Sumo wrestlers prepare to fight at a tournament in Tokyo

Watch a sumo wrestling match

With its oversized stars and elaborate rituals, this 2000-year-old sport is fascinating to observe. Even if you have no understanding of the rules, it is hard not to be entertained by the wrestlers' dramatic grunts and the high-pitched shouts from the hyperactive referee. There are six 15-day-long Grand Sumo Tournaments held in Japan every year; half of them are in Tokyo (January, May and September) and the others are in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka (November). Sumo pulls in massive crowds, but it is often possible for tourists to pick up last-minute tickets on the mornings of competitions. A sumo match involves two well-fed opponents facing each other in a ring that is just 15-feet in diametre. Before the tussle starts, the wrestlers stomp their legs, claps their thighs, throw salt into the ring to purify it and attempt to stare down their opponent. A match rarely lasts longer than six seconds, with the loser the first one to touch the ground outside the circle or inside the circle with any part of his body other than the soles of his feet.

Outdoor onsen in the Iya Valley, Shikoku

Soak in an onsen

Japanese have no qualms about public nudity. The onsen - hot spring bathhouse - is where people of all social ranks get together, get their kit off and boil themselves like lobsters. The water generally has a high mineral content which affords it healing properties. Onsen etiquette dictates that you give yourself a good scrub with soap and water before submerging yourself in the steaming communal pools. Onsen come in all shapes and sizes: some are indoors and attached to ryokan (traditional guesthouses) or located down narrow inner-city side streets, while others are spacious outdoor affairs on remote mountainsides with multiple pools and adjoining restaurants. Most are single-sexed, although mixed-sexed bathing is optional in some onsen in remote rural areas.

Spend the night - or take a 'rest' - in a Love Hotel

Booking a room in a Love Hotel

There's more lust than love going on in these kitsch palaces of passion. Neon-lit witnesses to many an illicit affair and drunken one-night stand, Love Hotels have nonetheless become an institution in a country where most young people live with their extended families in cramped apartments with paper thin walls until they get married. You'll find Love Hotels in any red-light district - look out for rows of buildings with elaborate facades and wonderful English names like 'Hotel Seed' or 'Hotel Lovery'. The set-up of these hotels is very discreet: entrances are separate from exits and many have computerized booking systems in the lobbies so that human contact is unnecessary. Rooms are kept scrupulously clean and can be rented by the hour or by the night. Some rooms are themed or are decked out with vibrating beds, Jacuzzis, costumes, sex-toy vending machines and karaoke machines.