Ask anyone with a penchant for spirituality where to get in touch with your inner zen and they’ll send you here. This town is famed for the Chichibu 34 Kannon Pilgrimage, a 60-mile (100-km) path that links 34 temples. If you don’t have four days to spare journeying along the route, though, make like the locals and pick one temple to visit. Hint: Taiyo-ji, high in the mountains, is one of the few of the 34 temples still run by a Buddhist monk, who helps you zone out from life’s pressures with meditation sessions and some natural healing. And breathe.