Oppos who've been to Japan: have you guys done anything off the beaten path?

"gin-san - shitpost specialist" (gin-san-) 08/06/2019 at 18:39 • Filed to: TRAVELOPNIK

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My first Japan trip was Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Yokohama, Nagoya/Suzuka (for F1), Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, and Himeji. All things considered, this is an extremely common itinerary, perhaps with some minor changes.

However, have any oppos here done stuff that’s off the beaten path? It’s a bit strange to say for a place as heavily populated as Japan, but everybody seems to know those big destinations.

Has anyone here been to other areas of the country that aren’t on Honshu or Hokkaido? There’s so much less out there about Kyushu or Shikoku that I really want to visit, but I also want to know more. Any anecdotes or personal experience would be appreciated.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 18:47

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I pitched this to AIM, but what about a visit to some of the manufacturers ?

Mazda would be on my list

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 18:50

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Is Flavien  still around here?

BeaterGT > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 18:54

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I was in Narita for a whole 20 hours before the Malaysian GP.  Sorry, that’s all I got.

How long was that first trip and how was Suzuka? Might be heading there next year.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 18:58

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What are you interested in? Perhaps stating the obvious, but the big destinations are big for a reason—if you’re looking for obscure stuff then you’ll have to look deeper into a particular region like Kyushu. There’s Nagasaki, which may be somewhat mainstream. For nature, the south of Japan has volcanic geology.

You can head out to Kagoshima or even fly to Okinawa if tropics and aboriginal island history are your thing.

I don’t have much experience with actual travelling within Japan (I’ve been to the Tokyo area several times and watched a ton of Japanese TV/games) , but my relatives in Hong Kong frequent Okinawa and Ishigaki for weekend getaways.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 18:58

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I... worked in Yokosuka the whole time. Excper for the day we were restricted to our hotel because of a TYPHOON!

2/10 would not recommend. 

gin-san - shitpost specialist > BeaterGT 08/06/2019 at 19:05

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As far as airports to be stuck a goes, Narita certainly isn’t a bad one. I had a layover there earlier this year - they have nice smoking lounges (yeah it’s bad for me but what the fuck) and really excellent airport food without being gouged on price.

That trip was 2.5 weeks. We fit a lot into that time but we also saw a tremendous amount of Japan. I don’t think I’d change anything about the trip except making it longer, so that I could’ve spent an extra couple of days in Tokyo as well as Kyoto/Osaka.

Suzuka was awesome. Keep in mind I only just got there in time for quali and we got there a early for the race, but I did not spend a lot of time on the grounds. In short, food/beer is reasonably priced for a sporting event (something very common in Japan, your wallet doesn’t get violated every time you want a drink or a bite to eat) and the fans are great. We had general admission tickets and spent a good chunk of the race sitting at Spoon curve before we watched the remainder at the hairpin. For quali, I spent a bit of time at those places plus at the inside of 130R. The hairpin is ticketed access, but since my friend and I were taller we were able to just stand by the hairpin and watch the race over the fence since it only blocked the view of shorter people. At 6" height you should be OK. Getting back after a race kind of sucks due to the crowds but we left pretty much right after the race finished and left on the first train, which was packed. Don’t expect seating unless you can somehow work out reserved seats, which I don’t remember if it’s even an option on the train from Nagoya to Suzuka.

If you can stay close to the circuit, go right ahead, but it seemed like the majority of fans were  coming from Nagoya. I can definitely recommend a couple of restaurants if you go there, I think I had the best soba & tempura combo ever in Nagoya.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/06/2019 at 19:07

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I see it’s pretty close to Tokyo/Yokohama where I’d visited as well. Are things really any different in Yokosuka? Also, is it 2/10 in general or is it like 8/10 normally but 2/10 with typhoon?

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 08/06/2019 at 19:14

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Nothing in particular. I do enjoy good natural scenery with easy hikes and stuff like that, but it’s not so much to avoid the mainstream, it’s simply the fact that I did so much of the big stuff already. The problem is that I could easily do most of those big cities all over again because there’s so much to see, but it made me wonder if I was missing out on something really good in the lesser-travelled regions.

Okinawa/Amami are in consideration if I choose to focus on Kyushu. I know Okinawa isn’t “off the beaten path” but heck if I’m in that region I’ll probably go.

