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Hurtling towards Tokyo's city centre in a turbo-charged taxi, my mother turned to me and said that when my father, John Mortimer, had asked David Hockney what his impressions of this city had been, he replied: 'It's like Leeds gone mad.''He had a point. Despite the stifling heat (not very Leeds, I grant you), the sky looked like it does at this time of year in England when deciding whether or not to rain. The vast buildings were a similar shade of grey, excepting Tokyo Tower, a sort of red-and-white Sticklebrick copy of the Eiffel Tower.
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Introduction
The land of rising sun has also been the land of the sinking yen in recent times, and it's more affordable then ever to explore Japan. It's something of a confounding place, but worth the extra effort to explore a country that is at once more western and more alien than Europe. The mega-corporations, sci-fi gadgets and super-cool kids exist alongside Samurai dramas, tea ceremonies and ancient temples. Scratch beneath the surface and it will all begin to make sense.
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Travel
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Hakuba is a long valley floor connecting no fewer than ten ski resorts in the Japanese Alps. Some of them have provided recreational skiing for more than 70 years, some have hosted major Winter Olympics events as recently as 1998, many still host World Cup ski races and the region boasts more annual snowfall (32ft to 48ft) than most of western Canada.
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Ducking the boundary ropes to ski the heavenly powder that blesses the remote and wild backcountry around the volcanic mountains of Hokkaido is strictly illegal under Japanese law. Or at least it is for most people. I've just carved out a little piece of skiing history by joining the first-ever Powder Camp to tackle this exhilarating area of Japan's north island with the full permission of the authorities.
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Dubai may have golden sands, souks and big hotels, but let's be honest - it's a bit of a building site. And the number of footballers and daytime TV presenters looking for a huge home on a fake island shaped like a palm would deter the hardiest of us. You won't need your snorkel and mask - all that construction is churning up the sea nicely - so you'll have to settle for the shopping malls.
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