Favorite place to travel in Japan
 

For those who have been to japan, what is your favorite place to travel to in Japan? Tokyo was always fun for me, but I am interested in hearing about the places you love to visit.

I know, I shouldn't be posting, because you said for all those who've been to Japan... I haven't been to Japan. But I WOULD wanna go to Kyoto.

I dunno why though. :eek:

Tokyo was really a blast, but I also enjoyed Toyama (in Toyama-ken). It had some really beautiful scenery - on a clear day the mountains (Japan Alps?) were all around off in the distance. It's also near the sea, and while I didn't make it down there, I bet it's awesome to have the sea in front of you and the mountians behind you.

As far as the town itself, I thought there was really good mix of modern stuff and traditional cultural stuff. So I recommend it to anyone who is going to Japan! (or anyone living there who hasn't been)

I would also visit some nature places in Japan, perhaps a comfortable onsen in a mountain region. :D

Well ever gone to Okinawa, Kyoto or Osaka?
i would go there if i were you
those are the best places to visit if you wanna get away from it all...

I woudln't say going to oaka to get away from it all hehe. but none the less it is still one of my fav places in japan. GO KANSAI REGION. I'm not a big fan of KANTO region. Not sure why, maybe because my gf is a kansai girl :) hehe but yeah. As for places. Onsens are the shiznit. Great place to relax and basically wind down.

In terms of the sheer number of times I visited it, wandering the back streets of Osaka, hitting the used manga stores, used CD shops, and restaurants wins by a landslide. But I was an avid manga collector, and found that to be a fun way to spend a Saturday.

In terms of amazing places that blew me away, I'd say Koya-san is probably at the top of the list. Nikko was also very impressive, as were Nagasaki, Himeji Castle, hiking in the Japan Alps, and Nara.

man i wish when to japan already. but i would like to visit tokyo and kyoto and like to check out some of their hot springs as well :)

I like Tokyo there are all of my friends !!!!!!!!!!!! ^^

Samurai007 made an excellent point! Go explore the back streets in any town you might visit including Tokyo. You sure will get to see the different sides of a town. You will miss so much if you only choose to stroll on the busy main streets. Stores and restaurants tend to be more unique and friendlier on the back streets because their counterparts on the main streets often tend to depend solely on their good locations for more business and neglect on proving good service.

Anyway, my favorite cities are Kobe, Sapporo, Hakodate, Fukuoka, etc.. Too bad they are all so far from Tokyo, which is where I reside. For onsen, I highly recommend Noboribetsu and Gero.

really ?? hm.... :p

For a great onsen, I recommend Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama. Bitchin' Botchan - The Joys of Dogo Onsen Dōgo Onsen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's one of the oldest in Japan, and has been visited by Emperors and most famous Japanese people of the last 1500 years. It supposedly has healing properties, and I have to say, it worked for me! I caught a cold only a few days into my trip through western Japan by hiking to the top of the mountain on Miyajima Island. I was sick all through my time on Kyushu, but after spending an hour or so soaking in Dogo Onsen (which is very hot, by the way... I had to keep getting out when it became too hot for me!), I felt much better. And by the next morning, my cold was gone!

The people there were very nice too. I didn't know that you're supposed to bring your own towel to Dogo Onsen. They have towels you can rent for 100 yen, but they are hand towels, not meant to dry you off, but for washing before you get in. A girl who was leaving the onsen overheard that I didn't have a towel, though, and simply gave me her own towel to keep! That was so kind of her, that my souvenir from Matsuyama (I bought 1 from each major place I visited) was a little wooden doll of a Japanese girl in a kimono, to remind me of her.

When a westerner such as I entered Dogo Onsen's bath room, it was like a spaghetti western saloon... everyone stopped and stared at me. But as soon as I headed toward the shower instead of getting directly in the onsen, they went back to talking. After I washed and got in, one Japanese guy came over and told me they were surprised I knew what to do in an onsen, had I visited one before, how long was I in Japan, etc. We talked for quite a while! (Striking up conversations with random Japanese people seemed to happen pretty often while I was there, especially in places that were off the beaten tourist path.)

nkay ^^
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