Honestly, a great vacation for me is just seeing some cool stuff while casually strolling around and every place I visited in Japan had something unique and memorable. Sometimes it’s strolling around cities finding random alleyways of food and liquor, other times it’s hanging out and swimming on a marvel ous beach. I was thinking about Nagasaki, but having been to Hiroshima, it’s just going to result in me trying not to cry as I inevitably go through the museums and memorials about the atomic bomb. At least Hiroshima had an outrageous okonomiyaki which dulled how fucking miserably sad the museum and memorials made me.

BeaterGT > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 19:15

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Thanks for the tips, much appreciated. Narita is a great airport. Especially compared to JFK! I slept in the pods, ate some gyoza, hung with locals   and felt it was a good tease of what Japan has to offer.

Sounds like I need to tell my friend we’re going to Suzuka next year.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/06/2019 at 19:15

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Oh shit, I forgot, he had given me some tips the first time around. Hopefully he’s still around.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 08/06/2019 at 19:17

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I just looked it up and I’m kicking myself - looks like they’re in Hiroshima. Not likely I’ll go back there just for a Mazda tour, but it’s a lovely city so I won’t rule it out.

I didn’t get to do the Toyota museum in Nagoya, either. I shouldn’t have gone to the castle, Japanese castles all kind of blend together after a while (except for Himeji which is a fucking marvel and beautiful).

RPM esq. > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 19:19

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I’ve only been to major/common destinations, but for my next trip Okinawa is definitely on the itinerary.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > BeaterGT 08/06/2019 at 19:24

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Honestly, it’s just a great vibe. We landed in Tokyo a week before the GP, and we ran into some F1 fans from Europe (or Britain, I don’t know what the fuck’s going on with that exit) in the Golden Gai area of Tokyo which is full of small bars and can be a tourist trap.

We were talking F1 when Johnny Herbert and his Sky F1 posse came in - long story short Herbert took off while the barman was arguing with his (inebriated) posse since they were being wankers. It’s too bad since it would’ve been awesome to talk to him (or maybe not, I don’t know much about him).

Also, Japan doesn’t really have a thing about bringing your own liquor/food into the place, so I suggest that if you can find a cooler bag and fill up with convenience store beers/food you’ll be much better prepared. I was heartbroken when the vendor told me they sold out of beer. Maybe it was a blessing (to some) since they were selling Heineken, but I’m a firm believer that a cold Heineken is still better than no beer at all. A lot of Japanese families had brought coolers and stuff full of goodies!

I can’t recommend it enough, I almost want to go back so that I can do a proper, full weekend - practice, support races, quali, and the race.

jimz > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 20:14

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both times I went there I spent most of my time in Iwaki. But I was there for work reasons and we had “chaperones.” Which was good, because we went bar hopping and I never would have made it back to my hotel room otherwise.

also it was weird seeing a place with no concept of zoning whatsoever. I was staying in a 7 story hotel scrunched right up against a small house.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/06/2019 at 20:19

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He’s on Facebook if you are on there. 

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/06/2019 at 20:35

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He still posts here from time to time I think!

AestheticsInMotion > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 08/06/2019 at 20:55

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I totally forgot about that. Excuse me while I look up travel distances....

I remember one of the jalopnik writers doing a piece on Subaru Sti I believe. The newish guy who was based out of Japan and always wrote long articles without any sort of click bait? Is he still around? 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > AestheticsInMotion 08/06/2019 at 20:56

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Saito? or the other one I can’t remember?

Cat?

AestheticsInMotion > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 08/06/2019 at 20:58

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Not Cat, although I really miss her articles. I adored her little Honda. For some reason building up cheap unassuming cars really resonates with me... 

I think it was Saito?

zipfuel > AestheticsInMotion 08/06/2019 at 23:09

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Kat is still in Japan although her recent insta posts suggest that sadly the Honda may be  dead 

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Flavien Vidal > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/07/2019 at 00:13

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I’m around :)

Flavien Vidal > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/07/2019 at 00:16

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Renting a car is the way to get around here if you want to avoid touristic places... A good trip to do is to rent a car in Sapporo and drive all the way to Kyushu without ever taking the freeway and not paying through the big cities... It's a lot of fun and you'll see awesome stuff.

t0ast > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/07/2019 at 00:52

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I’m still just starting to find my way off the beaten path on my periodic visits to Japan, but here’s some of the best that I’ve turned up so far:

Nikka distillery (~1 hour west of Sendai): The grounds and large brick buildings are gorgeous, they offer a tour (not in English though), they’ve got a great variety available in their tasting room for very reasonable prices (including some discontinued spirits), and their shop is easily the cheapest you’ll find their products anywhere.

