Hey All,
Delete if this isn’t valid, as it’s more of a discussion topic in the lull of travel reports. But I’ve been thinking lately about how I haven’t really “refreshed” my things to recommend or do in Tokyo (and to a lesser extent other areas of Japan) for some time now.
For those that travel over more than just the once-offs, is there any particular site you use to see new things to do/see? Do you just read these trip reports? Or do a whole other research session before a trip?
Normally I’d be going to a different area, but with a few group trips planned I feel like I should see what’s new since where I recommend/go off is mostly from 4-5+ years ago.
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I use Instagram to search by hashtags or geotags to see posts. I get good ideas from seeing what people are currently enjoying.
My Tokyo faves are Shimokitazawa, Kichijoji, Inokashima Park, and Daikanyama as I prefer to enjoy the atmosphere of these neighbourhoods rather than “do” things.
Outside of Tokyo I love inaka areas. I live in Wakayama so recommend that once you’ve seen the main tourist spots that everyone visits in their first trip. Wakayama has the Kumano Kodo which is an ancient pilgrimage trail through the mountains. Onsen towns such as Yunomine or Kawayu are gorgeous places.
Another area I love is Iwakuni in Yamaguchi. Check out Kintaikyo Bridge and Irori Sanzoku.
I’m probably odd man out in that I have very specific interests and very specific places I plan to go based on those interests, but it’s a good topic to discuss. I like people’s travel reports because if they happen to have an experience that might seem relevant to my interests, I want to check it out. I also just like living vicariously, lol. But I see a lot of people asking for recommendations who really don’t know what they want out of Japan, and I feel like having some up to date info can’t hurt when they’re so lost at sea that they’re just latching on to anyone’s experiences.
The other thing up-to-date info will help is…post-covid. I’m already bummed as fuck that One Piece Tokyo Tower is closed permanently because of the covid hit to tourism, and it’s likely not to be the only victim. We’re all going to need much more recent info once the borders reopen and we can travel – what’s still there? What’s gone? What’s NEW? Obviously, historical locations aren’t going to close, but theme cafes, stores, and attractions linked to Japanese media probably will change drastically. You can get some info on those from soranews but I find their site cumbersome and hard to navigate without unblocking a lot of useless ad scripts. I’d kill for a better source for nerd news.
The other thing I really like to do is pick my location based on other things I’m planning to do and then going to the city or prefecture’s own tourism website, if they have an english version. I actually found a lot of really cool stuff to do in Kumamoto that way, when I was first just going to see the castle. And the One Piece statues, ahem. But mostly the castle I swear. Turns out there are other awesome historical things to see and some pretty highly rated restaurants worth trying! Same with Sendai, I’ll have to extend my trip an extra day to see everything I want to see in Sendai.
I usually just pick a general area in advance and then decide what to do when I’m there. You usually run into interesting things, you wouldn’t have considered normally. But besides that I just check with some jvloggers and use different websites.
Timeout Tokyo, Tokyo Cheapo, Japan Cheapo or articles on JNTO’s, or Japan-Guide’s websites are fairly good in covering new areas, and revisiting some of the old ones with updates.
It should be noted that some prefectures are starting also to update their tourism websites.
I like the gaijinpot travel articles as well to find new different things to explore.
I have a custom Google map. Every time I come across something that peaks my interest I add it to the map.
The new things I know of are not yet built. Like the Ghibli attraction park in Nagoya or the Harry Potter one in Tokyo, at the location of the Toshimaen amusement park that recently closed.
Now my goal is to visit all the prefectures, so my planning is done around new area for me, and usually places where people do not go as often. My two next would be Kyushu and Shikoku, so I mostly check tourism websites to get an idea of where I want to go, and itineraries posted here are helpful for these area as they are much less common than the Tokyo/Kyoto ones.
The website [Japantravel.com](https://Japantravel.com) is interesting as the articles are written by travelers, so it can give a different perspective.
Otherwise I might be a bit on the strange side and tend to look for things that people don’t usually talk about, like stamp rally (that I would find once in Japan) or “pilgrimage” to get shuin stamps from temple/shrine, it is not so uncommon, but usually people just get any they find and do not follow a set group of temple/shrine, using dedicated booklets or scroll.
For places I kind of want to visit in Tokyo now are not especially new, but just things people don’t usually do. At some point I was wondering if there was more skyscrapers with interesting things other than the top 5 visited in Tokyo and end up finding a bunch only in Shinjuku that have interesting things inside.
I usually end up buying the yearly travel books that come out from the large Japanese travel companies, るるぶ and まぷる. These are primarily food focused so you can see what the new dining and omiyagi trends are.
Also tend to watch a large amount of Japanese TV just having it on in the background while I’m doing something. There almost always are food/travel segments so I get a bunch of information through there.
However, with all these I tend to take the recommendations with a grain of salt since in the end they are trying to promote something so not sure how honest their opinions are. Usually will end up cross referencing with Tabelog to get a more a better sense of if the place is actually good.