Today’s question is: What is your favorite off-the-beaten-path city or town in Japan?
No Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hakone, Hiromshima, or other Golden Route locations allowed! Tell us about lesser visited or remote locations you’ve been to, why you went, and what you loved about them!
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9 comments
Mine has to be Akiyoshidai and Akiyoshido in Yamaguchi. I lived in Ube for four years and these two locations are in the same spot. It’s a cave and the flat land above it. You have to use a car to get there but it’s worth it.
Also Hagi in Yamaguchi is beautiful too. It’s famous for mikan and pottery.
Just Yamaguchi in general is a looked over prefecture but it’s got a lot of charm. Please give it a chance!
https://akiyoshidai-park.com
Sai Village, Aomori
I really, really loved Ogi on Sado when I visited in 2018. The landscape on the northern part of the peninsula seems like from a sci fi novel. There are a lot of natural stone towers in the sea and riding my bicycle along the sea road was one of my favorite things. You can actually rent an ebike in the local tourism bureau which comes in handy.
On your way from Ogi you can visit the regional folk museum with its reconstructed treasure barge. There is also the old and pretty district of Shukunegi. Going to Kinzan gold mine or Sado city is easy if you take the bus. The island is so beautiful I could have stayed for months.
My other absolute favorite for the colder months is Kusatsu. By far the most relaxing onsen experience I had in my entire life. If you have the chance please go to Otakinoyu with its challenging five temperature bath tubs. It’s quite tough for western temperature customs but so so good.
I studied at the Yamasa Institute in Okazaki, Aichi for a summer & I loved Okazaki & it’s not mentioned much & it’s close enough to Nagoya to go there whenever really.
I was an exchange student in Takasaki and it was amazing. We went camping by some waterfalls you could climb on, painted Daruma dolls and stone lids. There were beautiful temples there and a huge Buddha statue that was amazing to visit.
https://allabout-japan.com/en/amp/article/4453/
I loved Shima Onsen! It’s off the beaten path from the usual foreign tourist stuff, but it’s still only an easy bus ride from Tokyo. If you’re looking for an onsen/ryokan/nature experience that is slightly less touristy than some place like Hakone, it’s a fun option. I wrote a trip report about it [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/esmaa1/trip_report_shima_onsen/).
I lived in Saikai, Nagasaki prefecture for a year and was absolutely astounded by how many awesome things were near me. First there is HuistenBosch(spl?), a European theme part that lights up spectacularly at night with constant events. There arent roller coasters but there are tons of attractions and shopping and eating the park. Second, the closest major city to it accessible by bullet train is Fukuoka which personally is my favorite city in Japan. It’s got large city amenities but a small town feel. My favorite time visiting was during new years when all the shrines were open and serving hot sake. Third, (back near huistenbosch) in the mountains off the beaten path is the sound museum (ongaku.. museum? Lol it’s been a while). It is located is the most scenic area with tons of cliffs and rice fields and water falls and the museum itself is an absolute treat. They often give full tours to new comers and you can loiter and listen to music records for hours. And forth, though likely not unique, is Biopark Saikai where you can interact with exotic animals you normal couldn’t (all herbivores) like kangaroos and wallabies. If you plan on going to south Japan anyway, I highly recommend hitting these pit stops. Oh and not too terribly far is Arita which is famous for their history of pottery. They have a little theme park for it too. And near Sasebo there is a historical park that you can visit that is massive so you can see what Japan was like in the stone age with hut recreations and performances and everything. As you can tell, I’m very passionate about south Japan lolol
Goto archipelago.
Remote islands of the archipelago are… remote. Landscape has a bit of Palau in it, nice beaches and thick jungle, and it’s dotted with tiny churches for the Christian minority.
Visited Nametoko on Shikoku many years ago, (about 35 years!) pretty park that is good for canyoning. Although I don’t think that was available when I visited, we did swim and slide down the smooth granite which was fun. The monkeys were pretty out of control and scary when I was there but hopefully that has changed!