Japanese mountain villages off the beaten path.
Less-touristed mountain villages in Japan, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Kiryū
Kiryū, in Gunma Prefecture, is a textile city long defined by Kiryū-ori, a traditional silk-weaving craft that has left the city with a dense concentration o…
Otsu
Enryaku-ji, the ancient headquarters of the Tendai Buddhist sect on Mount Hiei, draws visitors to this lakeside prefectural capital in Shiga, Japan.
Shimabara
Waterfront town in Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu, with a compact centre holding a concentration of historic churches and a café and restaurant scene within eas…
Suzaka
Suzaka, a city in northern Nagano Prefecture, Japan, is known as a town of traditional storehouses — the clay-walled merchant buildings and earthen-floored k…
Nobeoka
A coastal city in northern Miyazaki Prefecture, Nobeoka sits where rivers meet the sea with mountain terrain close by.
Tabayama
A pocket-sized mountain village in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, Tabayama sits within the Chichibu Tama Kai National Park and is also registered as part of th…
Zamami
A tiny island village in Okinawa's Kerama Islands, Zamami sits on the water with mountain terrain rising behind it and an unusually dense café and restaurant…
Kotohira
Kotohira-gū, the Shinto shrine known informally as Konpira-san, draws visitors to this pocket-sized town in Kagawa Prefecture via a staircase of 1,368 steps…
Kusatsu
One of Japan's most famous hot-spring resorts, Kusatsu is a tiny town in Gunma Prefecture's northwest, drawing visitors to its thermal baths and a café and r…
Takasaki
Takasaki, the largest city in Gunma Prefecture on Japan's main island of Honshu, is best known as the home of the Daruma doll — a round, weighted figure repr…
Iwakuni
Kintai-kyo, a five-arched wooden bridge first built in 1673, is the centrepiece of this castle town in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan.
Kozushima
This tiny island village in the Izu Islands, administered as part of Tokyo, Kozushima is well known among fishing enthusiasts, anglers, and divers, with the…
Izumo
Izumo, in Shimane Prefecture on Japan's San'in coast, is home to Izumo Taisha, one of the country's most venerated Shinto shrines and a major pilgrimage dest…
Chino
A city in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with scenic surrounds that include the Yatsugatake mountains, Shirakaba Lake, the Tateshina highlands, and Kurumayama — m…
Higashihiroshima
Sake brewing defines Higashihiroshima's Saijo district, which ranks among Japan's most recognized sake-producing areas and is home to many breweries.
Agematsu
This pocket-sized town in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, sits along the Kiso River, with the Kiso Komagatake peak of the Central Alps rising at its eastern edge.