Hakone: Several great mountain roads and views in close proximity to one another if you’ve rented a car or are willing to take a day trip out to Fun2Drive. I’ve done the later twice now and loved it both times.

Myoshinji Temple Complex (~25 min from Kyoto station): Dozens of temples that have been around since the late 1500s with walking paths all around them. There are a few open to the public, though I’ve only visited Shunkoin so far, which offers up regular English language meditation/mindfulness courses (non-religious in nature if that matters ... I’m an atheist and enjoyed it) and also has a guest house available (which I haven’t stayed in yet, but intend to at some point in the future).

Fushimi Inari (10  min from Kyoto station): Yes, it’s that popular spot with all those red gates along a path that you see photos of. However, there’s a whole freaking mountain behind it to climb and explore. I didn’t have enough time to go all the way up last time, so it’s on my to-do list for my next visit.

AdverseMartyr > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/07/2019 at 09:01

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Okinawa is a bit uhmm... not boring. It’s got good beaches, Heartbreak Ridge, the Peace museum is an interesting stop to see how the Okinawan people were affected by WWII, the glass blowing places are interesting tourist places to visit to see them making cool figures, and for about the price of one of the glasses you can purchase they let you “hand blow” one yourself with supervision (it’s best if you do this first if you are staying for a few days as you can pick it up after annealing rather than paying for it to be shipped).

Their aquarium is rather good with whale sharks, black sea turtles and such. It’s a former World’s fair site if I remember correctly. There’s a planetarium that gives shows about the sky as it relates to Okinawan legends and such, a museum of Pacific Island cultures, and ancient sailing techniques, botanical gardens.

It’s a bit shit for driving though as the speed limit is pretty much 60kph. You won’t get in trouble for running 80kph most of the time, but inevitably you will end up behind someone going 50 with no opportunity to pass legally.

There are some great roads for corners and such, but I’ve found they are also usually not in the best shape (bad patch jobs and minor pot holes).

The best drives have been the ones to the connected outer islands, but there’s still the inevitable slow kei truck that you can’t pass because of constant blind corners. The views are pretty amazing though for any of the coastal roads.

The big draw here is finding little pieces of Okinawan culture. Places to get the fresh and hot Sata Andagi in various flavors (Onna area is good). They’ve got a tourist “Okinawan village” that puts on Okinawan dances, food, dying fabric, pottery, sugar cane milling, etc.

We’ve got a distillery or two as well, but with my work I don’t have an opportunity to check them out so I can’t say much.

If you time it right there are Okinawan cultural festivals that highlight different parts of the unique Ryuku kingdom culture that is pre-Japan.

If you’re into crystals and energy the forest on the north end of the island is supposed to be a mecca for that. I can recommend the drive just from an engineering coolness. Most of the road on the west side is a causeway built up along the side of the mountain about 25 feet above the ocean. It’s really cool to see it ahead of you as you follow the curves in and out. the kick in the nuts is that its 60kph and two lanes most of the time with little legal passing.

Supposedly the outer islands you can fly to are pretty interesting from a culture standpoint, but it’s not something I’ve done. There’s also the ferries between islands. (I’m planning to use one to move my car to Kagoshima before driving it to Osaka in a couple of months).

The other none standard (ish) things I can think of - somewhere past Himeji there was a small sword museum that had an active forge where you could watch a smith at work.

-on one of the islands you can drive to from Kobe there is a museum of authorized art forgeries that is inside a mountain. It’s some ceramic process that they say will survive for a long time with no color degredation. (This was 20 years ago so I don’t remember details for either of them).

You’ve been to Kyoto. Have you hiked Daigo-ji? That’s one of my favorite hikes, and it’s got a great view of the city(ies?).

Snuze: Needs another Swede > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/07/2019 at 09:54

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Hard to answer if it’s any different as I really didn’t see any of the rest of Japan. It was a work trip, I was a subcontractor supporting the government, so they kept the purse strings tight. It was fly into Narita, take the train to Yokosuka, work 5 4 straight 10 12-14 hour days (the typhoon screwed us up) , take the train back to Narita, and go home.

It might be a 1/10 without the t yphoon, that added some excitement.

Honestly, it wasn’t terrible, and in some ways maybe a great intr o to Japan for someone who had never been anywhere in A sia before. The biggest thing in Yokosuka is a huge Navy base, which is where I was. Weirdly, the town has kind of adapted this by having a sprawling area outside the base known as “ The Honch, ” which is basically like “America Town. ”

Imagine any Chinatown or Little Italy you’ve been to, but you know, America. It’s all bars, burgers, and tacos, and they’re all named after George; George’s Pub, George’s Cantina, George’s Burger bar. Or at least that’s how I remember it. 

