Folks who have been to Japan

hanshotfirst · 2017-03-08T15:45:57.745Z

Do you have any recommendations for places to visit outside of Tokyo that aren’t Kyoto/Osaka?

Lucky bugger here is heading there at the end of April, doing a stint in Tokyo and a couple of days in Hiroshima/Miyajima. Have 3 days left to play with, will have the old JR pass to get around and would like to go somewhere I didn’t visit last time. Have been looking at the Nagano area but it looks pretty massive with sites pretty spread out.

Recommendations are most welcome.

Cheers lads.

_Em · 2017-03-08T15:54:53.146Z

Lads?

About to go early Friday morning with a JR Pass. I got recommended a few places:

Naoshima- island full of art museums

Benesse Art Site Naoshima

Benesse Art Site Naoshima is a collective name for the art activities conducted by Benesse Holdings and the Fukutake Foundation on Naoshima, Teshima, and Inujima.

Okunoshima- island full of rabbits

en.wikipedia.org

Ōkunoshima

Ōkunoshima (大久野島) is a small island located in the Inland Sea of Japan in the city of Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture. It is accessible by ferry from Tadanoumi and Ōmishima. There are campsites, walking trails and places of historical interest on the island. It is often called Usagi Shima (うさぎ島, "Rabbit Island") because of the numerous feral rabbits that roam the island; they are rather tame and will approach humans. Ōkunoshima played a key role during World War II as a poison gas factory for much...

Nara- old town near Kyoto/Osaka full of deer

en.wikipedia.org

Nara, Nara

Nara (奈良市, Nara-shi, Japanese: [naꜜɾa]) is the capital city of Nara Prefecture located in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, bordering Kyoto Prefecture. Eight temples, shrines and ruins in Nara remain: specifically Tōdai-ji, Saidai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Kasuga Shrine, Gangō-ji, Yakushi-ji, Tōshōdai-ji, and the Heijō Palace, together with Kasugayama Primeval Forest, collectively form "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", a UNESCO World Heritage Site. By ...

Kobe- city near Osaka full of art stuff

en.wikipedia.org

Kobe

Kobe (神戸市, Kōbe-shi, Japanese: [koːꜜbe]) is the sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture. It is located on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, on the north shore of Osaka Bay and about 30 km (19 mi) west of Osaka. With a population around 1.5 million, the city is part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto. The earliest written records regarding the region come from the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by...

Here’s my itinerary
Fri 10/Sat 11 March- Fly to Osaka
12-15 March- Tokyo including Ghibli Museum
16-20 March- Kyoto + day trip to Kobe
21st March- Naoshima
22nd March- Onomichi- for rabbit island
23-24 March- Hiroshima & Miyajima
25 March- Nara
26 March- Osaka
27 March- fly home

citizenmeh · 2017-03-08T15:56:25.277Z

I really liked Nagano, but to get around you’ll need to rely on the bus system which can be a bit complex if you don’t read Japanese. Was only there for a day, but Zenko-ji Temple is awesome, and there’s some really cool mountaintop shrines way off the tourist track.