I'm traveling to Japan for the first time in August and while drafting my itinerary I face a dilemma: do I play it safe with my limited time of two weeks and hit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, or do I for a portion of my trip go off to lesser known places? More specifically I had the idea of replacing the Osaka segment with a few days in Matsue and Izumo. This would add about 6 hours of transit time to my trip.
Does it really make me more of a "real traveler" if I go see 2nd tier shrines and castles in 2nd tier cities instead of going to the famous ones that everyone else is seeing? Or perhaps being a real traveler means foregoing sightseeing entirely to go wander random neighborhoods and "live like a local?"
But I doubt I can gain any deep cultural understanding of a foreign land without speaking the language or knowing anyone there. At that point I'd just be doing mundane stuff in place, Japan instead of place, USA. There is the more tangible benefit of avoiding crowds, but is it really worth foregoing the popular places? They are popular for a reason after all. And maybe seeing Matsue castle and Izumo shrine will be a bit of a letdown if I also see Himeji castle and the many shrines of Kyoto on the same trip.
Another idea I had that was more tame was to add a Sekigahara day trip to my itinerary while still following the traditional Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka circuit. Have any anons been there who can confirm whether it's worth a visit or not? I think it could be cool but it also could just wind up as a day wandering some random fields with little context.

Does your city have a sister city in Japan? That'd be a good place to start looking. I went to Japan as part of a sister city delegation last year, and it was very cool. If you walk into city hall and tell them you're from their sister city, you might get some higher effort recommendations. Hell, maybe the office will invite you do go drinking after work.
Alternatively, what's your main hobby? I'm a tabletop nerd so I spent most of my free time checking out the Warhammer clubs and TRPG/board game stores. There might be a holy land for your hobby, though it's probably in Osaka.

>>2786246 (OP)
i did this 2 years ago and it is no way worth it. it might be worth it to hit a lesser known city like sendai, and take a train out into other shit for a day or so... but dont fucking bother hitting every "city" in meaningless prefectures unless youre going on some shit like a cross country ride.
firsr trip i went to japan i did this, and i was so miserable by the time i got to hokkaido (honestly hated hokkaido) that i went home early.
if you want to do nothing other than hop into the konbini every time you hit an area, youll love flyover japan. if not and you just want a taste of less known japan, just do day trips to near prefictures like chiba and shit. there is tons of pretty stuff to see, but its just farmland and shit you cant do fuck all in.
all of japan is very sprawl, so basically its just going to an inferior verison of a big city, unless you already know niches and towns which arent shit.

winging it will crush you, in my experience at least.

>>2786647
i will however add on, that i look back on this trip with a gloomy nostolgic warmth. and have many albums and such i associate with this trip.
so i do not regret it, but during it was certainly very draining.

>>2786246 (OP)
Seikgahara is alright and has a couple of nice museums, but there's nothing much there beyond that, and I wouldn't recommend you to go out of your way to visit unless you have some special interest in sengoku period. Can recommend Hikone and Omihachiman nearby though, maybe they can be combined.

My favourite in Japan was Kiso, Tsumago and Magome. They follow the old Nakasendo trail from Kyoto and Tokyo, and if you take the train to either tsumago or magome you can walk to the other along the old cobbled highway. Highly recommended.

>>2786246 (OP)
>Is it worth going off the beaten path? (In Japan)
you can answer that universally, not only for Japan

popular places are usually popular for a reason
just like most UNESCO sites are genuinely interesting, worth it or impressive

>Do you visit <insert Country> for the interesting sites or the general vibe?
if you're just there for the weather, general nature, culture or similar
it IS absolutely worth it going off the beaten path
even more so in Japan where there's actually easy to get around

If you visit for the big historic sites, the big cities, then no
don't leave your Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka path

big thing to consider is that leaving the popular tourist routes is time intensive
you spend significant time in transit (bus, train, taxi, walking) and most things will be mundane
personally I enjoy that
but not everyone does
and days will feel "wasted"

