I especially recommend a long walk in rural or small-town Japan. Perhaps the best one-day option is the Yamanobe Road
https://www.japan.travel/en/destinations/kansai/nara/the-yam...
which is breathtaking. You pass ancient tombs, temples, and shrines -- you will have beautiful mountains to your east and even more beautiful small towns to your west. If you've seen My Neighbor Totoro, imagine that it was brought to life and you got to spend all day walking through it. It's fairly easy to get to from Nara, Osaka, or Kyoto.
If you have more time, the classic long-distance walk in Japan is the Henro-michi in Shikoku, aka the Shikoku pilgrimage.
https://shikoku-tourism.com/en/shikoku-henro/shikoku-henro
I did it on foot over 58 days, and it was absolutely the experience of a lifetime. Even if you don't have two months, just a few days on the trail will showcase rural Japan at its most beautiful, and the Japanese people at their friendliest and most welcoming.
Oh -- and I've driven in Japan, but you'll probably want to get around by train instead, the mass transit is the best in the world.
I'd also add a suggestion of renting a bike and riding the shimanamikaido from Hiroshima to get to Shikoku. You can also take a ferry and then bike back one-way from Shikoku to Hiroshima if you want. When I did it (2010) they only had "real" road bikes available from the Shikoku side for some reason, so when I showed up on the Honshu side I settled for a hybrid-ish mama-chari. I happened to have good weather (some time in July), made short stops at random shops on the islands along the way, and stayed a business hotel in Imabari for a couple of days, then rode back. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3478.html
That trip started with attempting to walk to Nagoya to Osaka, but I only made it 50 miles before giving up and taking the train the rest of the way, because I tried to save some money and bought junk shoes that wrecked my feet. This was of course when the exchange rate was 78 yen per dollar, rather than 150 ;) That was really frustrating since it was only a few months after I ran the Tokyo Marathon, and I figured I could handle any kind of foot pain by then. Nope, don't compromise on shoes when you're thinking about trying to walk 30 miles a day.
He has biked across Japan in his season 1 of Journey Across Japan, he showcases all kinds of hotels, capsule hotels, Ryokans (Japanese inns), etc, in every video. It's just a great way to learn about Japan, it's culture, food, what dos and don'ts.
One thing that's strange to me, having been all over the country myself (including Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Okinawa) and living in Aichi for a year, is that I only saw a wild small mammal once. Even that one time, I wasn't sure if I actually saw it, because it vanished before I got a good glimpse of it. I know there are squirrels somewhere- there's a native word for squirrel- but I've never seen them. Being from the northeast US, the concept that a location with a temperate climate lacking in abundant squirrels could exist seemed absurd. On my next trip to Japan, I will dedicate some portion to seeking out native squirrels.
Of course in Japan there are also a few places known for wild monkeys that like to hang out hot springs, but I haven't seen them in person either.
I did see a guy with his girlfriend hanging out on a mountain pass in a wrecked "panda trueno" that was being loaded on a flatbed when I was hiking once. I hadn't brought my real camera that day, and I deeply regretted it since my flip phone only had a VGA camera.
I've done a lot of cycling across various bits of Japan, from shorter day trips on the order of 150km to longer 1000km+ trips. One thing to keep in mind for visiting cyclists on longer road trips: this may seem obvious but Japan is very mountainous which means a lot of narrow roads with little/no shoulder, and long (sometimes multi-kilometre) tunnels. Fortunately drivers are in general, very considerate and careful around cyclists.
For shorter day trips, many large rivers/lakes in Japan have cycling/walking paths along one or both sides and make for really nice riding. In Tokyo, the Tamagawa or in Kyoto Kamogawa and Katsuragawa have paths. Lake Biwa has a really nice cycling trail as well.
One of my favourite longer routes was along the north coast of Japan between Tsuruga and the north end of Fukui. The mountain pass along no. 8 through Takefu has some nice views but a lot of climbing and tunnels. For something shorter but pretty, follow the Tamagawa from Tokyo up to Lake Okutama. As someone else mentioned, I find travelling in rural Japan a lot nicer than cycling in/near big cities.
Kyoto is an amazing place, Tokyo is a must, and Mount Fuji is quite nice. I've heard Osaka is cool, but I've never been. Beyond that, specifics depend on what you're into.
