offbeat places in japan

i have 20 days in japan and will spending 3-4 nights each in tokyo / kyoto / takayama. would love to visit other less touristy places for 4-5 days but somewhere along the same route (to save time/costs)....would love to go somewhere quaint with a feeling of old japan :-)

i searched through the japan guides and found that this place is very nice and you can feel the japan village lifestyle here.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5950.html

my trip to japan is too short for me to come here. may be you can try if it is within you route?

Obvious choice is to do Tokyo - Takayama - Shirakawago - Kanazawa - Kyoto, or the other way around. This is an efficient route which doesn't cost much extra travel time, if at all.

Shirakawago - you can stay overnight in a Gassho Zukuri here
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5950.html
Kanazawa
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2167.html

Not really "off beat", but they fit the rest of your request and are worth the visit.

Enjoy your trip!

In the historical district of Tondabayashi Jinaimachi, near Osaka, there are as many as forty old wooden merchants' houses built during the Edo period (the 17th - Mid. 19th centuries).

To go there take the Kintetsu rail Kawachi-Nagano line in the Kintetsu Abeno station close to the JR Tennoji station. Get off the train at Tondabayashi station, 7 stops from Osaka-Abeno