3 distinct experiences excluding Tokyo?

Looking for 3 distinct locations with "Japanese" experiences excluding Tokyo for a couple.

My thoughts so far are

1. Kyoto/Nara

2. Takayama

3. Mt Fuji/Hakone or Sapporo (for natural beauty )

In one of these locations, also thinking of Ryokan stay.

Any suggestions or input as want to have different experiences about timelessness/traditions of Japan as well. Thanks a lot.

It really depends on how distinct you want your experiences to be. Kyoto is a wonderful city but it is the prime location for any tourist visiting Japan and it is easier to get lost in the crowd and the offerings of mass tourism industry. If these things worry you, Kanazawa is a good alternative - mid size city, good food, nice parks and certain traditional samurai houses that you can visit. Obviously not as rich as Kyoto in terms of temples but still offers a fair level of Japanese experience with its Gion like street. I have been to Takayama couple of times , it is nice and the train journey out there is also beautiful with Alpine scenery. A lot of people combine it with a trip to Shirakawa, which is home to gasho style houses and is quite picturesque. It gets very crowded though. These are just some thoughts but I can probably offer more precise advice if you tell more about what you are actually looking for. I have been quite around in Japan and now live in Tokyo.

Hi, it depends on the time of year you are going and also your budget. All of the places you have mentioned are very pretty and have positives and negatives.

I recently stayed at Fukumuziro at Tonosawa, Hakone. It is close to Hakone Yumoto in a more foresty area. Really, you couldnt get a more traditional japanese experience. Hakone itself is quite pretty. A lot of people think it is too touristy but I dont really agree, there are some cringey parts (pirate ship, I'm looking at you) but also some very nice parts.

I really like Takayama which is really the place to go if you like beef or milk. We keep going back. Tanabe Ryokan there is great, though we stay at Hotel Associa these days which is more an onsen resort.

I wouldnt recommend Kyoto. It has spectacular sites, but is really too crowded. Nara on the other hand is more open and green. The Nara Hotel there is beautiful though having stayed there several times I wont go back now because the place is just full of cigarette smoke. If however you love cigarette smoke, Nara Hotel is the place for you. There are however lots of other places in Nara, I would choose one very close to the park, and the Mt Wakakasyama (sp?) area is particularly nice.

Another handy area that has a lot of appeal is Shuzenji on the Izu peninsula. Well worth a night or two.

What kind of experiences? In reality, the Japan we have today in all of Japan is the current Japan experience. Whether that is putting up with hordes of tourists in various locations or seeing the effects of declining population and rural to urban drift depends on what you want to see. Sometimes I hear people say they want genuine or real, but Shibuya crossing is just as valid as a countryside ryokan. And then there are things like tea ceremony - it is hardly magical as some of my guests expect (dull springs to mind).

Anyway, I'm not a fan of Hakone - I think there are better places to go, but it's close to Tokyo so that helps its popularity. Atami or Izu might be alternatives, although Takayama is still one of my favourites for mountains (it's not all crowded, but I find the Associa too inconvenient).

Kyoto does have its crowds too, but if you only head to the places on n"must-do" lists then yes you will find tourists. Actually the city has about 52 million visitors a year and most of them are Japanese. In a small country with 125 million people, there are bound to be crowds anyway. Kyoto is filled with gems, and I could spend weeks exploring given the time, but that is true of many locations.

uMt Fuji/Hakone or Sapporo (for natural beauty )v

If natural beauty if what you're after, Fuji and Hakone are better choices than Sapporo. While Sapporo is a very nice place, it's also a city of roughly 2 million people, so you're not going to see majestic mountains and verdant forests within the city. For that, you'll have to venture deeper into Hokkaido.

Hiroshima, which I believe is currently the number-one spot for foreign tourists coming to Japan.

The quotation marks concern and amuse me. What do you mean by "Japanese"? Traditional Japanese experiences or the foreign junk like California rolls and Disney that is "Japanese"?

The quotation marks concern and amuse me. What do you mean by "Japanese"? Traditional Japanese experiences or the foreign junk like California rolls and Disney that is "Japanese"?

I assumed that the OP was referring to places along the line of Kyoto, Nara, Takayama, Mt Fuji, Hakone and Sapporo, which have all been typical destinations for foreign tourist for at least more than half a century. Hence my previous answer to the original question.

Sapporo does have areas of natural beauty - Nopporo springs to mind. You don't need to limit yourself to the central city - although the botanic gardens are nice.

I'm a fan of Lake Biwa, where you can see a beautiful castle (at Hikone) and also Enryakuji, which is a temple complex on the top of a hill, which allows for sightseeing, hiking and views.

If it's temples or shrines you're after, Kamakura or Nikko are both great destinations, and within easy striking distance of Tokyo. By way of bonus, Kamakura has Enoshima, and Nikko the waterfalls and an Imperial villa. You can stay at a ryokan at Enoshima.

A bit more remote is Matsue (castle, gardens) and more remote again Hagi, which I think is a little slice of magic in Chugoku-Chiho. Hagi has history, temples and shrines, a bit of ocean, (and an inari shrine overlooking the ocean) old town streets, and is somewhat off the beaten track, for non-Japanese tourists at least. We stayed at a lovely ryokan in Hagi.

Have a wonderful time in Japan.

Japan is a land of seasons. Before we make lots of suggestions, which season are you looking at traveling as this significantly affects travel in Japan

Kyoto is such an obvious choice if you want to have what most foreigners associate with gJapaneseh experiences. Just donft go to the places where all the tourists go, if you want those experiences to come without the layer of large crowds that inevitably contain some badly behaved individuals (including self-centered Japanese people who make obnoxious noise and persistently block walkways). If you can somehow resist the seemingly irresistible pull of the tourist magnet sites, you will much more easily find gthe real Japan.h But make sure you are able to know it when you find it! Open your mind and your heart and all your senses, rather than bringing preconceived, stereotyped notions. Of course, if you do that, you will experience what is truly Japanese anywhere that you go. (Just be prepared to not like some of it!)