What are your least favorite prefectures?

I was talking to people recently and they were discussing places they did not like and Fukui Prefecture was mentioned by someone, also Niigata Prefecture (which surprised me because that person had seen a lot there including Sado Island), and Japanese often say Saitama. Another one said Kanagawa Prefecture has never thrilled her, although she liked the places she went there.

Anyways, I'm curious to know others' views. For me, although some prefectures interest me more than others and I've only been to about half, I like to think all of them have interesting things but some people disagree.
If I had to choose a least favorite, perhaps Osaka Prefecture? Tokyo is pretty much just Tokyo so it's odd to compare it to others butI guess it would fall low on my list as well if I made one.

hahaha
Japan Guide's forum is mild-mannered, isn't it?
If this was questioned in 2-channel or Yahoo Q&A, flaming will occur.

Most prefectures have some redeeming features. Saitama... most of it is very suburban dormitory towns but Chichibu and the area around Okutama is pleasant.
If you don't like the beach, Ibaragi is low on redeeming features.

Niigata is full of rural charm, but it, like most of the Japan Sea side is depopulating seriously which can make it quite sabishii.


Ishikawa is lovely.

Chiba looks average until you get to Bosso Hanto, Tateyama, even Choshi is quite a nice little city.

Fukushima has always been too close to be exotic and too far to be a place for posh weekenders (unlike Tochigi or Nagano).There are some beautiful parts of Fukushima though - Aizu area, also I have only passed through it but the nature around Iwaki seems very pretty from the Joban sen.

@mukokuseki: Haha, but I don't mean to encourage bashing. I think it mostly reflects each person's travel taste/style. For example, my mention of Osaka and Tokyo probably make it obvious that I'm more interested in the traditional culture than modern culture and shopping. (although I do feel bad saying those because there are many places in both prefectures I do enjoy)

I think this question is for people who visited all prefectures in Japan.
I know my most favorite prefectures.
I was born in Hiroshima, and now live in Tokyo.
Okay, unfailingly Kyoto is my best.
But, what are my least favorite prefectures?
To me there are many unexplored prefectures in Japan...

As a person who was born and grew up in Osaka, I must say there aren't many sightseeing spots in Osaka. Comparing to nearby prefectures, Nara and Kyoto, there are very few. Probably many people in Osaka would agree, but the best thing to seen in Osaka is people. Unfortunately it does give one a disadvantage if he/she doesn't have a good command of Japanese... :)

I think it depends on the setting of the conversation, in other words what you mean by "least favorite."

For example, if you mean "least cool" Saitama had indeed been around the top of the list (which was why they did a big campaign to undo that image) while if you mean "place you want to live the least" people from places like Niigata and Fukui dislike their harsh winters, because they are the ones who need to get on the roof (most of them hate to see snow).

I lived in Aichi in my high-teens and I never got to like it. After 30 years, I got the courage to re-visit the area I lived in and I still didn't like it. I think you either love or hate the place you were in your teens, because it links to the memories of the things that happened at the time. That's what adolsense is all about. But I still have friends there. I even ended up having family there, so what can you say.

And, hey, Tokyo is my hometown and I love it! It's one of the most unique prefectures in the world!

By the way, at least at the moment I'm in love with Osaka because of NHK's drama "Carnation." This week's episodes are fantastic!

I don't know about the whole prefecture, but Niigata City is my least favorite city, it's a car made city, too many cars and no people on the streets -even in the city center- in a 700,000 people city. Also the coastal sector of the city is very ugly.
The city doesn't have any charm, nothing to remember (and I know many mid-size cities in Japan).

Instead of wasting time for this type of question, come to Kyushu. You will be welcome by the warm heart & down to earth people.

I haven't been to them all, but I've been to over 30 and I think each has it's own redeeming features!!

So I'm going to say that I don't have a least favourite.

Can't wait to see the rest!

@Uco: I was thinking in terms of least favorite for travel but it's interesting to see the opinions and reasons for disliking certain places.

The people who said Niigata and Fukui were not Japanese, they were foreigners who have traveled. The Kanagawa response was also from a non-Japanese resident of Japan. Those conversations were about traveling.

Thanks for the answers so far and of course great if more come!

It is said that 3 busu areas are Nagoya, Sendai and Ibaragi. (Busu means ugly woman).
I don't know exactly about Sendai and Ibaragi.
I well know about Nagoya and I'm sure the rumour is true.
However, women in whole area of Aichi prefecture are not always busu. There are many beautiful women in Mikawa area, eastern part of Aichi prefecture. Only Nagoya and Owari area (western part of Aichi prefecture) are busu area. I wonder that.

In this case it may be better to comment with old country name, for example Wakasa Echizen Kaga Noto Ecchu, than to comment with contemporary prefecture name.

Thanks for your feedback, Rabbityama.

From a touristical point-of-view, places like Niigata and Fukui differ greatly depending on which season you visit them.

In winter, the climate is very gloomy, but the seafood is fantastic. Very few places in Japan can beat winter seafood from Niigata or Fukui.

But in spring, they are just wonderful as there aren't too much crowd and the combination of nature and culture is exquisit.

Another thing is that rice and people are probably the two best things you can find in those areas. But if you're foreign, you might not be able to appreciate them as you haven't had enough rice elsewhere to compare to or as you don't know the language enough to communicate with.

On the other hand, I live in Kanagawa which is paradise to me, but Kanagawa is a tricky place to tour. Most spots are not as obviously entertaining as the spots in the very-close Tokyo, so if you're coming from a far away prefecture, you might as well see Tokyo than Kanagawa. Or if you seeking beach resorts, the also-close Shizuoka is much better.

But there are a lot of trivial sites to see in Kanagawa and the sophistication of the seaside is probably the best in Japan. It's an ideal day-trip destination for those living in Tokyo, too.

I must admit, however, that tourist information for foreigners is very poor (although getting better) in Kanagawa for a prefecture that has such a big port. As a person who loves to travel around the world, poor information can be a big downer.

Still, it depends on how you see it. There are people like me who love to adventure places with less information or to end up in a gloomy place and see it as being cinematic.