I had a buddy from my Navy day who told me that Japan’s largest Buddah is in Kamakura, which is a short train ride from Yokosuka.  I really wanted to go but didn’t make it due to the compressed schedule.  But it’s not far from Yokohama. I think that would be worth going to see. 

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/07/2019 at 11:36

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My mom was based in Fukuoka for work for a while, and my SIL is from Nagasaki so I’ve spent a decent amount of time in Kyushu. Both are very cool cities – Fukuoka probably a lot more similar to most other Japanese cities, but Nagasaki is quite different with a very picturesque setting and history with the Portuguese, being a trade port for centuries, etc.

Also did a trip down to Aso once – it was very beautiful, and cool to see the volcano and all the hot springs in the area. Amazing driving roads too J It was really nice how much quieter and less crowded it felt down that way compared to most of the parts of Japan you see as a visitor.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/07/2019 at 11:40

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FYI – there is a lot more to Nagasaki than the atomic bomb memorial stuff. It felt like that was front and center in Hiroshima, but the memorial is a bit more out of the way (slightly) in Nagasaki and there really is a lot more unique culture, architecture, food, and sights there that is probably worth a visit if it isn’t too much of a hassle to get there.

gin-san - shitpost specialist > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 08/07/2019 at 16:11

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If I do Kyushu I will likely go there. Last time I had a rail pass and it was nice to go to the many different places. Thanks for your insight! 

gin-san - shitpost specialist > AdverseMartyr 08/07/2019 at 16:18

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I don’t recall Daigo-ji. We saw a ton of temples but they kind of blend together after a while apart from a few standouts. I remember doing a bit of a hike up to a place with a ton of monkeys running around and gave you a good view, I think that was a little bit outside of Kyoto.

Okinawa does sound pretty nice, thanks for all your info! 

gin-san - shitpost specialist > t0ast 08/07/2019 at 16:21

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I’m definitely interested in Nikka, I saw they have a place in Sendai and another in Sapporo I believe.

Never thought about driving Hakone, I’d only known it for the hot springs. I’ll look up that driving experience later.

Temples can be good but also get boring to me after a while, especially given the sheer number of temples. However, you've given me a couple of new things to look out for, thank you! 

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Flavien Vidal 08/07/2019 at 16:26

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I would absolutely love to do this but I fear that I would want to do this over a period much longer than my vacation time allows.

I’m thinking about this but perhaps limited to one island. Are road signs also done in English? I honestly don’t recall but I believe street signs were bilingual in the places we went to.

Flavien Vidal > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/07/2019 at 19:32

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Yes driving here is no problem and signs are international and directions written in romanji... Google Map is your savior here too, I wouldn’t be able to live in this country without it haha

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Flavien Vidal 08/07/2019 at 20:04

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Romanji is perfect for me. I used the hell out of google maps when I was in Japan as well, but I used hyperdia so much for our train travel.

One other thing I need to ask... are speed cameras or policing really strict there? If I’m on a rural road or an empty motorway I tend to stretch the limits a bit . Are the Japanese as strict as I assume they would be with speeding? Are speed limits really low? I’m also assuming that policing is probably more common on more frequently used motorways instead of twisty rural routes.

Thanks for the tips!

Flavien Vidal > gin-san - shitpost specialist 08/08/2019 at 08:56

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You need to know what you’re doing when speeding here... The fronbt plate on my main car isn’t visible to automatic radars which helps a lot already. You can speed A LOT here. As in, pretty much go as fast as you want on the freeway, but you need to do it at certain times when roads are pretty much empty and on roads you’ve been on A LOT to know whether or not there could be cops... In the mountains, no problem, just go wild, as long as it’s not filled with lots of cars on a very touristic place... Mountain roads here very much offer you a freedom no other country offers.... You can have the most fun ever, just make sure to know when to slow down, pay attention around you and know when to respect speed limits which are indeed very low.... Common sense usually prevails and if you have any, you will have the time of your life here on mountain roads :)

gin-san - shitpost specialist > Flavien Vidal 08/08/2019 at 18:55

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Cool, thanks for the info! It’s not like I speed carelessly (although I understand arguments that all speeding is careless, even if I don’t agree) but if I get a decently fun car to drive, it’s going to be difficult to not push it a bit at times.