Our man in Japan

What it's like to visit now? The best of 2022 and travel tips galore [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey friends, it’s [Brandon Presser]( here, Bloomberg Pursuits’ field reporter covering emerging travel destinations, and the [intersection of luxury and adventure experiences](. I’m writing from the [Aman Kyoto]( where [forest bathing]( under the autumn koyo leaves and relaxing in the mineral-rich onsen hot spring are an integral part of a grueling research schedule…. I’m on the tail end of seven weeks of research across Asia to check out the bevy of new hotels, restaurants and activities that have opened over the last three pandemic-stunted years. About half of this trip has been spent in Japan, which holds a very special place in my heart after living here twice, and co-authoring three travel books about the country. It’s great to be back. My last trip to Japan ended very abruptly in mid-March of 2020 with a call from Bloomberg HQ in the middle of the night urging me to hustle to Narita Airport and get on the last flight back to the US before the border closed. Have things changed? Yes. And also no.  In 2019 I wrote about how modern kaiseki cuisine from chef Yoshihiro Imai was a major reason to visit Kyoto. Photographer: Carol Sachs for Bloomberg Businessweek Forget the headlines announcing “go to Japan before the crowds return.” [That brief moment]( has passed. Although travelers from mainland China—who made up some 40% of Japan’s tourism revenue before the pandemic—are still absent, the hour-long lines for [superlative ramen]( and the polite fight to get the perfect photo at [Kiyomizu-dera Temple]( are back. Regional Asian travelers (Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore) are exploring en masse, and the general managers of several luxury hotels told me that their percentages of American guests have already climbed back up to 70% or 80% in just six short weeks. The long lines at major attractions are also partly due a serious push from the government to [spark domestic travel](, with [subsidized train tickets and hotel stays]( for Japanese nationals. And here’s the Kyoto’s Kiyomizu-dera Temple this fall. Photographer: Brandon Presser But the news about the best-in-decades exchange rate? [Now that’s something.]( Today, after years of watching the currencies hover close to parody, I got 10,000 yen for just $72. Eating in Japan has always represented excellent value compared to any Western nation, so the extra cash in hand means foodies can easily level-up their omakase game or, if you’re like me, opt for doubling up your lunches to further expand your Rolodex of low-end wonders like udon, onigiri (seaweed-wrapped rice balls) and [yakitori](. [The tonkatsu at Maisen]( remains a perennial fave, and [the gyoza at Min Min]( in the basement of Tokyo Station is the perfect pit stop before boarding your Shinkansen bullet train; both meals cost less than a muffin and a latte at Starbucks. (You’ll have to message me directly if you want the name of the best yakitori place on the planet.) And for Tokyo’s best ramen? Just ask top chefs. Photographer: Takashi Yasumura/Bloomberg Besides the favorable currency, the other major delight of this Japanese foray has been exploring Kyushu, poised to become the country’s must-try wellness destination. With a new Shinkansen bullet train line, and a rapidly growing number of luxury hotels, Japan’s third-largest island is a gurgling volcanic cauldron with scores of hot spring resort towns, dozens of shochu and sake distilleries, and a rich culinary tradition (that ramen you love so much comes from here). A worker covers a customer with sand at Takegawara Onsen, a hot spring facility in Kyushu. Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg Located four times closer to Busan than Tokyo, Kyushu has its eye on Korean tourists, but the door is wide open for Americans as well. Stay tuned! Connect with Brandon on [Instagram]( Suggested reading before your trip to Japan [Wrong About Japan]( A stunning memoir-cum-travelogue by Peter Carey. [Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style]( Cultural historian W. David Marx traces the Japanese assimilation of American fashion over the past 150 years. [Fear and Trembling]( Amelie Nothomb sharply skewers Japanese relations in this hilarious novella. [Tokyo on Foot: Travels in the City’s Most Colorful Neighborhoods]( Florent Chavouet’s hand-drawn graphic memoir does double duty as an illustrated tour of the sprawling megalopolis. [Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World]( Matt Alt tracks how Japan’s pop-media complex of karaoke and the Walkman, Pac-Man and Pokémon remade global culture. Distinguished travel hacks Every true jetsetter, whether for business or pleasure, has their own strategies for best seeing the world. Me? I say [never book a hotel]( that only has 5-star reviews. Others, well, they might sniff at anything less. But that’s what makes advice columns fun! Click through for the most recent installments of Pursuits’ [Distinguished Travel Hacker]( in which globe-trotters in the luxury sphere share their high-end hacks, time-saving tips, and off-the-wall experiences. [How to Get People to Stop Emailing You While You’re on Vacation]( [How to Find the Best Walking Tours in Any City You Visit]( [Why You Should Go on First Dates While Traveling Abroad]( [Two Keys to a Good Night’s Sleep While Traveling, and Other Tips]( [Travel Tips From the Man Who’s Visited Every Country on Earth—and Space]( [Travel Hacks for the Super Rich, From Bling Empire’s Christine Chiu]( The best things I did this year Reflecting back on 2022, and my 27 weeks on the road across more than a dozen countries, these are the experiences that have remained the most indelible. Top hotels: - [The Londoner](, London Everything a city hotel should be: a great night’s sleep in the heart of the action, with intuitive service, a swift and tasty breakfast, and a secret guest-only lounge.  - [Villa Canada](, Copenhagen The Danish capital has a strange luxury dissonance: unbeatable restaurants but rather lackluster hotels by comparison. Until now. This seven-bedroom former private residence of the Canadian ambassador is ideally meant to be occupied whole.  - [Capella](, Bangkok A relaxed riverside resort in the heart of the Bangkok bustle that effortlessly toes the line between both worlds. The pool at Capella. Photographer: Brandon Presser Top restaurants: - [Quinta do Barbusana](, Madeira, Portugal A functioning vineyard, Barbusana serves espedata—fire-grilled meat skewers on a branch of bay laurel—with a flight of their house wines to try. I swear, I have [recurring dreams about that lunch](.  - [Indo](, St. Louis, Missouri Move over Nobu, your yellowtail jalapeño has been dethroned by a new meeting of cultures. The isaan hamachi (think: Thai-style sashimi) really slaps.  - [Est](, Tokyo If you thought the “East meets West” cliche was tired, this prix fixe meal at the new Four Seasons Tokyo at Otemachi will convince you otherwise, culminating with some of the best pastry work I’ve seen in years. Surfing in Denmark. Photographer: Brandon Presser Top activities: - [Hiking to the Tiger’s Nest](, Paro, Bhutan Believe the hype: the temple complex built into a craggy cleft of rock deserves its place amongst the most ambitious creations of man. Start at sunrise with luxury operator Black Tomato for a helicopter ride up the mountain to hike down into the sacred site while everyone else is trudging upward.  - [Surfing the seas of ‘Cold Hawaii’](, Klitmoller, Denmark The weather-worn coast of northern Denmark is replete with off-the-radar beaches, perfect for cold-water surfing, and plenty of cozy guesthouses to get hygge with it.  - [Camping at Kiattua](, Nuuk, Greenland Set deep in a fjord on an ancient Viking settlement, the small luxury camp is helmed by Jon and Anika who bring the Greenlandic wilderness to life with smiles as bright as the northern lights overhead. So, you had some questions... Whatever the topic, keep them coming for next week via our [Bloomberg Pursuits Instagram]( and [e-mail](mailto:askpursuits@bloomberg.net?I%20have%20a%20question). Where are you excited to visit in 2023? With the release of my award-winning nonfiction thriller [The Far Land]( earlier this year, which recounts the Lord-of-the-Flies-esque drama that befell a group of sailors on a remote island in the South Pacific, I’m quite eager to get back to French Polynesia and explore further. The [Marquesas Islands](, the cradle of Polynesian culture—and a wildly photogenic archipelago—is of particular interest. Despite Russia’s war with Ukraine, travel to the Caucasus is on the rise, according to [Wild Frontiers]( founder Jonny Bealby. Georgia was rapidly growing in popularity before Covid; Tbilisi, its capital, has become a haven for digital nomads. I’m eager to visit the [country’s wineries](, go skiing in Svaneti, and pop over to Azerbaijan to see the [Heydar Aliyev Centre]( in Baku, my favorite work by the late Zaha Hadid.  The Flame Towers are the hallmarks of Baku’s glossy business district, one stop along the new-old Silk Road. Photographer: Jane Sweeney/AWL Images RM But my latest obsession is Angola, which outside of its civil war (1975–2002) has long favored offshore oil drilling instead of tourism dollars, resulting in massive swaths of wilderness to be preserved and delicately explored. I have a bad habit of wanting to visit places about three years too early (just ask Bloomberg’s travel editor, Nikki Ekstein) so mark my words: In 2025 you’ll be hearing about safaris to the Source Lakes. What’s the most annoying thing about staying in so many different hotels? Design that prioritizes style over practicality—especially criminal in the bathroom. All vanities should have enough room next to the sink to hold all of the contents of my dopp kit and my dopp kit itself. Stop with the oversized basins and give me a nice chunk of marble to arrange my toiletries! I’ll never understand downcast lighting either. It’s impossible to shave in the shadows, not to mention that we all look about 200 years old under a spotlight. My other pet peeve is when a shower door can’t properly open after you lay down a bath mat in front of it. Nuisance! Then again when designers get it right... Here’s how to bring the fancy hotel look to your own home. Photographer: Matthew Millman What’s the first thing you look for when reviewing a hotel? When I step into a hotel room, the first thing I check out is the fire escape plan on the back of the door—not for safety purposes, but to glimpse the layout of the floor and how the other rooms compare to mine in size and the direction of their view. I usually get to see two room categories when I’m doing a site inspection; the floor plan gives me invaluable insight into what exactly I’m being shown—and not shown. What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in post-pandemic hotels? A lot of hotels are making a serious play to diversify their offerings by becoming a mainstay for local clientele as well. There’s nary a pad thai in sight at any of Bangkok’s new hotels, for example. On my first night back in the Land of Smiles after four long years away, I initially had mixed feelings about dining at Ojo, [the Standard’s new Mexican restaurant](, until I walked in and saw the gaggles of “Hi So” diners eagerly Instagramming their esquites with Bangkok’s skyline views out the window. The food was so good that it was a serious contender for my best meals of 2022 list. Camping at Kiattua in Greenland. Photographer: Brandon Presser And when it comes to tourists, many hotels are eager to be the custodians of their destination’s distinct cultural heritage as well, both old and new. Acclaimed Japanese hospitality company [Hoshino Resorts]( has doubled down on its cultural programming across all brands; even their entry-level OMO city hotels have “ranger tours,” which thoughtfully guide visitors through the backstreets surrounding each of their properties. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Pursuits newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](