Hey you guys it's Phoebe here from Little Grey Box with Matt behind the camera
and on this channel, we share with you all of our experiences and tips to help you travel well
Now I'm really excited about today's episode because
I'm going to be sharing with you some of our favorite places to visit in Japan
which is actually one of our favourite countries we have ever visited you guys
so if you have some other great Japan recommendations to share with us make
sure you leave those in the comments below and if you don't already make sure
you subscribe right now so you never miss a single episode
let's dive right
Koyasan is part of Japan's gorgeous Kansai region now this place is perfect
for anybody who loves off-the-beaten-track experiences and
finding something a little bit unique I'm gonna be honest until we visited
Koyasan we had never heard of it before and now it is a place that will stay
with me forever. Now there is so much to see and do here but really the area is
based around Kōbō-Daishi who is the founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan
way back in 816AD you guys so when you visit here you're gonna want to check
out all of the amazing temples and they are just so so beautiful you're also
gonna want to take a walk through the gorgeous Okunoin Cemetery now let me
say I was a little bit nervous I thought a cemetery that's gonna be a little bit
depressing it wasn't it was so so beautiful and it had this incredible
energy I have never experienced before now another really cool thing to do in
the area other than eat yourself silly is to stay at a local Buddhist temple
which is what we did and in the morning we got to experience a really cool
ceremony that will just stay with me forever you guys now getting there is
really easy it's only about two hours by train from Osaka so if you are visiting
Osaka it is the perfect addition to that and we had two local guides with us from
Wak Guide and they were incredible I will link them below for you if you are
looking for a tour guide for the area I can't recommend them highly enough
Also located in Japan's Kansai region Osaka is known as the kitchen of the
nation and you guys it is the birthplace of three very iconic Japanese things
Sushi train, karaoke and cup noodles
now we had so much fun in this big
built-up city and really it is the perfect place for anybody who loves a
vibrant destination with lots of great things to see, do and eat
Now we loved visiting the Cup Noodle Museum making our very own custom cup noodles and
learning all about the history of the business it was really really cool we
also loved exploring busy Dotonbori ducking into lots of different shops and
checking out some of the alleyways a few streets back now we tried plenty of
great food in Osaka including takoyaki okonomiyaki and taiyaki you guys and we
found the locals were just so so lovely and really inclusive everywhere we went
if you are on the hunt for great food in Osaka make sure you always go a
couple of streets back from the main areas like Dotonbori that is
where you're gonna find the most authentic bites to eat now while we were
in town we also checked out Denden Town which is very similar to Akihabara in Tokyo
This kind of electric street area is home to some really cool cafes
everything anime vintage games and really cool costumes as well so it is
well worth checking out again we had a local guide from the guys at All-Star Osaka
with us and they just made our trip we were able to see, do and
experience so much more with them we will have them linked below for you
Beautiful Nara is another must visit spot in Japan's Kansai region now this
area is famous of course for the beautiful deer that call the Nara Deer Park Park home
there are around 1,300 of them and they
are so so gorgeous and a little bit cheeky too they will give you a love
bite if you are hesitating to give them the food so give them the food be strong
don't panic if you get a nip now when it comes to getting the food for them make
sure you buy the special biscuits or crackers that they sell locally in the
Deer Park area these are made of all ingredients that are really good for the
deer and healthy for them you guys and proceeds from those sales are gonna go
back into conservation of the local area for them now another thing
that we loved about Nara was visiting the gorgeous Isui-en Garden oh my gosh
this traditional Japanese garden was so so beautiful we loved how
peaceful and quiet it was there and as the guy who owns it says as you look around
nothing there is new everything there is ancient and old passed down through
generations of his family and we really enjoyed sitting down to a gorgeous hot
cup of matcha tea while we were there another thing we loved about Nara was
exploring the local town just wandering around ducking in to try eel which is a
local delicacy and of course doing a sake tasting too now while we were in
town we stayed at a traditional ryokan which is really really fun and again we
