10 Unique Japan Travel Spots - Hidden Gems & Off-The-Beaten-Track Locations For Your Next Trip

 If you've already been to Japan, you've seen Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. There are so many more amazing places in Japan. And I'm about to let you read the secrets as a sample to my brand new travel guide beyond the tourist trail available now on my website. So let's start with 10 unconventional, unique destinations in Japan, starting with number one, Bebo City in Oita. Prefecture. 

Beppu is a unique seaside town that is famous for its uncensored. A lot of volcanic activity happens on the ground, meaning many of these big giant vents are throughout the city. It's picturesque; it's quite beautiful. And there are many cool and interesting things to see there. 

So I recommend going to the Jigoku hills to other hot springs and onsens that you cannot be, then you'll probably die if you get into it. And they're all different colors. And they're very impressive and very beautiful. The other thing you can do is a sand bath, which is the sand heated up from the steam vents happening underneath the ground, and then they bury you in it. 

And it feels so nice. It's like a warm hug, like a big old way to blank. It is a fun experience, and you can look out over the water. I highly recommend that. And also they do a lot of steamed food like steamed vegetables and that kind of thing which are steamed, using, again, these vents coming out from under the ground.

 It's a very unique city. And I enjoyed my time there. To get there, I flew to Fukuoka airport and then caught the train down to that bus station. And then from there, all the places I just listed can be accessed using one of the buses that leave from Beppu station. I've got links in the description down below for more information. 

Generally, I use Google Maps to plan out my trips. Even buses are quite accurate now as well. So yeah, go and do that. I guess. Number two is to vomit onsen, and so false. This is one of those locations where many people ask me where it is. What is it so Falls is a big beautiful waterfall in the distance of these misty mountains? And Savannah Onsen is right next to it. 

And there's milky natural outdoor onsen. And it's just knowing the trees surround you, and there's mist everywhere, usually because it's a musty area. And it's just lovely. And the answer was free as well. It was just there like so good. And how was it free? You have to donate or something. 

There'll be a sign out the front. It's great. I loved getting there from Nagano Station, taking the train to Sec Yama Station, and catching a bus to the end of the ride at Superman Onsen. It takes about 18 minutes, costs 500 yen, and doesn't run on weekends or public holidays. 

Again, the link is in the description. I will stop saying that because there's a link in the description for every place on this list. You've probably realized that these locations are quite spread out amongst Japan. So, hopefully, I can offer some inspiration to you.

 But if you would like to know 20 of my top favorite hidden gems in Japan between Osaka, Tokyo, and Nagano, then you'll love my new travel guide, Beyond the Tourist Trail, now available on my website. Beyond the Tourist Trail is a travel guide ebook with over 150 pages of 20 top hidden gems with over 100 extra off-the-beaten-track locations.

 It includes step-by-step travel tips, exact locations, pens, public transport information, and maps presented beautifully in one easy-to-access PDF. I'm sure you're already aware that some of the top travel destinations in Japan can be so busy; I think, Andrew, personal nightmare, it is frustrating to be herded around like sheep, especially when you've spent so much time and effort planning your trip, which is why I've created the travel guide that I would have loved to have when I first arrived in Japan, I've done all of the research for you. 

I've outlined every way to get there and created maps and itineraries. And I've even translated entire bus schedules into English, so you no longer have to guess anything. There are many Japanese travel tips, phrases that you should learn before you go, and even a survival guide for vegans and vegetarians. 

So, while I'm about to give you 10 wonderful places you should visit in Japan, I have kept all my absolute favorites in this travel guide instead. Whether it's your second trip or your 10th trip to Japan, I can guarantee that there will be places for you to add to your bucket list. So avoid the crowds, support the locals, and get ready for a truly unique experience in Japan beyond the tourist trail available now on my website. 

Thank you so much. I've spent so much time and effort making this guide; you'll love it. Anyway, back to the video. Number three is Nachi Falls and the big beautiful pagoda sitting right before it. This place is absolutely beautiful, but it's off the beaten track, a little further away. So a lot fewer people are going to visit. It's a really beautiful shrine. 

There's like a whole thing. There's a tree you can climb inside of. It's a cool place, and the waterfalls are just so pretty and stunning. It's also part of the famous pilgrimage hike; the Komodo Kimo came up Kyna What? Kuma Kumano Kodo. To get there, take the train to Key Cuts at a station, then a bus bound for Nachi. Son gets off at night at Shinozaki, my bus stop, which will take about 30 minutes.

 The next location is in the travel guide I just mentioned, which is ShirakawaGo. This place is so no, it's just beautiful. It's It's magical. It's beautiful and every season. It's surrounded by nature. It's got history. It's got everything. I'm in love with this place. This place has become famous for its gushes money and thatched roof house, and it just makes for the most beautiful photos. 

So, to get here, catch the train to Tacoma station; from there, it's a 15-minute bus ride. It costs 2600 yen one way; once you're in the town, everything is accessible by foot. So take your time and enjoy the view. The next location is Ahsoka Jute National Park. I've been here a couple of times already, and I've loved it every time. It's a massive national park with a huge volcano in the center.

 It's an active volcano, constantly spewing out sulfuric gases, and there's just so much unique, interesting nature and landscape here. I have loved it. It last erupted in October of 2021. It was quite spectacular. And no one was injured or anything like that. 

Luckily, they have several different sensors, and what would you call safety levels in place? If it goes past a certain level or the wind changes direction, they'll close off that area. They're constantly monitoring and updating it, so I always felt safe when I was there, but in saying that, they frequently wear change clothes.

