Murō-ji Temple 2026: Nara’s ‘Women’s Kōya’ and Its 1,200-Year Pagoda
Murō-ji, Nara's mountain 'Women's Kōya,' has a National Treasure five-story pagoda, spring rhododendron and a June hydrangea pilgrimage. Hours, fees, access and what to see.
Category Experience
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.
Ringo no Ki: Apple Pie & Apricot Sweets in Chikuma (2026)
Chikuma is one of Japan's great apricot towns. Patisserie Ringo no Ki turns local apricot and its own-orchard apples into pies, jelly and baked sweets — a short hop from the Obasute terraces.
Ashiu Forest 2026: Kyoto’s Primeval Woods You Can Only Hike with a Guide
One of western Japan's last primeval forests, at the source of the 146 km Yura River — and you can only enter on a guided tour with a Kyoto University-certified group. The route I walked, the cost, when to go, and the leeches to pack for.
Kyoto Botanical Garden 2026: Japan’s Oldest, Season by Season
Japan's oldest public botanical garden (opened 1924): 24 hectares, ~12,000 plant species and one of the country's largest conservatories, for ¥500 — a calm, cheap day away from Kyoto's temple crowds, in every season.
The Camera Gear I Use to Shoot Japan
The one-body, two-lens kit I shoot every photo on Hidden Japan Gems with — a Sony A7 IV, a 24–70mm f/2.8, a 35mm prime, a travel tripod and fast SD cards.
Club Wyndham Chikumakan 2026: A Dog-Friendly Onsen Ryokan with 6 Baths
A dog-friendly onsen ryokan in Togura-Kamiyamada, Nagano: two sulfur sources across six baths, a domestic-beef kaiseki, and tatami rooms for two small dogs — a short drive from the Obasute terraces.
Yabu: A Beloved Set-Meal Diner in Fujiyoshida, by Mt Fuji
A plain, generous set-meal diner running since 1971 in Fujiyoshida on the Yamanashi side of Mt Fuji — ginger pork, tonkatsu and a little dish of fruit, from around ¥1,000.
Shoya: Pork Hoto by Lake Yamanaka, in the Shadow of Mt Fuji
Hoto is Yamanashi's thick miso-and-pumpkin noodle stew. At Shoya, a hoto specialist on the shore of Lake Yamanaka, the pork version comes bubbling in an iron pot.
Kintaro Soba: Mountain-Yam Noodles at the Foot of Mt Fuji (Gotemba)
Gotemba's old mikuriya soba is bound with mountain yam, not water. Kintaro, a farmhouse soba house minutes from Mt Fuji, serves it with a shrimp-tempura rice box.
Obasute Rice Terraces: Japan’s Moon-in-Each-Paddy Hillside
More than a thousand flooded rice paddies mirror the sky above Chikuma, Nagano — Japan's first farmland named a scenic beauty. When to go, how to get there, and what tagoto-no-tsuki really means.