Canyons, an outdoor adventure company that operates out of several locations in the Kanto region, allows its guests to plunge, quite literally, into Japan’s natural beauty — and, sometimes, head-first.

Tokyo is home to several world-class museums, displaying everything from Japanese artifacts to contemporary anime-inspired art pieces. One unique museum in the sprawling metropolis pays homage not to an artist or ancient civilization, but to a beloved companion to Japan’s rich culinary history: Beer.

Japan is a nation famous for its festival traditions. The celebrations — which can range from the rowdy and rambunctious, to the spiritual and serene — often date back hundreds of years, and many are steeped in ancient Japanese history and folklore. But a festival taking place next weekend in Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture is based on something a bit more contemporary: A love of all things bacon.

Just a quick ferry ride from Naha, Tokashiki Island is part of the Kerama archipelago and is famous for its white, sandy beaches and diverse marine life.

A relaxed shopping plaza just west of Shinjuku offers plenty for anime lovers to enjoy — and without all the fuss and crowds usually associated with Tokyo’s better-known otaku hangout.

Izena Island is only a 55-minute ferry ride from northern Okinawa — but the island seems like it was frozen in time, due mainly to the way in which its residents preserve the traditional Okinawan way of life.

Embarking on a run or a ride without encountering the hazards of city living might be difficult, especially for anyone living in the densely-populated areas of Tokyo prefecture. Luckily, there’s the Tama River Trail — a popular cycling road offering an opportunity for athletes of all skill levels and ages to experience uninterrupted adventure.

In Japan, one doesn’t need to travel far to enjoy the many natural hot springs — or onsens in Japanese — the country has to offer. Visitors to Tokyo can treat themselves with a rejuvenating trip to an onsen in the heart of the city.

For more than 100 years, the park in the heart of the trendy neighborhood of Kichijoji has been drawing families and young people with its scenic landscape and famous cherry blossoms.

Nestled on the edge of downtown Honolulu, the Foster National Garden is home to scores of rare and unique flowering plants and trees from around the tropics. It’s also home to two of the world’s most malodorous botanical wonders.

Every year, thousands of tourists and locals flock to Tokyo’s Imperial Palace — which embodies the old-meets-new aesthetic that dominates much of Tokyo, with modern office buildings and upscale department stores surrounding the traditional buildings and greenery of the nearly 561-year-old complex.

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Don’t let the Tokyo address fool you, because the Akigawa Valley is about as far away from the crowds and congestion of the city as one can get without leaving the metropolitan prefecture.

Nestled along the shoreline of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo DisneySea lives up to its nautically themed name — and its Disney theme park heritage.

In the Japanese art of kintsugi, when ceramic items break or get old, the flaws and cracks are treated as a badge of honor.

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Far from the hustle and bustle of downtown Tokyo lie the Nippara Limestone Caves — featuring one of the largest caves in the Kanto region, formed millions of years ago, which now draws visitors seeking a cool escape from the city.

If you’re looking to challenge your bravery while catching mesmerizing metropolitan and seaside views, a ride aboard the jewel of Yokohoma’s skyline will do.

If you’re looking for a place to pedal or jog to your heart’s content, a place free of traffic lights and mobs of pedestrians, with more excitement than Tama River’s flat trail, a bike path near Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo might be just that place.

History can be found anywhere if one looks close enough — including under the road you’re driving on. Nagasaki City’s Mitsubishi Sumiyoshi Tunnel Arms Factory is such a place.

I recently tried to explain to a 3-year-old the why and whence of dinosaurs, her newly found object of fascination. I failed. After all, how can you break down geologic timespans of millions of years, mass extinctions and fossilized remains to someone who doesn’t yet distinguish minutes from hours?

Never underestimate the Thunder Dolphin. It's named for a friendly sea mammal, but a ride on this roller coaster at the Tokyo Dome City theme park will set your heart racing.

An old wooden fishing boat displayed in an odd-looking building at Tokyo’s Yumenoshima Park survived a nuclear explosion and helped inspire the Godzilla film series.

It is an iconic photograph that has come to symbolize the Battle of Okinawa — a pair of GIs huddled behind a menacing stone lion, observing a nearby ridge through binoculars, a handful of their fellow soldiers taking cover nearby.

Even if you haven’t heard of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, chances are you’ve seen her work — perhaps in a museum, but most likely on social media, where her whimsical, technicolor creations are almost always guaranteed to draw a flurry of “likes” and comments.

At Naeba Prince Hotel — nestled in Japan’s third-largest ski area about two and a half hours northwest of Tokyo — it’s easy to imagine you’re inside a massive cruise liner that’s run aground at the foot of a dormant volcano.

Anata No Warehouse, a five-story video-game arcade just south of Tokyo in the city of Kawasaki, was designed to represent the gritty, disreputable atmosphere of Hong Kong's infamous Kowloon Walled City.

“Jurassic Park” was supposed to have taken place on an island off the coast of Central America. But if author Michael Crichton had visited the forest of Yanbaru in northern Okinawa, he might have well set his classic thriller in Japan instead.

It takes a while to reach the highest point of Kagura, a sprawling ski resort in mountainous Niigata Prefecture, but it’s worth the journey to ride some of the lightest, deepest snow in Japan.

The calm waters of the Kurihama coast near the Perry Memorial Hall in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, offer little clue that the area was once the scene of a turbulent episode in Japanese history.

Tucked amid the expensive apartments and high-end shopping centers of Tokyo’s fashionable Ginza district is an oddity of architecture and a vision for a future that never was.

Beginning in December, humpback whales arrive from the north Pacific to the warm waters of Hawaii — the only U.S. state where they mate, calve and nurse their young. Tourists can spot the elusive creatures via whale-watching tours.