Shiga and Lake Biwa

TownsRoutesOnsenStaysEat & drinkSightsEventsContours every 50 m

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Photo m-louis.® from Osaka, Japan · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 and others, credited in the gallery

• Can you go in an onsen in Japan with a tattoo?

  Some of Japan's baths take tattoos, some want them under a cover sticker, and most publish no rule at all. Here is the routine at the taps and in the tub, the baths that say yes, and the ones that say no.

• Do you still need cash in Japan?

  Cards and a tap-to-pay travel card cover most of a trip to Japan, and plenty of village baths, soba counters, temple gates and bike-hire desks still want yen. This guide sets out what to carry and how tax-free shopping changes on 1 November 2026.

• How do you stay safe on a cycling trip in Japan?

  Heat sends far more people to hospital than anything with teeth, so the heatstroke alert is the first thing to read on a summer morning. After that come hornets and bears on forest roads, dark tunnels, typhoons from August, and what to do when the ground shakes near the sea.

• Where can you ride gravel in Japan?

  Japan's gravel lives on forest roads built for forestry, and in national forests the Forestry Agency asks you to clear entry with the local forest office first. Published gravel rides are few, so start from a station that rents gravel bikes and ask locally.