 So it depends on the weather. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you don't get there. It will be easier by car rental. So if you can rent a car, please do it. You can see so much more with that. But if you don't have a car, public transportation is available from Kumamoto airport. Catch the cue shoe Oh Dan bus from the airport. So could your area, it only takes 15 minutes to get there. But once you're in the area, you must catch more buses to explore further. 

There are several different viewpoints and interesting things around the area, so we took a bus to catch up there. Alternatively, you could catch the train to Association and then a bus to one of the area's minibus stops, tak, which takes 26 minutes. The next location is Nico; I recently mentioned this place in a video because I said it's better than Hakuna, and I stand by that. Miko is a lovely, slightly touristy, but still a little bit authentic town that's very close and easily accessible from Tokyo.

 It's beautiful, and autumn has a lot of history, but it also has a lot of beautiful nature. I highly recommend trying out their famous food, which is called Yuba. And it's kind of like if you like to heat milk like soy milk in this case, and it sounds gross, but stay with me. Because you know I like it, guess that, like skin on top of milk. If you like, take the skin off, and you put it down, and then you like, keep taking the skin off it until it's gone. 

And then you've got multiple layers of skin, right, of soy milk skin and, roll it up. And they chop it and do all kinds of things with it. It tastes a lot better than it sounds. But yeah, it's great, and it's vegetarian. Yeah. To get to Nico, I would take the Xing content. It's an Amir station, and then change here to the JR Nico line and get off at Nikko station. It will take about one hour and 40 minutes in total. You can catch one of many buses to get around town when you're in the town. I would get off at the Chuzenji car at the sand bus stop, and from there, you can access the waterfalls and the lake within walking distance. 

The next spot combines three places in Hokkaido: the cutting back to a glue village chapel on the water and Shirogane at Blue Pond. Hokkaido is the largest prefecture in Japan. It gets incredibly snowy but also quite beautiful in summer. There's so much to see there; I narrowed it down to this small area she is cutting back to. Igloo Village is this cool snow festival built on a frozen lake. It's just in winter. There's like an onsen on the lake and onset on a frozen lake, which is crazy, and a little like a frozen bar you can drink from an iced glass. 

I enjoyed my time here. It was a unique and fun chapel on the water. It is so beautifully designed, holding in my excitement my favorite architect in Japan named del Ando, and he does beautiful things, usually like concrete, hard, sharp-angled buildings he relies a lot on like light and shadows.

 And this place is just stunning. It's usually booked out for weddings, so check ahead of time if you can visit, usually in the morning or evening. It's attached to the Hashima Resorts in Hokkaido, a beautiful resort chain in Japan, so there are many things to do. Lastly, the Organa Blue Pond is a bright blue pond that is that way because of the minerals in the water, and it's just stunning all the time. It is stunning in winter, though usually the snow gets so packed that you can't see the pond. However, it is like just before winter.

 It's beautifultiful to get to Lake Ch, sorbet, so it's not super easy to get there, but if you've got a lot of time, I highly recommend taking the train to Aki bit off the station and then the bus to Lake Sh,ikari bitser which will take around two hours. There are only four buses a day, so plan to get to the pond and catch a bus from a station to the pond. It will take about 20 minutes to get to the chapel, take a train to Tamama station, and then a shuttle bus to Hoshino Resorts, which will only take five minutes. I need to remember what number we're up to. 

So the next place it could ask you because on historical quarter unfortunately when I went there, I was there for a photo job so I don't have any videos of it. But I've got many, many photos. Sorry about that. So yeah, this town is beautiful. It's lovely. It's cute. It's charming and quite quaint as they have these lovely little canals you can sit in boats in and ride around the town. It's very historical. There were many cafes, shops, and other things there, and it was just lovely. 

Getting there is very easy. Take a 10-minute walk from the JR, and you can station the next book, Emami Island or Amami Oshima. This is a small little island that's between Okinawa and Kyushu. So it's not as far down as Okinawa but just as beautiful. I love this place. I especially loved it because it could have been more touristy. There weren't many people around; I felt untouched, but the beaches were lovely. I love that beach island life that isn't very touristy, yet to get there, you have to fly. There might be a boat. 

But I would fly. It's going to be a lot, a lot faster, and a lot cheaper. My flights were about $100, and I returned from Tokyo. Public transport is quite limited there. So please rent a car. But if you're catching public transport, you can get a bus from the airport to many different areas in Miami; about 10 different routes split and go towards other areas of the islands, leaving every 30 minutes or so. The final location, number 10 on the list, is my favorite, called OHCI Dukkha. This is a small little post town very similar to ShirakawaGo. 

But I had the coolest, most awesome Snow Festival in winter, and I loved it. It was so much fun. They've got little shops set up, and there's like mochi everywhere in the trees, and there was like games and competitions, and then at the end, they had this fire festival tradition thing where they ran down the middle and these tiny little shorts with fire, and it was awesome. I loved it. I love his area.

 Like in any other season, I haven't seen it yet, but it also looks beautiful. I recommend going to the snow festival. I had a great time. The spot is a little bit further away, but to get there by public transport, you should go to the Aizu Wakamatsu area and catch the train to the coming station.

 From there, catch the bus 20 minutes to Archie Dukkha, which costs around 2030 yen one way from Aizu Wakamatsu station. We have 10 beautiful, wonderful, unique locations in Japan that are not in the Golden Triangle. I hope that you enjoyed this video, and I hope, more than anything, that you love my travel guide. I have spent so much time on it, perfecting all the tiny details, and I think that you're going to love it if you like this video; you're going to love whatever I've got in the guide, whatever I've got, you're going to love the guide.