I've been on the 3 spots in this list. Let me comment on them real quick (ignore any english mistakes as it is not my native language): My opinion on Okutama is the exact same as yours, just a wonderful place to hike (we hiked Mt. Mitake and it was stunning, panoramic views of the Tokyo Plain and nearby mountains, a peaceful and small village/temple almost unaccessible with car at the beggining of the hike, a stunning Stone Garden and waterfalls... and it's super easy to hike as well). Miyajima: the deers and the Itsukushima Shrine were super nice, but for us the real highlight was the Daishoin as well. Didn't know about that tunnel when we were there, but the temple itself, the lush green vegetation everywhere like it's almost taking over, the nearby waterfalls... it was amazing. The cable car that takes you to the top of the mountain is well worth it as you get to have one of the nicest views I've ever had the pleasure to marvel at, of the dozens of islands of the Seto Insland Sea. Definitely recommed staying there for a night, we stayed at a little guesthouse called Mikuniya with a private bath, some instruments (piano, guitar... it's fun if some of the guests know how to play and liven up dinner time, we ate a konbini noodles over some anime music on piano from one of the guests there) and it's super cheap (like 40-50USD per night). Fuji-Q: we did not have the greatest experience there due to bad luck with the weather. I like to call it Fuji-Queue instead, as we waited like 2 hours on average to ride (due to it raining a bit every half and our or so), japanese people just like to stand up in line it seems. Then it started raining, the rides had to stop and almost all guests left. Fortunately we stayed in the park and at like 5PM rain stopped and rides were operative again, having the park for ourselves... so we rode every ride 2-3 times in that remaining last hour, rushing from one on to the next. I know it's not the normal experience and in the end it was OK as we got the ride every ride we wanted, even a few times, but just know that it's better not to prebook anything and go there depending on the weather forecast. I have to say the rides were amazing tho.

I haven't visited Japan, so I don't know how rare it is to want to go to Shirakawa-go, it's one of those villages you see and feel the calm of it and the ambient. It appeared in the Higurashi series, and besides the fact I love it, it's also amazing as the village possesses beautiful shrines and old style houses.. definitely want to go when I have the opportunity

The ropeway on Miyajima is awesome. Took it up right before closing, climbed up to the summit (it’s still about 100-200m climb after the ropeway), and just hung out there to shoot a sunset timelapse. Pro-tip: if you stay until after sunset, it’s night. Ended up going down the mountain with just a flashlight and just making it in time for the last ferry back to Hiroshima. One of my best memories in Japan (^_^)

I'm moving to Japan in two weeks and am super excited! Those bridges in Okutama look so enticing...might have to wander over there myself =] Great videos as always! Also haven't been on a rollercoaster in years, Gary may have re-ignited that spark XD

Solid list, all excellent places to visit for sure! I was also quite happy to see that brew pub included - always something I look for when I travel. And now I’d like to add one more: Ise City, Mie preference. This is where we find the most important Shinto shrine in Japan, Ise Jingu. Actually, there’s a whole network of shrines all forming the central matrix of ancient Japanese pilgrimage culture. There’s also a fantastic traditional hospitality district there with great food options, fantastic atmosphere, and yes, even good local beer. 🍻

Should have mentioned Hakone. Not super niche, but noone I've talked to outside of Japan seems to know about it. Heaps to do there. Cable cars, pirate ship, traditional railways, volcanic sulfer vents, Hakone shrine with the Tori gate in the water you can walk under (best photo ever), old imperial palace, heaps of art museums include the outdoor picasso museum and a bunch more. Contrary to what Gary said, there's other stuff to do around Lake Kawaguchiko and Fuji-Q high lands. Theres bus routes that take you arround the whole Five lakes area, so you can easily see lots of stuff in a day. Obviously you can climb Mt Fuji, but thats a bit of a commitment. There's Iyashi no Sato, a traditional japanese village, as well as a bunch of caves in the area formed in volcanic rock around Mt Fuji. I suggest visiting atleast visiting the Wind and Ice caves. You can walk from one to the other through the Aokigahara forest (suicide forest). There's also one of those signs at the Ice cave end of the path. Despite the grim associations, It's quite a beautiful forest, and that path is a lovely short trek through it, about 15 minutes. Also to me, Itsukushima Shrine is probably the least interesting part of Miyajima (still very beautiful though). My favourite was Daishoin Temple you showed, but theres also a heap of other beautiful shrines, temples, pagodas and stuff. Be prepared for lots of steps though. Also in summer you can camp on the island, which is a good time to visit the Aquarium who have seal shows.

