Things to do in Japan, including onsen, food, nature, and traditional towns.
What to do · 96 field reports
Hidden Japan Gems lists 96 things to do across Japan, each one walked and timed in person rather than aggregated from other sites.
They span onsen towns, hands-on food experiences, day hikes, post-town walks, and festivals, sorted so you can match an experience to your region and travel month. Start with the Mt. Fuji area and Kyoto on a first trip; move to Tohoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu for the quieter alternatives.
Summer Koshien 2026 (Aug 5–22) is Japan's greatest summer ritual. Dates, ticket prices, how to get there from Osaka, the historic new DH and video-review rules, heat tips, and the brass-band traditions — a traveler's guide.
Princess Tart in Kichijoji is a fruit-tart and tea specialist that opened in 2025. Around 14 seasonal tarts, cashless only — hours, what to know and a map.
Spaghetti Pancho in Kichijoji serves Showa-era napolitan where small, regular and large cost the same. Hours to 23:00, what to order, toppings and a map.
Linde in Kichijoji makes real German bread — dense rye loaves and a proper pretzel — from 1997 recipes. Hours, what to buy, the 2nd-floor café and a map.
Pandian is a wood-fired, natural-yeast bakery on Lake Kawaguchi - dense, hard Jomon-style loaves and soft koji steamed buns, in a wooden house up the stone steps.
Aozora Ichiba is a super-cheap open-air greengrocer on Lake Kawaguchi's north shore - bargain fruit and veg near Mt Fuji, with prices, hours, access and the honest catch.
Minatoan Konandai in Yokohama serves a roughly 1kg Fujisan-mori soba for the same price as a regular bowl. A 50-year chain with freshly cut noodles - menu, hours, access.
Kinomiya Kenko Pan in Atami makes kogashi manju, a roasted-barley steamed bun sold as a Kinomiya Shrine specialty. What it is, the shop's hours and how to visit.
A long-running cake shop and cafe in Nerima's Shakujii, baking fresh cakes, baumkuchen, leaf pie and chocolates since 1975 — with hours, parking and how to visit.
Farmers Gotemba, the JA Fuji-Izu farm market at the foot of Mt. Fuji: highland vegetables, Shizuoka wagyu, Koshihikari rice, local flowers and a new fresh-fish counter.
Every image on Hidden Japan Gems was personally photographed on a Sony α7 across five years of walking Japan. Please don't re-use without permission — reach out if you'd like to.
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