Last October I fell in love with Japan, We visited Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima and Kyoto. I had been planning a trip to Provence and the Riviera…but my heart isn’t in it. I just cancelled. Want to return to Japan. For those who planned a second trip after visiting those cities, where did you decide to visit next? We would like to see smaller picturesque towns, beautiful scenery, all within about two weeks. We can rent a car if necessary. Prefer walks over hikes and enjoy just chilling.
by av8tress
11 comments
I’m pretty much in the same boat, OP. I went in November 23 and am planning about 16 days in early April 2025 (not Golden Week!)
Still in the very early stages, but I’m definitely going to visit Kanazawa. I’m considering doing the Hokuriku Arch Pass. Last trip I only spent less than a day in Osaka so I’ll be staying several nights there, and may also add a night in Kobe (at least a full day trip in Kobe).
Miyajima island, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Kanazawa, Enoshima, Kamakura are the places I added my 2nd time around. I still went to the usual Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto/Hiroshima quartet but those other places I enjoyed more since they felt less crowded. I’ll probably do Okinawa and Hokkaido in the future (still planning the 3rd trip).
Did what you did last summer. I’m leaving for Fukuoka next week and doing Nagasaki, beppu, kagawa, etc. all the stops in kyushu basically. I’m gonna be a shinkansen train guru by the end of this trip for how many day trips I’m doing 😂
Similar situation as yourself – the only towns we have done that you haven’t are Kanazawa and then heading to the snow near Nagano (we were particularly suprised by how much we loved Matsumoto).
Kyushu is delightful. Perfect place to do a driving trip. Naoshima and Teshima are lovely spots and you could enjoy some time on Shikoku then ferry over from Takamatsu.
Hida Furukawa, miyajima, do the shimanami kaido (could do motorbikes).
Matsumoto is very beautiful in the Japanese Alps. Then you could hit Toyama and Kanazawa, which has Kenrokuen, one of Japan’s most celebrated gardens. The West side of Japan is less populated than the east, and it has great seafood. If that’s your thing.
If you want to stay on the eastern side, I would consider Nara a must. Then, I might go down to Okayama. From Okayama, you could cross over to Shikoku and see a lot of beauty. I love Kochi though I haven’t been back in some time. Shikoku is also famous for a Buddhist pilgrimage with lots of temples.
Or you could go (from Okayama) to Kyushu. On one side, you could visit Beppu and get the mud bath treatment that’s famous. Or you could go along the western edge and visit Arita kiln (my personal favorite). Nagasaki is a nice city. And Kagoshima is definitely on my list for next time.
It really depends on the Japan that you want to see. But check out some of those spots and see if anything resonates.
YT has a lot of good recommendations for going outside the large cities as well as what others have said.
This depends a lot on the season. If you are planning to go in the summer, I would go to the cooler places like Hokkaido, Touhoku or the Nagano area.
Head north towards the Tohoku region. I spent 2 weeks exploring almost every prefecture in Tohoku 4 years ago, and after 7 trips to various parts of Japan I still say that was one of my most enjoyable trips. Phenomenal scenery, great regional food, mostly local tourists with low foreigner levels, it’s all I could ask for.
If you’re willing to move around and don’t mind having just enough time to see the major sights, you can do 2-3 days in each prefecture to cover all 6 prefectures, but it’s also perfectly fine to do just 3-4 prefectures and spend more time in each, there’s more than enough things to do there to fill the time.
Depending on when you’re going, I’d strongly recommend Tohoku and Hokkaido for at least a portion of the trip. Sapporo, Aomori, Odate, Otaru, Hirosaki, etc., are all beautiful.
If you go during the snowy season, be prepared for that to be basically the entire theme of your trip up there… but if you’re into that, I don’t know that you can beat it.