When old meets new and two worlds collide in Japan

From its densely populated cities to its lush green rural areas, Japan offers a mix of the traditional and the new, from ryokans to robot-run hotels says, Conor Power.

From the window of the plane, the islands of the southern tip of the Land of the Rising Sun came into view and I felt that all-over frisson of excitement that you get when you find yourself staring at an exotic sight that you’ve never seen before: a warm mist-shrouded series of dark green islands fringed with white sand and blue-green coral waters.