I've been to Miyajima during the month of August, the heat was so severe and the moisture level in the air so high that I think I've never sweat more than this day in my life. We've walked all day and went to the top of a mountain, every 100 meters there was a drink dispenser and I bought a can. I've tried all the possible drinks for sale in Japanese dispensers in a single afternoon. 😄

I’m so glad your channel grew and you’re making and uploading regularly now. I really enjoy watching every video, it’s always such a delight.

I'm living in Hiroshima now and I have to say Miyajima is not that "lesser-known" in my opinion, everytime I go there I see thousands of foreign tourists(maybe more than that since I can't tell Korean or Chinese from Japanese). It's probably because Hiroshima is just so far from Tokyo that foreign tourists are not that motivated to travel a half of Japan for it. I strongly recommend Shimane for tourists, it's really somewhere lesser-known(even for Japanese) and having some very good tourist attractions

these travel videos w/stories are so entertaining

Bro I was wondering when you were gonna post! Yay 🙌

I'm planning a trip next year, hopefully I can add these to my itinerary! Thanks for the video

Great video as always man! I will go to these places when I visit Japan one day.

I bought with boyfriend tailored travel plan from only Japan travel agency, well it was pretty pricey in compare if you do it yourself, but it was incredible, the hotels were all good including traditional style, and the route was from Tokyo to Hiroshima and back, including Miyajima - Itsukushima Island for full day, my boyfriend says that's his highlight of our trip, for me it's Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine :D but indeed the island was astonishing we went in Autumn, in the morning we saw how low was the water at the torii gate, took cable car up the hill, walked down, wandered in the temple, and when we got back we saw water on full raise at the torii gate. Beautiful place.

That was great! I also have very fond memories of Miyajima. I spent a day there on my japan skate trip. Climbed up through the forest to the highesst platform on the mountain, checked out the temples related to Kobo Daishi there, and skated down the bugger. Awesome experience, lemme tell ya. To top it off, i wasn't even aware of the island before. Hiroshima was supposed to be a quick stop, but a girl chatted me up while i was resting with all my gear on a grass patch next to the river, and she insisted i had to stay and go there. So there i went. Oh man, so many stories flooding back…

Absolutely wonderful mix of your regular content with a new twist, I feel like you always have some sort of insider knowledge on Japanese culture and this a great extension of that. I would love to hear more about places to go! I have a video I would love to see as well, I would love to take a deep dive into the culture and making of Sake! I learned a bit about it recently and I feel like it could be a great topic to talk about since nihonshu isn't well explored in the west! Anyway, thanks again for another amazing video!

The oysters at Miyajima are splendid

I've really been enjoying your recent videos, I even joined your discord server!

Highly agree on Miyajima. On my visit there I hiked some random trail I found. Beautiful forest. One of my favorite places in Japan.

Fuji Q is the best!!! It's also good if you like horror/haunted locations because it has a haunted house that was converted from a real hospital. I'm not a horror person, so I cried 🤣There's also a huge outdoor outlet mall nearby.

that's the reason why tourists like to stay in Japan for a long time so that they can experience more around Japan, if I don't mind sitting there until I'm old and have children there 😼 because Japan is my dream country and one of the best countries in the world, even the distance is not far from Southeast Asia

As far as touristy stuff goes Miyajima is really great. Would also totally recommend it. Just went there again this Obon. The torii is still under construction though. It will be open again after December of this year. So maybe wait for that.

The problem with Miyajima is that most if not all of the time people go there for a day long trip, arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon/late afternoon and you may not have enough time to stroll around. My advice is to arrive with the last ferry and spend the night there! The next day you'll have all the time in the world to visit every nook and cranny of the island, plus the island at night is BEAUTIFUL and (more ro less) all for yourself, without the masses of people that roams the street during peak hours. Moreover, you can catch the morning high tide at the temple... shrine? I always mix them up, sorry ^^', and that's another great plus.

Miyajima is a touristy destination but it's totaly amazing, one of the best place i went on earth to be honest. I will return here for 2 days in february and i hope i will finaly do the hike to the summit.

Really nice choice of places :) I’ll definitely go to Okutama on my next trip!

Regarding Fuji Q Highland. The Do Dodonpa ride was shut down effective August 2021 and has not reopened as of Sept 2023. It was shut down as riders were experiencing broken bones from the ride. It's too bad as it's my favorite roller coaster of all time. The acceleration was just insane 0-111.8 MPH in 1.56 seconds...let that sink in for a little bit. The Fuji-Q is located in the town of Kawaguchiko and the easiest way to get there back when I went in 2017 was to simply board a direct bus. There are also LOTS of out door things to do as Mt. Fuji is right there. That include of course views of Mt. Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi and the iconic view of Chureito Pagoda with Mt Fuji in the background and if you're lucky enough to go during the hanami season with cherry blossoms as well.

