r/JapanTravelTips • u/scout-scoot • 3h ago
Recommendations Hyper-specific list of (some of) my favorite things in Japan after traveling to most of its prefectures
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Sequel (?) post to a similar post I made around a year ago. I've been to 38 prefectures and over 100 towns/cities in Japan. To make this list more interesting and because I plan to make a seperate list for it in the future, this list won't include shrines or temples. This is an incredibly specific breakdown of a smattering of things that are my favorite in the country.
I genuinely fight between my desire to gatekeep places so they don't become overrun with tourists, and informing people of these places so they get more financial support, as many are in more rural areas. The latter desire won out (but if you do go to these places, please be respectful and responsible :) I'm sharing this in good faith for tourist crowds to filter out of Tokyo and Kyoto and into more deserving locales).
Everything here is absolutely worth seeing, but are not the only things in their respective areas. These were, after all, all part of longer trips I took to the prefectures and towns, many of which had more famous things nearby as well. This list also tends slightly south rather than north since the previous list favored northern areas. These are what came to mind when I challenged myself to think of my favorite experiences of everything I've ever done in Japan:
- Benesse House Museum | Naoshima Island, Kagawa Prefecture
- Naoshima Island is famous as the "art island" and for good reason. Everything I did there was an incredible experience, but it feels appropriate to single out the art museum that began this island's status. Designed by the famed architect Tadao Ando, the structure of the museum is itself an artwork. I've frequented art museums all my life and I have a distinct appreciation for how this museum has curated its pieces. This is the definition of quality over quantity. You can tell so much thought went into the design of the space such that the experience of seeing the artwork is not just a matter of looking at each painting, but being immersed in the space itself, moving through it with intentionality.
- Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden | Kochi City, Kochi, Shikoku
- Truly enormous garden on the outskirts of Kochi City. The sheer variety of landscapes and views in this garden is insane. I adore how this garden was designed, featuring a lot of manicured and constructed spaces that are very eyecatching, but also honoring the natural inclinations of its trees and flora. There are many spaces in the garden that feel like you're maybe even going off-track, wandering through forested groves, only to emerge back in the garden center. I swear if this garden were in Kyoto it would have cost like quadruple the admission price. This garden is criminally underpriced and underseen.
- Nishinoshima Island | North of Shimane Prefecture
- Even not being able to get the ideal experience I would have wanted since the roads were under construction when I went, this island was so worth visiting. It's famous for its grassy cliffsides that are home to wild horses, as well as for its rocky beaches and inland mountains. Driving around the island itself was a great experience and gave a real taste of small-town life. Unfortunately when I went, the roads leading to the cliffs were being rebuilt, but I still found ways around such that I could get some fantastic nature views, and I encountered wild horses. I said I wouldn't talk about shrines, but I have to say that this island has maybe my favorite shrine in the whole country, Takuhi Shrine.
- Nachi Waterfalls | Nachi, Wakayama Prefecture
- For those who research into Wakayama this is a pretty well-known destination, but I think it still slips by a lot of trip planners in general. This is one of the most beautiful nature spots in Japan and had there not been a typhoon incoming I would have stayed there all day. As it is though, I adored the waterfall views, and the temple complex nearby. Some of the most picturesque places you'll be able to find in the country.
- Tengu Highlands | Ehime/Kochi Prefectural Border, Shikoku
- Far up high in the mountains, an expanse of karst and green grass fields, so high up you're literally in the clouds. Limestone rocks litter the landscape between green fields, and cows graze freely. It's extremely, extremely remote, and one of the most beautiful places I've had the blessing to visit. Unironically it feels more like Scotland than Japan. Hardly anything is more beautiful than driving through the highlands, watching the clouds change the landscape, and hiking through the fields. Plus, there's a small mobile stand that serves great coffee (with karst cow milk)!
- Abare Festival ("Fire and Violence Festival") | Ushitsu, Ishikawa Prefecture
- Abare Festival is back after the Noto Earthquake!! And I was so happy to finally be able to go. This is a festival that celebrates the eradication of a plague that struck the Noto Peninsula historically. To appease the destructive god Susanoo no Mikoto, floats (kiriko) are erected and paraded through the streets, and posts with straw bales are set on fire. The festival occurs over two days every July, always in the late evening. On the first night the initial burning happens, and spectators watch the posts burn against the night sky. On the second night, the parade procession happens, and a group of men parade the main portable shrine (mikoto) around the streets, abluting it with sake and trying to wreck it, thrashing it in the river to the beat of drums, before the procession finally meets the shallow riverbed where a giant fire burns above and rains sparks down on the mikoto and the men (and bystanders lol). It ends at Yasaka Shrine where the mikoto is set ablaze and thrown around by the men in a circle. It's violent, rampaging, musical, and absolutely energizing.
- Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins | Kidonouchicho, Fukui Prefecture
- Online it looks like just a small maintained Edo-era townscape which you can find many of in Japan if you look for it, but really the grounds around this whole area are beautiful. I went when the grass was green and the day was sunny, and it was a beautiful walk up and around the hills and mountains, through the ruins and canals. Fukui in general is underrated!
- Tokiwa Park | Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture
- This park surrounding Tokiwa Pond just has so much to enjoy, and I feel like if I lived in Ube it would easily become a spot I would visit a lot. I don't think one particular thing in the park is notable, more the variety of things it has. Lovely views of the lake, a small island shrine, hiking and biking paths, flower tree groves, a botanical and herb garden, statues and sculptures, and maybe the only ethical zoo I've seen in Japan. I never go to zoos here because they tend to be very poor to their animals, but when I went to Tokiwa Park the zoo admission was free that day, so I figured there was no harm since they weren't getting my money. But actually, it's a zoo with great enclosures. Very large and natural, and seeing how the animals behaved with the zookeepers it seems they are well loved. It's also really satisfying to walk through, with these winding paths and huge enclosures without fencing or cages so you have great views of the animals.
- Nighttime cormorant fishing | Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku
- Ozu is a small castle town in already sparsely-populated Ehime, but it has a lot of charm. Namely, they are one of the only places that still performs a traditional fishing method called cormorant fishing. Going into this I didn't know exactly what it was because the website, despite giving a ton of info, doesn't explain the fishing method. The pictures looked pretty though, so I booked a riverboat view with an ayu bento box dinner. For those who want the surprise, by all means go in blind like me. Otherwise, I'll explain here: a fishing captain has trained cormorants connected by string to catch fish for him. A swinging fire on the boat head stuns the ayu in the water, and the cormorants dive and catch them. All the cormorants had cute names and personalities and one of them threw a fish right to me. I had a huge dumb smile on my face the entire time.
- Osakan Chinese Food | Osaka
- Sure whatever I'll put something popular. Osaka is well known for its food but I fear many tourists go there and just get crab and takoyaki. I know it's strange to go to Japan and not get Japanese food, but I am being serious when I say I would recommend to any tourist to go to the Chinatown section of downtown Osaka and get a meal there. I had dinner at a restaurant that was so good that I got scared. I'm not exaggerating one bit, I had eaten so much that I didn't know if I would be able to make it home, and yet I wanted to eat more. I think I started crying. I straight up blacked out I think like I have no memory of getting home. One of the best meals of my entire life.