Real Japan, prefecture by prefecture
Opinionated guides to the Japan most travel sites skip — coastal fishing towns, Tohoku temples, onsen valleys, prefectural festivals, and a lot of things you can’t reach on the Tokyo–Kyoto line.
Explore by prefecture
Guides organised by region. More prefectures added as articles go live.
Fukushima
Iwaki coast, Aizu, onsen valleys, and the Joban-mono seafood belt.
Tochigi
Ashikaga textile town, Nikko shrines, Nasu highlands.
Hokkaido
National parks, wildflowers, Rishiri and Rebun islands, seabird coasts.
Latest articles
- Miharu Town: The Takizakura, Japan’s Thousand-Year-Old Weeping Cherry
- Nagoya Flea Markets: The Osu Kannon Antique Fair and the Wider Circuit
- Tado Taisha and the Ageuma Horse-Jumping Festival
- Ashikaga Gakko: Japan’s Oldest School
- Mie Fruit Picking: Strawberry Greenhouses, Grape Trellises and Seasonal Orchards
- Laguna Gamagori (Laguna Ten Bosch): Aichi’s Marine-Resort Theme Park
- Hokkaido Seabird Center: Teuri Island and Japan’s Biggest Auklet Colony
- Yaeyama Islands: Japan’s Subtropical Southwest, Prefecture-by-Island Guide
- Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park: 700,000 Tulips in Eastern Hokkaido
- Sakasagawa Walking Course: The Quiet Ashikaga Riverside Walk
- Orihime Shrine: Ashikaga’s Weaver-Deity Matchmaking Shrine
- Ryugashi Cave: A 250-Million-Year-Old Limestone Cavern North of Hamamatsu
- Keisokuji Temple: A Stop on the Ashikaga 33-Kannon Pilgrimage
- Nagano’s Four Seasons: Festivals, Flowers, and Events Year-Round
- Takinoue Park: Hokkaido’s 10-Hectare Moss Pink Carpet
- Onigajo and Shishiiwa: The Demon Castle Cliffs and Lion Rock of Kumano
- Rishiri and Rebun: Hokkaido’s Remote Volcanic and Flower Islands
- Shizuoka Summer Festivals: Shimizu Minato, Fuji, and the Izu Fireworks Circuit
- Shizuoka Spring Festivals: Kawazu Cherries to the Shimoda Black Ship
- Act City Hamamatsu: Japan’s Music City and the Harmonica-Shaped Tower
- Minami-Nagano Sports Park: Inside Nagano’s 1998 Olympic Legacy
- Nasu and Nakagawa: Northern Tochigi’s Imperial Highlands
- Nagashima Spa Land: Japan’s Biggest Coaster Park in Mie
- Iwaki La La Mew: Onahama Seafood Market and the Story of Its Comeback
