Author name: Japan Real Guide

Jack is the writer and editor behind Japan Real Guide. He has been travelling to Japan since 2012 and has made more than 15 trips across all 47 prefectures — from the drift-ice coasts of Hokkaido to the coral reefs of Okinawa. His articles cover practical travel planning, hidden destinations, food culture, transport, and everything in between. Japan Real Guide exists because most travel content about Japan is either too vague to be useful or too polished to be honest. Jack writes the guide he wishes he'd had.

Traditional wooden houses along the old castle-town street of Tsuwano, Shimane, Japan
Chugoku & Shikoku, Culture & Customs, Hidden Gems

Tsuwano Travel Guide 2026: The Little Kyoto of San-in — Carp Canals, Red Torii Gates and a Steam Train in Shimane

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Tsuwano, often called the “Little Kyoto of San-in,” is a beautifully preserved castle town hidden in the mountains of Shimane Prefecture in western Japan. This complete first-timer’s guide covers everything that makes it special: the white-walled Tonomachi samurai street with thousands of koi carp swimming in its canals, the tunnel of a thousand red torii gates leading up to Taikodani Inari Shrine, the misty mountaintop castle ruins, and the nostalgic SL Yamaguchi steam train. You’ll find the town’s samurai and literary history, exact costs and opening hours, the best seasons to visit, detailed train directions from Hiroshima and Shin-Yamaguchi, where to stay, what to eat, festival highlights, and a full set of practical tips and frequently asked questions — all you need to plan a memorable journey to one of Japan’s most authentic and overlooked hidden gems.

Stone staircase leading up to a mountain temple framed by autumn foliage in Japan
Culture & Customs, Hidden Gems, Hokkaido & Tohoku

Yamadera Temple Guide 2026: How to Climb Yamagata’s 1,000 Stone Steps to Risshaku-ji

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Yamadera (Risshaku-ji) is one of Tohoku’s most spectacular temples, a string of wooden halls climbing a forested cliff in Yamagata Prefecture, reached by a winding staircase of more than a thousand stone steps. This complete first-timer’s guide covers the temple’s eleven-century history and its connection to the poet Bashō, a stage-by-stage walkthrough of the climb, exact costs and opening hours, the best seasons to visit, and detailed train directions from Tokyo, Sendai, and Yamagata City. You’ll also find where to stay, what to eat in the village below, photography tips, a packing checklist, and a full set of frequently asked questions — everything you need to plan a smooth, memorable visit to one of northern Japan’s greatest and most overlooked treasures.

Dramatic coastal cliffs and crashing Pacific waves along Kochi Prefecture southern coastline in Shikoku Japan
Chugoku & Shikoku, Hidden Gems, Kochi

Cape Ashizuri and the Shimanto River: Complete Guide to Kochi’s Wild Pacific Coast and Japan’s Last Clear Stream

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Discover Cape Ashizuri — Shikoku’s dramatic southernmost headland — and the Shimanto River, Japan’s last free-flowing clear stream in Kochi Prefecture. This complete guide covers Kongofuku-ji Temple (Pilgrimage Temple 38), the striped Ashizuri Lighthouse, John Manjiro Museum, Tatsukushi Marine Park glass-bottom boat tours, whale watching, the iconic chinkabashi submersible bridges, canoeing on the Shimanto, local bonito tataki and river eel cuisine, where to stay near the cape and river, and how to plan a 3-day southern Kochi itinerary — one of Shikoku’s greatest and most underrated travel destinations.

Traditional thatched-roof farmhouses in rural Iwate, Tohoku Japan
Culture & Customs, Hidden Gems, Hokkaido & Tohoku, Iwate

Tono Travel Guide: Japan’s Folklore Capital — Kappa Legends, Mountain Shrines and Rural Tohoku

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Discover Tono, Iwate Prefecture’s extraordinary folklore capital in the heart of Tohoku. This complete guide covers Kappabuchi Pool, the legendary water sprites of Tono Monogatari, the preserved magari-ya farmhouses of Denshoen, the sacred Hayachine-san mountain shrine, the annual yabusame festival, local hittsumi noodles and Genghis Khan lamb barbecue, plus practical tips on getting there by train, cycling routes through the rice paddies, where to stay, and how to experience one of Japan’s most genuinely atmospheric and underrated rural destinations.

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Japan Real Guide

Your comprehensive English guide to traveling Japan, written by Japan travel specialists with years of on-the-ground experience exploring every corner of the country.

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© 2026 Japan Real Guide. All rights reserved. | Information provided for travel planning purposes.