks while on holiday to the nation. These parks are to be found in all parts of Japan and are very popular as well. One of the most famous is the one located in its capital city: the ‘Tokyo Disney Resort’. It is located at a convenient location about fifteen minutes by train from Tokyo station. There are numerous amusement parks of various kinds which are quite popular as well.

A journey to Japan is amiss without a glimpse of its national sport: ‘Sumo wrestling’. This Japanese style of wrestling owes its origins to ancient times which were then celebrated as a performance to please the ‘Shinto Gods’. Tokyo holds three Sumo wrestling tournaments every year in the months of January, May and September. One tournament is held in Osaka in March, one in Nagoya in July and one in Fukuoka in November. Experience the hospitality of the hotels in Japan with a flavor of their traditional tea ceremony. The custom of the tea ceremony has been influenced from Zen Buddhism. Japanese hospitality is famously represented by the well behaved staff at any of the Japan hotels. The international traveler can look forward to some fabulous services and amenities during their stay in the Japan hotels which are at par with the international standards.