>>2786246 (OP)
I've been to Japan three times.
My advice - if you haven't been to Japan before, there is nothing wrong with Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka. I've been to Tokyo and Kyoto three times and Osaka twice, in addition to many other places further a field. I very much like Tokyo and Kyoto and progressively I've sought out areas in those cities which have fewer tourists, or nearby day trips to towns that are basically connected to them as a single city.
Off the beaten path is great, there's wonderful things to see away from the main tourist spots, but its a big country with big cities so you don't necessarily need to go far to get away from the hordes.
Also, don't worry about 'real traveller' shit - do you want to see something or not? It doesn't matter if its popular or not, it doesn't matter if it has some kind of prestige or is a little embarrassing, see the things that you are excited about seeing.

My favorite places have nothing in common with the tourist herds. Surprise discoveries are always the most rewarding. Each of the three steps comes with its reward.
>finding a clue on the map pointing to something cool
>finding a way to get there
>getting there and discovering it

>>2786647
I'm planning a trip and I really needed to hear this, thanks
With that being said... I'm doing Tokyo Kyoto(Nara) and Osaka, what place is worth seeing that isn't one of these three?

>>2787466
i really liked sendai honestly. it was for sure one of japans semi big cities and had actual city shit (not just lots of tall buildings) but it too had some neat stuff for day tripping and there was a good amount of nature surrounding, and in the city. it is above all the shit u plan on hitting however, so unless ur buying the tourist train pass which lets u have unlimited bullet train going it might be more worth something you could do a shirter commute to, like tokyo not being too far from the mount fuji area... but i have not gone...

personally im excited to head south as i havent yet, but i cant talk about this yet sadly.
personally i wasnt into kyotos main attractions (also this is for sure... and tripply so now japans tourist gaijin captial, and not the weeaboo kind but the american family and european millenial couple date night shit)
but kyoto has neat shit surrounding it too way less people go to. so im not at all advising to skip it, its must go. just be prepared... dont expect any city shit when u go there ill say, save ur desires for shopping and shit for tokyo/osaka...

>>2787556
i will give one more personal opinion, in not distributing your trip too equally around each place, tokyo is worth way more time to spend in than osaka... even if people love to talk it up as beinflg "tokyo but way more reallllll" or something. i get if u actually live in japan, but tokyo has so fucking much to do its unreal... also osaka is right near kyoto so in my opinion it would be best to split osakas time with things like outskirt kyoto, and places like nara as well... in my experience that sort if is? osakas day trips and outskirts...

>>2786647
Why did you hate Hokkaido? I’m wanting my first trip to be to Sapporo

>>2787556
>>2787558
hmm okay good info here thanks
ive been planning 7 in tokyo, 1 in hakone, 2 days in osaka, 3 in kyoto, 1 in nara. i came to 7 days in tokyo by just making an itinerary of things to do and it turned into 7 days.

>>2787614
It's a good plan imo. Enjoy

>>2787577
sapporo is fine, just hokkaido the entirety of the rest might be my least favorite of japan sprawl. the snow piles up massivly and it gains a run down post soviety poor country feel in a way. outside of nature if you want to do that, there is fuck all to see in hokkaido city wise. (im sure there are neat quant towns, but i didnt see any) the northernmost town was a dump, (the 4 hour train ride up the entirety of it is very cool, but it runs 2 times a day and theres nothing to do after it, but if ur a train guy maybe look into that it was good...) the central city i forgot the name of was boring. hakodate was boring. sapporo is fine though, i went to the baseball park where the "fighters" play and the whole area is built around the ballpark and is super nice, youre allowed in no security during offseason and shit and they still had pizza being sold and resturants, it was really nice.

if u want ur entire first trip to be only sapporo i do think this is insane though, as i would say the city offers less than both osaka and tokyo by a long shot... in my experience most of the minor, but still big japanese cities seem more for the use of those who live in the area, rather than anything of use for a visitor (even from other parts of japan)

>>2787614
glad my own taste could be of some use. yeah that sounds like a good plan. and i hope u have a good time in japan!

