Japan

Japan is a journey I’ve been meaning to visit for many years as I’ve always admired its art and culture. In Tokyo, I visited Senso-ji, one of the city’s oldest temples. Through Kaminarimon Gate, beneath the enormous red lantern, past the wooden statues of the Buddhist gods, the road to the temple is lined with stalls selling everything from key chains to plastic Kabuki masks and kimonos.

In Tokyo, you don’t go to stores just to shop, especially at Ginza’s department stores where a must-see are the basement food halls such as Mitsukoshi’s Ginza Food Garden, where display cases are filled with meticulously presented bento boxes, fluffy tempura plates, mochi and chocolate confessions. I ended my trip with an exhibition of the artist Yayoi Kusama’s work with its signature dot motifs.