Dear visitor, if you know the answer to this question, please post it. Thank you!
Note that this thread has not been updated in a long time, and its content might not be up-to-date anymore.
|
Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/13 21:07
|
|
|
by mfedley
|
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/14 12:06
|
|
I'm not sure I would call it a "hidden gem", but I loooooooove Kusatsu onsen in Gunma. It's off the beaten track simply because its a bit difficult to get to via public transportation, but every time I visit I love it even more. Too bad Mt. Shirane is closed right now due to volcanic activity.
Also in Gunma, Mt. Haruna's Haruna Shrine. That, I would call a hidden gem! It's quite the walk and then steps, but it looks like it was built into the mountain, or maybe the mountain carved out around it, but either way, it's a really beautiful place in any season!
|
|
by scarreddragon
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/14 12:14
|
|
Still working on the list - Togura (near Nagano) when I'll have an extra day to enjoy in April. Kagoshima was surprisingly interesting (only had three days, might go back for another week if I can arrange it).
Anywhere small?
|
|
by JapanCustomTours
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/14 12:22
|
|
Good to hear about Kusatsu Onsen. I'll be staying there for 2 night in June - followed by Manza Onsen. I've also got plans to visit Kitsuki on Kyushu on another trip to Japan.
My hope was to visit every prefecture in Japan that I've not already visited (basically Shikoku, Shikoku and Okinawa) over 5 weeks in summer. However - I don't think I can do this justice in that time and do I really want to spend July in these places???
|
|
by mfedley
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/14 13:54
|
|
Well if it's hot, Okinawa is ideal... just jump in the water!
I dunno, I'd totally do it, heat be damned. There's really no way to escape it anyway!
|
|
by scarreddragon
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/14 19:26
|
|
Hotel Zuiho Akiu Onsen outside Sendai...the ryokan section is something else...but you pay for it
|
|
by AusTF
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/14 19:46
|
|
Hotel Zuiho Akiu Onsen outside Sendai
Technically, it's inside. ;)
|
|
by Firas
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/14 22:37
|
|
There are many. I'd probably never produce the same list twice.
Takahashi is on this guide and is one of my favorite places. Along with Bitchu Matsuyama Castle, though, the Fukiya area is a really beautiful and unique historic area.
I really like Maniwa. It's dynamic, with the historic district, waterfall, amazing onsen, delicious food, and cycling and although it's actually popular among Japanese in the area, it's completely left out of foreign guidebooks.
Tsuyama will always be dear to me. A nice historic town with a nice castle and truly one of the best cherry blossom spots in the country.
Also in the Mimasaka area, Nagi's MOCA is top-knotch modern art.
Wake is another really nice place to visit, especially when the wisteria is in bloom.
The Koto Sanzan temples in Shiga are great, especially in the autumn.
Obama is a great historic town, particularly for those who like using the rentacycles.
Kumagawa is a nice historic district, also in Fukui.
Tsuruga was a great daytrip that was good for rentacycling.
Kyotanabe's Ikkyuji Temple and Kannonji Temple are great and easy to reach for the typical Osaka/Kyoto visitor. Kizugawa's Stone Buddha walk is also unique and fun.
I also like Mino in Gifu Prefecture. The town is nice, and I also went to a festival there that I really enjoyed.
Although World Heritage Sites are hardly "hidden", Ainokura Village was a much nicer experience for me than Ogimachi. Ainokura has the nice lookout and a few of the buildings you can enter but without the hords of tourists and tour buses.
I liked Aki in Kochi Prefecture. Ryugado Cave is also a great place.
In Yamaguchi Prefecture, I loved Yanai and Hofu.
Izushi near Kinosaki Onsen is a nice castle town.
I have a lot of interests, but the above do seem to show a pattern of castles, historic districts, and cycling.
|
|
by Rabbityama
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/15 02:48
|
|
Thanks for all of the info guys. It's giving me and hopefully many other people some good ideas.
I also second Takahashi as being a fantastic place to visit.
I'm specifically interested in places in Shikoku, Kyushu and Okinawa for future reference...
|
|
by mfedley
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/15 03:07
|
|
If you want to splurge on a ryokan in Shikoku, check out Iya Onsen http://www.iyaonsen.co.jp/english/It's off the beaten path, the public onsen is down at the bottom of the valley and only accessible by cable car, the food was delicious. We were there several years ago and had a rental car. I see on their much improved website that they now also offer a shuttle bus once a day for those who have a reservation. The shuttle bus picks up at Oboke Station, the ride takes about 20 min.
|
|
by Dutch Ann
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/15 05:24
|
|
Takaragawa Onsen in Minakami if you want a true Onsen experiences near a river with a natural nature suroundings. I had a booking here for June, but have instead change to a day visit, decided to go to Kusatsu for a overnight stay, they have one of the best water in Japan, I'm a return visitor to Kusatsu, been there in my last trip.
|
|
by kms899
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/15 12:19
|
|
I'll just list old traditional towns which are better than slightly overrated places such as Takayama:
- Gujo Hachiman in Gifu - Seki-juku in Mie
If we talk about natural scenery spots, the list would be endless.
|
|
by AlexanderStankov
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/16 00:19
|
|
In Shikoku, along with Aki and Ryugado Cave that I mentioned above, some other places that are interesting/unique are Kanonji's Zenigata Sand Coin, Honjima Island, Nanrakuen Garden (in Uwajima).
I'd like to visit Shimanto, the Besshi mines, Wakimachi, Hiketa, the temples of the 88 temple pilgrimage, and many other places, but I cannot actually recommend them, since I haven't visited them.
|
|
by Rabbityama
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/16 07:59
|
|
Interesting question... and some great answers. Two places I have really enjoyed are: Out from Shimoda on the Izu Peninsular, we drove out of the township to a small peninsular, and at the end of the road was a small fishing village, very peaceful, don't know its name, but the atlas says Cape Tsumekizaki.
Other place more popular but most enjoyable in summer, in Yamanashi, near Kasagai-cho, enjoyed peaches and grapes at a roadside stall that had flavor like no other fruit I have eaten in any other country.
|
|
by LoveJapan (guest)
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/16 20:49
|
|
It's nice to see some love for Furukawa! It has a lot of charm, and all of the craftsman make the experience more than just appreciating the town's beauty. With the carpenter museum, the candlestick makers, sake breweries, and cloth dyer all packed in there, it's highly underrated. Should have put it on my list, as well! (Also, Inujima, Teshima, and Naoshima. I love the Setouchi art islands)
|
|
by Rabbityama
|
rate this post as useful
|
Re: Hidden Gems - Your Favourite Town/Place
|
2015/3/16 21:33
|
|
The Oga Peninsula at New Year, when the Namahage come down from the mountains to scare the children!!
|
|
by Winter Visitor (guest)
|
rate this post as useful
|
reply to this thread