As someone not liking beer myself I'm thrilled to check out Vertere

brilliant video idea!!!

near Fuji-Q is the Chureido pagoda which is over a hill and has an amazing view to the Mt. Fuji. I also rented an electrical bike and circled around the Kawakuchi and Saiko lakes. Its pretty scenic full of nature, and you got a dedicated bikeway almost all the road

I recommend visitors to go to areas outside of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. These 3 places are definite worthy spots but probably worth just visiting once or twice. There's many more places to visit like Hiroshima. Izumo, Kyushu(not a specific city but a wide area), Kanazawa, Takayama, Toyama and many more.

I wanna gooo it looks epic!!

+1 to the FujiYama coaster. It’s surprisingly smooth. It’s built by TOGO, but felt kinda like a B&M. A little rougher, but not bad at all. Would recommend.

Good News, Torii in Miyajima has been opened again! there still some constructions structure around tho. You should definitely ride the cable car and climb mount Misen. There an eternal fire site near the top and the view is cool. The cable car travel is a bit scary tho if you are afraid of heights.

0:48 Is there a word for Japanese style of infrastructure? Buildings are close together yet spaced apart, streetways have a certain very organized and clean look and design, sidewalks are narrow, and roads have a series of residential and/or commercial buildings running along each side. No other country I know of does or looks quite like this.

I love how good you are at Japanese respect dude! I spent some time in Japan unfortunately my school started right before the Corona pandemic. I kinda gave up on school and learning started to just chase tail now the most Japanese I know is sexual innuendos

Those are good trip place

nice video and would be even better if you included a link to google maps list of places mentioned ;)

That's a great video, brother! I am going to Japan for two weeks next summer so I will check out all of these places. Do you recommend anything else?

Excellent video. Dropping this comment for algo purposes

its a pity you didnt take the ropeway in miyajima up to mt misen (you can also hike your way up, if you reach the island, tbf at the ferry station/dock there are pamphlets showing you the few routes you can hike up). the view is amazing. from the top of the ropeway there's still some kibishi trail hiking (incline!!!!!) you can do to go further up (theres another hidden shrine on top) view is to die for you can look at the hiroshima bay. tbf a lot of places in tohoku are underrated. mostly because you need a car to access but if you have the budget to do that, the whole tohoku (esp the northern part) has a lot of to die for zekkei

During the start of the pandemic I watched more and more videos of Japan and I would like to go 2 weeks Tokyo and then just rent a car and drive around the main island

I am not sure about the 3 Fuji-Q rollercoster. If it wasnt beaten we should have the fastest acceleration in Phantasialand (Germany) with the taron having a peak force of 1.8g and speed of ~120km/h

Big ups dude, you just saved my date trip. Couldn't quite figure out how to fill the weekend. Abandoned villages and beer is my jam. Quick Google tells, that aparently name of that abandoned village is 峰集落 btw. Would sub twice if I could

this is sweet

Infact I'm going on a ferry at Hiroshima to Miyajima tomorrow.

I want to go to Hiroshima to confirm the Japanese memes I’ve seen + the city sizes are around what my hometown it’s not too crowded also maybe because I read the Bad Boys manga when I was younger lol

Wait...when did you go to Miyajima. Was it December 2019? What date...cuz I was there in December of 2019 too.

What’s up Broski 🦋.

Is there a place in japan that looks old but functions modernly. Also what is up with libraries in japan?

U sud do vid on TV show midnight diner I'd watch that 4 sure

Out there but appreciated, I added 2 places to my to-go list, thanks!

You forgot Aokigahara.

Not a lot of foreign travel... period. I want to buy a house in Japan, but getting over there is proving quite difficult. Any way you could sponsor my visa? 😹

based

more meme reviews and japanese internet dives

0 seconds gang まいど

gary should have a better picture than that to represent him

I hope I can visit okutama one day. It looks really nice and I'd love camping there

Also I will run to a konib

Ebino is underrated because it gets mistaken for Ebina and it's located in Miyazaki. It's one of the smallest cities in Kyushu and Kyushu isn't popular to begin with.

Beans

8th viewer!

I wonder what they end up doing with that excessive build up of pineapple for the Gods 😮

first?

Just saw on NHK 20mil tourists a month down to 8000 a month. Have to travel in tour groups. What states dont have these rules? Demand face masks everywhere? I can't wear them feel like muzzles give me panic attacks.