Hey guys!
How's it going?
My name is Micaela and today I want to make a video about some of the most popular places
to travel all throughout Japan.
I have a lot of friends who are planning on visiting Japan this year, from Canada.
So I've been getting tons of questions over facebook and I've been giving people advice
to the best of my ability on where they should visit, and I realized, why not make a video
about it?
Because I'm sure that there are tons of people who will make the decision to visit Japan
this year but have no idea where to start.
The fact is, when you're on vacation you usually don't have a lot of time so you end up having
to pick just a few places.
If you're new to the country, and you don't really know what's good, I'll tell you.
Right off the bat, if it's your first time in Japan, and you don't know what to expect,
and you're looking for the most well-rounded and foreigner-friendly place, that place is
definitely Tokyo.
I feel like this is where you get to experience the most "Hollywood" version of Japan, by
that I mean, there's HARAJUKU where you can walk down the street and see all kinds of
young people decked out in the craziest fashion, there's Akihabara, where you can go to purchase
all your electronic and anime goods, you can even go to the Karaoke-Kan in Shibuya and
get the room that they used in "Lost in Translation".
If you want technology and pop culture, Tokyo is your place.
If you have any dietary restrictions like, allergies to wheat, or you're a vegetarian,
or a vegan, you're definitely going to have better luck finding food you can eat in Tokyo,
because they're used to serving all different kinds of people, and as you get into smaller
cities in Japan, you're not going to find as much service, so, that's something to consider
as well.
If you're coming to Japan and you're hoping to experience Geisha, and temples, and surround
yourself in tradition, then without a doubt, Kyoto is your place.
Kyoto has done an excellent job at preserving the traditional ways of Japan, although the
city itself is still very modern.
Again, Kyoto is a very touristy city, so this is a place where you can go to dress up as
a geisha, and have your photoshoots, and take walks down the road, and it's very scenic,
it's very elegant, it's very beautiful, it's the type of place that I would maybe wanna
take my parents.
If you're looking to be transported back in time, if you're looking for a place where
you can take a nice quiet stroll and enjoy the scenery, definitely, I think Kyoto is
a great place to visit.
If you DO end up visiting Kyoto but you find yourself getting a little bored, luckily Osaka
is really close by.
Osaka is very loud, it's very exciting, it's very confident, it's a confident city.This
city provides an excellent contrast to Kyoto because it is very very busy, very populated,
very exciting...
And Osaka castle is pretty cool, too.
If you do end up going all the way to Kyoto, I definitely recommend going to Osaka just
to experience the contrast of the two cities.
And if you're interested in history you can't miss Hiroshima.
Hiroshima is also very popular for travellers because of it's Peace Memorial Park, where
you can learn about the history of Japan and the war, and the atomic bombs.
And it's a very peaceful, sullen, quiet atmosphere.
It really does serve to remind us the damage that we are capable of doing, and how we must
never ever use that power ever again.
It is an eye opening experience, so if you're interested in history, and you want to see
that then Hiroshima is your place!
And if you go all the way to Hiroshima, you definitely have to check out Miyajima, which
is a very picturesque beautiful island, known for it's shrine, and it's deer, and it's delicious
momiji manju.
If you can afford a Japan-Railway train pass, a lot of tourists, what they like to do, is
arrive in Tokyo, and take the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka to Hiroshima,
and hit up all four of these locations.
And I think it does really provide a very interesting insight into Japan as we know
it, but there are also other places worth visiting as well.
In the Northern island of Hokkaido, Sapporo is also a very popular city to visit.
They say that Sapporo is a foodie's paradise, because of all the fresh fish that is taken
from the oceans around the island.
But if you DO go to Sapporo, you should go in the winter, and that is because Sapporo
hosted the Olympic Winter Games in 1972.
If you are a Winter Sports fanatic, skiing and snowboarding and all that fun stuff can
happen up in Hokkaido.
Also, a must-see in Sapporo, is the snow festival, and I believe Rachel and Jun made a video
about that so you can check that out in the description below.
If you're down with cold weather and snow, in fact, if you love it, definitely, Sapporo,
put Sapporo on your list.
In the Southern island of Kyushu, Fukuoka City is also rapidly gaining popularity with
tourists as well.
And I'm not just saying that because I have some sort of bias because I've lived here
for forever.
Yo, there is a reason why I have lived in Fukuoka for so long.
Fukuoka also has an amazing food culture, and, I know I JUST said that about Hokkaido,
but because Japan is a vertical island, the temperatures and climate in Hokkaido are completely
different than the temperatures and climate in Kyushu, and so, both areas, polar opposites,
have incredible food culture.
I would say that Fukuoka is a very lifestyle-oriented city, it's not flashy and it's not overly
touristy, but you can come here and you can see how we live and what the future of Japan
looks like...
We also have a very vibrant start-up community, we even started issuing visas for foreigners
who want to have a start-up in Fukuoka.
Fukuoka's popularity in the past five years has JUMPED, it's now one of the top 10 most
popular places to visit in all of Japan, so.
Finally!
If warm weather and sandy beaches are your thing, definitely catch a flight down to Okinawa,
the Okinawan Islands.
Okinawa is actually very interesting, because they are so separated from the rest of Japan,
it's almost like you're visiting a different country.
Every time I go to Okinawa, I always have so much fun, the people are so much fun, they're
so friendly, they're smiling, they're very chill, it's very--it's completely different
from Tokyo.
It's a different world.
Naha is definitely the most foreign-friendly, and actually if you look on Airbnb, I actually
made a wish-list of places I'd love to stay in Okinawa, so I'll share some of those listings
down below too.
But if you wanna kind of get away from the super touristy Naha island, you can go further
down south to Miyako-jima, or Ishigaki-jima, oh my gosh, the waters are like, pristine,
the beaches are pristine, there's hardly any people on the islands, they're very small,
but they're really tight-knit communities, and you can go stay at a bed and breakfast
(ryokan) and really enjoy traditional Okinawan island life.
So I know that I've missed a ton of cities and I'm sure that there are expats living
all over Japan who are going to watch this and go, "Well she didn't introduce my city...."
so please, if I missed out on your city, write about it in the comments, let other people
know how awesome it is where YOU live...
Or, if you have been to Japan, or if you have any opinions about where people MUST visit,
please please please leave a comment because your information is helping others!
If you are more interested in exploring more rural Japan, but you don't know where to start,
maybe pick one of the main cities as your hub, something that kind of suits your main
needs, and rent a car or get on a train, and just go out into the countryside for a day.
Like I mentioned in my previous video with the rice terraces, if you just get in the
car and go up to the mountains, or, you know, force yourself to get out of the city, there
are so many hidden gems in the nature, in the surrounding areas that a lot of people
just don't know about!
So, definitely if you're interested, explore!
Explore more!
Explore all you can!
So if you have anything else to add, any links, any recommendations, any areas that you think
people should visit, please leave a comment below and let us know!
Okay!
Talk to you soon!
Bye!