Three Underrated Travel Tips for Japan

Go to Kyoto first; take the Kurobe Alpine Route to Tokyo; go to Hiroshima, not Nara

1. Go to Kyoto first, then Tokyo.

Every first-time Japan trip goes to these two cities. Kyoto is perfect for early risers. Many of its most iconic attractions—like the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Fushimi Inari Shrine, and Kiyomizu-dera Temple—are best experienced in the quiet calm of the morning, before the crowds descend.

The iconic Fushimi Inari Shrine is practically empty in the morning, but it attracts large crowds later in the day.

Tokyo, as an urban hub, is naturally a city that you will want to experience at night and will have limited attractions at 5 am. If you’re flying from the United States, your jet lag will push you towards waking up early and getting sleepy early in the evening. Going to Kyoto first lets you work with your jetlag instead of fighting against it. By the time you get to Tokyo, your jetlag will have hopefully adjusted so that you can stay up late into the night.

2. Take the Kurobe Alpine Route from Kyoto to Tokyo

The Alpine Route runs from Tateyama Station in Toyama Prefecture to Ogizawa Station in Nagano Prefecture, and takes you through the Japanese Alps using a series of trains, cable cars, ropeways, and buses, ending at the Kurobe Dam, Japan’s tallest. It’s more scenic and memorable than the direct bullet train ride, and adds a unique landscape experience to your itinerary.

The Kurobe Alps

The Kurobe Alpine route is a full day journey, so if you’re low-energy you can leave Kyoto the night before and stay overnight in Tateyama to get a head start. However, you’ll be missing out on some beautiful morning countryside views on the train from Kyoto to Tateyama.

The early morning scenic route from Kyoto to Tateyama.

Once you come out the other side in Nagano, you’ll be quite tired. You can either further extend the scenic route by staying overnight in Nagano and then passing through Matsumoto Castle on the way down to Tokyo, or you can take the direct train to Tokyo. Instead of spending $200 to spend the night in two-star hotel in Tokyo, you can alternatively spend $80 to spend the night in a four-star hotel one stop earlier in Omiya and get a good night’s sleep after a long day of travel. Be warned though, the commute from Omiya to Tokyo in the morning is short, but the train gets really crowded.

Imagine if this were in Texas!

3. Skip Nara, Go to Hiroshima

Nara often shows up on travel itineraries for its free-roaming deer and historic temples. And while it's a charming stop, there are already plenty of temples in Kyoto and there are plenty of deer in Hiroshima. If your time is limited, consider heading south to Hiroshima instead.

Hiroshima offers a powerful, poignant experience with its Peace Memorial Park and Museum, commemorating the events of the atomic bombing. For the small price of an entry ticket and being subject to Japanese propaganda dancing around its role as a member of the Axis, you get a sobering experience of the effects of the atomic bombing on everyday citizens.

A view of the remains of the Hiroshima city hall taken from the view of the ferry to Miyajima.

From the atomic bomb museum, you can take the ferry to the sacred island of Miyajima, home to the iconic floating torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine, plenty of roaming deer, and a nice hike or cable car ride up to the top of the mountain, where you can get a nice view of the city

There are plenty of deer underneath all the trees.

People don’t generally trust my food advice, but for what it’s worth, the Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki was one of my favorite meals in Japan.