My recommendations for Japan travel
(Apologies if you landed on this post and it seems incomplete; it probably is. I procrastinated on this post a long enough time that I figured I would just get it started even if partially incomplete, so that I could then fill in the blanks later as needed.)
I have been to Japan two times now (each time for 3 weeks), the first time traveling to the west of Tokyo and the second time traveling to the north of Tokyo. Each time we planned the trips very thoroughly and felt that we got to see some great places, so I thought I'd start an ongoing and evolving post about some of the things I liked best so far.
In a rough order according to the level of interest, my interests are:
So if your interests roughly match these, what follows is likely to be applicable to you as well. If not, then the recommendations might not be so good.
I'll also partition the advice roughly according to these categories. Here's a table of content. Within categories there will be no ordering/ranking. Assume that anything I included, I certainly think is high quality and certainly worth visiting.
Natural beauty Kamikochi Matsushima Lake Chūzenji Gardens The garden at Ginkaku-ji Kenroku-en Castles Himeji castle Museums Tokyo National Museum Tea Houses Kanrantei at Matsushima Tea, Coffee, and Wagashi Kaga-Boucha Whiskey barrel-aged cold brew (Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo) Morihachi Main Store, Kanazawa (upstairs) History Nagamachi Samurai District, Kanazawa Shrines and Temples Yamadera Nikkō Tōshogū Ginkaku-ji Nara Miscellaneous Small towns at the Gifu prefecture Miso shops
I have been to Japan two times now (each time for 3 weeks), the first time traveling to the west of Tokyo and the second time traveling to the north of Tokyo. Each time we planned the trips very thoroughly and felt that we got to see some great places, so I thought I'd start an ongoing and evolving post about some of the things I liked best so far.
In a rough order according to the level of interest, my interests are:
- The history (and especially the cultural history) of Japan
- The gardens and the gardening history
- The current culture and the customs
- The nature along with outdoor activities such as hiking
- Tea, tea history, and the practices around it
- The food
So if your interests roughly match these, what follows is likely to be applicable to you as well. If not, then the recommendations might not be so good.
I'll also partition the advice roughly according to these categories. Here's a table of content. Within categories there will be no ordering/ranking. Assume that anything I included, I certainly think is high quality and certainly worth visiting.
Natural beauty Kamikochi Matsushima Lake Chūzenji Gardens The garden at Ginkaku-ji Kenroku-en Castles Himeji castle Museums Tokyo National Museum Tea Houses Kanrantei at Matsushima Tea, Coffee, and Wagashi Kaga-Boucha Whiskey barrel-aged cold brew (Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo) Morihachi Main Store, Kanazawa (upstairs) History Nagamachi Samurai District, Kanazawa Shrines and Temples Yamadera Nikkō Tōshogū Ginkaku-ji Nara Miscellaneous Small towns at the Gifu prefecture Miso shops