<p>A woman dressed as a <i>chondara</i>, a traditional clown from the Japanese island of Okinawa, participates in one of Tokyo's many street festivals.</p>
<p><i>This photo originally published in </i>National Geographic Traveler <i>magazine in the February/March 2018 issue. <a href="https://ngtravelersubs.nationalgeographic.com/pubs/NG/NGT/NT9-6-8_NGT-6-12_NGT-NT9-6-12.jsp?cds_page_id=227947&cds_mag_code=NGT&id=1543961456641&lsid=83381610566023594&vid=1&cds_response_key=I8JCR13M0&cmpid=int_org%3Dngp%3A%3Aint_mc%3Dwebsite%3A%3Aint_src%3Dmultisubs%3A%3Aint_add%3Daug012018%3A%3Aint_urid%3DMULTNVH6" target="_blank">Subscribe to </a></i><a href="https://ngtravelersubs.nationalgeographic.com/pubs/NG/NGT/NT9-6-8_NGT-6-12_NGT-NT9-6-12.jsp?cds_page_id=227947&cds_mag_code=NGT&id=1543961456641&lsid=83381610566023594&vid=1&cds_response_key=I8JCR13M0&cmpid=int_org%3Dngp%3A%3Aint_mc%3Dwebsite%3A%3Aint_src%3Dmultisubs%3A%3Aint_add%3Daug012018%3A%3Aint_urid%3DMULTNVH6" target="_blank">Traveler</a><i><a href="https://ngtravelersubs.nationalgeographic.com/pubs/NG/NGT/NT9-6-8_NGT-6-12_NGT-NT9-6-12.jsp?cds_page_id=227947&cds_mag_code=NGT&id=1543961456641&lsid=83381610566023594&vid=1&cds_response_key=I8JCR13M0&cmpid=int_org%3Dngp%3A%3Aint_mc%3Dwebsite%3A%3Aint_src%3Dmultisubs%3A%3Aint_add%3Daug012018%3A%3Aint_urid%3DMULTNVH6" target="_blank"> here. </a></i></p>
Japan
A woman dressed as a chondara, a traditional clown from the Japanese island of Okinawa, participates in one of Tokyo's many street festivals.
This photo originally published in National Geographic Traveler magazine in the February/March 2018 issue. Subscribe to Traveler here.
Photograph by James Whitlow Delano, National Geographic
Here are the year's best photos from National Geographic Travel.
ByJeff Heimsath
Published December 11, 2018
National Geographic has a long history of bringing the world into our readers’ homes and inspiring them to get out and explore their own. This year was no different–from smoldering volcanoes in Indonesia to intricate crop circles in England to awe-inspiring root bridges in India, we took our readers around the globe to experience unique stories in striking destinations. Here are our favorite photos captured this year.
These 3,000-year-old relics were torched and buried—but why?
Bug-eyed sculptures. Huge masks of hammered gold. These artifacts in China have long puzzled archaeologists—but may show us how to adapt to a changing world.