My favorite bits were generally the food, temples, museums, onsen and just wandering around shopping districts and taking it all in.
I don't think there's any particular location you need to go or see if you're road-tripping - but where you go depends on the activities and vibe you like, I guess. The main divide would be mountain/ocean/city. Unless you have particular needs, I'd recommend staying at local ryokans (inns) or guest houses rather than major hotels, especially chains. Same for restaurants.
Cherry blossom in spring and red leafs in fall are great with pleasant climate, but also attracts big crowds and crowded roads. Summer sees lots of matsuri (traditional festivals) and fireworks. NYE's a dozo. If you can, avoid typhoon season in typhoon areas, obv. Kyushu was just hit pretty bad.
Also if you're into that kind of stuff, from late spring to early fall there are a lot of small outdoor 1-3 day music events happening in random places, some of which are great for camping. The stereotype that Japanese people tend to get really dedicated to whatever they're doing has a seed of truth I think, and the same holds for "party people" ;)
(Part of me is hesitant writing all this as I selfishly have really appreciated all the quiet and serenity during the pandemic. But honestly, the local economy really needs some tourism. Please come. Local businesses are struggling really hard. But please do respect the peace and do a quick refresher on local customs pre-arrival ^^)
And HMU if you ever come by the Yamanashi side of Mt Fuji; we have some deservedly famous spots here and if I'm free I'm happy to meet :)
Hiroshima was my favourite city. Considering what happened there, it had a really peaceful vibe and the city rebuild in the affected areas is great.
Nothing wrong with the normal train lines though.
I did Kanazawa to Tokyo some years ago, fun trip.
Right now USD/JPY is around 145, and it was about 100 in 2020, which means almost 30% discount for everything! (Please note that CPI of Japan is not so high)
Come to Japan, and enjoy!
I travel a lot, other people often act like "its an efficient market" with the prices of things (groceries, consumer electronics, rent) when currencies are changing fast, but from my experience there is usually a 6-12 month delay in prices of a region changing.
I guess such is life? Japan, all hail your new USD bearing overlords.
Nowadays, I cannot imagine having a trip to the U.S.
In Tokyo, hit up harajuku and omotesando for awesome fashion. I'm really curious how well those boutiques have survived (around the world hasn't been pretty over the last year).
but aside from that, Tokyo is a day trip for me, the real cosmopolitan action is in Osaka.
As everyone has mentioned, the trains in Japan are wonderful, but if you get a tourist rail pass you might consider taking a long flight for your first leg (eg. Haneda to Hokkaido or Kyushu), then firing up the rail pass when you finish there and meander your way back on the train.
As a footnote, the rail pass is also good for a large number of bus lines, ferries, etc, so don't assume that you will have to stay in city centers.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/boj-keep-ultra-low-rate...
My guess is that this would be a drop in the bucket, but who knows?
This is very interesting considering most Japanese economic policy has been an attempt to reverse deflation or stagnation. Now it's inflating too fast?
It makes me sad to think about that a lot of service staff is already living tight on eq ~7 USD/h pay and very likely cost-of-living will continue to increase sharper than any pay increase. There's a large poverty in Japan you don't necessarily see on the surface.
With special privilege that’s not available for regular tourist of course.
I've previously been misdirected here, since they have different rules for vacationers vs business travelers or something like that. But, this sounds like a blanket lift of restrictions.
If you didn't fully open by spring 2022 for everyone, then you don't deserve my money and can wait at least 1-2 extra years before I even consider spending money, since you didn't rush I won't rush either.
Same reason I didn't even consider this year holidays in Spain (maybe not one specific harsh restriction but overal sum with locking children inside, wearing mask outdoors and other nonsense), Italy (work ban for unvaxxed takes the gold) or Greece (fines for unvaxxed seniors takes the gold) this summer in Europe, because of what they did to own citizens.
When tourists do return, I hope they respect the norms here and wear masks in public spaces, disinfect their hands, and do their best to avoid risky situations… and don’t act like Japan is a giant theme park where Covid doesn’t exist.
I really want to travel to Japan again though. I have friends there and I also miss the country in general.
