Almost exactly four years to the day that I first visited the Land of the Rising Sun, it was back to Japan for a return trip, with the same two friends but on an entirely different itinerary.

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This time, I bought a JR Rail pass and took full advantage of it, traveling to some of Japan's off-the-beaten path destinations including the beautiful nature of Nikko, the amazing street food scene of Fukuoka, the beaches of Isshiki and the volcanic vibe of Kagoshima. Of course, visits to the old standbys of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima were also back on the itinerary, with some old haunts and new discoveries (a bar called 'Not Suspicious' in Tokyo and Hiroshima's culinary classic 'Okonomiyaki'.

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What a fantastic trip it was, only solidifying Japan as one of my favorite destinations in the world. The cleanliness, the courtesy, the nature, the food and the sake are all reasons to put Japan on your bucket list if you haven't been yet.

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My only advice: get out of the big cities a little. There's so much more to Japan than Tokyo and Osaka.