had a local guide from the guys at all All-Star Osaka with us and it just made our
trip that a little bit better
Located in Japan's Hokkaido region we
visited beautiful Asahikawa to get out shred on and experience Japan's
awesome snow scene. Now in order to get our shred on you guys we headed straight
to a place called Kamui Ski Links and it was epic
It was so quiet there I'm pretty sure we were the only tourists there on the day and
really I didn't see any other tourists the whole time we're in Asahikawa
So it had that really remote kind of wild adventurous feel that we love
We found some movies ski legs often great runs there were no queues and it was
incredibly well priced you guys and when it came to getting around we hired a
little car and that gave us a whole lot of freedom navigating the local area was
really easy and I would just say if you are visiting in winter make sure you
take it slow and a really really safe and careful because you will be driving
on pure ice now in addition to all of that snow fun at Comiskey links I headed
out for a gorgeous trail ride with the guys at Clark host garden and to this
day it is one of the most beautiful horse rides I have ever done we also had
a delicious dinner at uoa which is a really cool shoot sushi place
and very unique Japanese experience you'll find kashira located in hokkaido
as well and this destination is perfect for anybody who loves spectacular
scenery honestly for me it was like arriving in a winter wonderland it was
so gorgeous and it's here that I had one of my all-time favorite food memories at
a great ramen place called watching now this spot is tucked in the middle of a
nondescript seafood market right in the heart of Kushiro and it is on the
Michelin Guide for very very good reason the ramen here is out of control
it is so so good you guys and so flavor some it's what going just to try the
ramen then I also loved checking out the Washoe Ichiban market which is a really
great seafood market and it's here you can sample it cut it on when you get to
select your very own very very very fresh sashimi and enjoy it with some
beautifully cooked rice and incredible miso soup now from Kushiro
we went a little bit further into Hokkaido we have to visit gorgeous Lake
Bashara which is home to some stunning swans and cookie which is the local
equivalent of the Loch Ness monster we also got to visit a really beautiful hot
spring and it was just a gorgeous outdoor urban area experience that will
stay with me for the rest of my life from there we were able to check out
Mount geo which is harm to beautiful sophiar it kind of steam coming up
everywhere it's like something from another planet and after that we visited
the icon international crane Center and it was really in this place that we got
to experience Japan's beautiful scenery and we gained a deeper appreciation for
how stunning the Haida region really is the first time I visited Tokyo it just
took my breath away and to this day it is one of my all-time favorite
destinations and definitely one of my favorite cities in the whole entire
world the biggest way I can describe it to you if you haven't been before is it
is like the whole city is a theme park for adults everywhere you turn there is
so much fun to be had from laughing until your stomach hurts at robot
restaurant it's looking at all the really cute dogs in Yoyogi Park - going
crazy at karaoke and doing an epic back role and checking out golden guy there's
the batting cages and all different kinds of great cafes and really vibrant
unique cool places you just wouldn't find anywhere else
honestly Tokyo is one of those destinations that you could spend a week
or months exploring we love riding bikes around the local area and going to some
really cool temples neck a nice a shopping street is fantastic we love
checking out the Meiji Shrine of course the Tsukiji fish market and basically
you just want to eat shop play your way through the whole city have you guys
ever thought about visiting Japan oh baby you've visited before and you
have some great spots to recommend us and others if you do please please
please leave those in the comments below so I can do some google imaging and add
those to our next Japan itinerary now if you are planning a trip to Japan you
guys we have some awesome free travel guides for you over on the website and
right here on YouTube so we will have our whole Japan series linked below for
you to read and watch if you are booking a trip to Japan or anywhere else in the
world and you found this video useful make sure you use our affiliate links
below we will earn a small Commission at no extra cost to you now you guys with
that that brings this week's episode to a close I really hope you found it
helpful and if you don't already be sure to subscribe right now and say hello in
the comments below have a great weekend and I will see you
with a brand new episode next week love you