>>2786649
what albums did you listen to?

>>2787614
I'd make tokyo into 6, and use that day for some other place. Unless you're very sure about the things you want to see, cause walking in a concrete jungle gets old after a few days

>real traveler
>2nd tier
>"tiers"
>circuit

You sound like a typical low value male incel. kill yourself

>>2788014
the amount of hostile sex tourists projecting on this board is unprecedented.

>>2786246 (OP)
I don't recommend visiting Sekigahara. Battlefields are usually just open fields.
But you'll find everything you need right there: Shiga.
Shiga, the countryside next to Kyoto, has a lot of history and countryside. Hikone Castle is recommended, of course. To the north is Kunitomo, a village that was a production center for matchlock guns during the Sengoku period and has a museum.
Chikubushima, a small island in Lake Biwa, can be reached by sightseeing boat from Nagahama.
Samegai is a post town halfway between Hikone and Sekigahara, and has preserved the old townscape. Similarly, Kinomoto, north of Nagahama, and Gokasho, south of Hakone, are worth visiting. And of course Omihachiman is recommended.

>hating on Hokkaido
Brown paws are likely behind such posts

>>2787756
Different anon, but thanks for sharing. I'll be in Japan in several weeks and planning on going to Hokkaido. Of the main islands it's the only one I haven't visited. The original plan was to explore the national parks, but we'll see if that happens.

>>2786246 (OP)
Not sure if truly off the beaten path, but go to Uji if you like Hibike, and go to Nishinomiya if you like Haruhi

>>2786246 (OP)
It’s called the golden route for a reason. Pretty solid choice for a first trip. Consider the fact you can go again one day and that you don’t have to cram a million things into a 2 week trip.

If I were you I would probably spend less time in Tokyo and try to split up my time a bit more evenly. It’s cool but kind of just a mega city. Unless there’s specific things you want to do there, you can get most of the same experiences in Osaka for cheaper, and Osaka is more compact/quicker to get around.

Another thing to consider is day trips. You can do all the typical tourist shit but delegate a day for a less popular/ more unique day trip. (Fukusaki, Fukui, Lake Biwa, wakayama, kanazawa, etc etc.)

There’s nothing wrong with sticking to the basic shit but if you have an extra day or two to kill then go down a rabbit hole and come up with a cool, unique day trip.

Also, don’t think too hard about it. If something looks cool and catches your interest, go with it. Don’t worry so much about it

>>2786246 (OP)
Oof bro, I'd totally go with the lesser known places fr

>>2786246 (OP)
If you know Japanese and don't care about big cities, 100% go out of the beaten path.
As >>2789984 wrote, anime pilgrimage are also a great way to find your own personal travel gems.

>>2786513
>Hell, maybe the office will invite you do go drinking after work.
Japan is not like an IRL anime, are you fucking kidding?
>>2786246 (OP)
tl;dr - no. Popular things are popular for a reason. Better spend your time really getting to see those places than spreading too thin.
>gain any deep cultural understanding
How familiar are you with Japan's 3000+ year history? That's the context you need if you care. Sight seeing won't do shit if you can't understand what you are seeing or why it was built the way it was.

>>2787777
its been a month broooooo, im still curious

Has anyone brought Japanese liquor home from Japan? I wanna bring One Cup Sake as a souvenir. Can that be duty free?

>>2794787
Yeah but depends on your home country. I just told customs coming home I bought alcohol. I was under the tax free limit so nothing happened. One Cup Ozeki is not very good, reason why it's so cheap.

>>2786246 (OP)

>>2794830
I am standing before the same decision
I will be visiting my 4th time soon and seen tokyo, kyoto, osaka and went to smaller places like yudanaka, takayama and kawaguchigo. This time arriving at kansai i was thinking of getting the railpass for 7 days and doing a city a day the western side from kansai through kyushu but i dont have really a city i need to see. Just wanted to be in japan and eat good and new stuff i saw feom bloggers
So i am unsure if i should just divide the 7 days to Kansai and tokyo