Japan Beyond Tokyo: The Country You Haven't Seen Yet

Tokyo is spectacular. It's also just the beginning. Once you've done Shibuya and Shinjuku, had ramen in Harajuku and sushi at Tsukiji, there's an entire country waiting — one that most tourists never see.

The Kii Peninsula

South of Osaka, the Kii Peninsula juts into the Pacific and contains some of the most atmospheric landscape in Japan. The ancient Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail winds through old-growth cedar forests connecting sacred shrines. You'll walk entire stretches without seeing another Western tourist. Guesthouses are converted traditional homes where elderly women serve multi-course kaiseki dinners.

Tohoku's Ghost Coasts

The northeastern Tohoku region bears the scars of the 2011 tsunami in places, but it was never a tourist destination to begin with. The coastline here — the Sanriku Rias Coast — is dramatic in a way the Pacific Northwest would envy. Small fishing villages cling to cliff edges above impossibly blue water. The cold makes the seafood extraordinary.

Kanazawa: Kyoto Without the Crowds

Often called "the other Kyoto," Kanazawa preserved its samurai and geisha districts, its traditional crafts, and its extraordinary gardens (Kenroku-en is Japan's most celebrated) while somehow escaping the tour-bus circuit. The covered market Omicho-ichiba has been operating for 280 years.

Okinawa's Far-Flung Islands

The Ryukyu archipelago stretches almost to Taiwan and encompasses a culture, cuisine, and language distinct from mainland Japan. The remoter islands — Yonaguni, Taketomi, Iriomote — have coral waters, water buffalo-drawn carts, and a pace of life that makes even rural Japan seem hurried.