There are few destinations in the world as revered as Japan, and as a tourist hotspot, it attracts tens of millions of visitors each year. As someone who has been to Japan several times, I find that much of the tourism is concentrated in the country’s capital.
In all fairness, this applies to many major countries. When people travel to the UK, they focus their trip on London; the same goes for Paris. Tokyo is certainly the nucleus and the beating heart of Japan, but it is by no means the only place to visit.
For those who solely focus on what was, until recently, the world’s largest city and don’t venture out of Tokyo, then there are plenty of gems that they are often unknowingly missing out on.
We have seen how podcasts have become a new media version of this. Unlike a few decades ago when there would be a select number of radio shows, or a specialist TV show on every couple of weeks that focuses on a niche interest, you can go headfirst into an ocean of content online.
It has provided opportunities for those with a passion that spans across many niches. Broadcaster Selema Masekela has made a career of dipping his toe into many exciting industries, but as an X-Games host and captivating storyteller, he has found an international audience by leveraging bespoke, niche media that caters solely to listeners’ needs.
The way tourists use new media to plan their travel has played a significant role in Japan becoming a global hub for 21st-century travel. The music, style, aesthetic, and cultural history of Japan are easy to bottle up and sell on social media, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that is what reality will be like.
Tour and travel companies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries would handle the entire trip for you. You could find information in travel guides and books, but you had to set time and money aside to plan your trip. It was also far more expensive than it is today.
You couldn’t access translation apps, local tour guides, and, in the case of Japan, if you were going to rural areas, you would struggle a lot unless you had a bilingual tour guide. It discouraged many Western tourists from seeking out the rural gems that Japan has offered and still offers.
The hidden secrets of Japan are no longer a secret in the world of tourism. But having this free form of media can also saturate the market. It can be much harder to find tourist ideas that give a true, authentic, niche sense of what a place is like.
Rather than being dazzled by pictures of Fuji and centuries-old pagodas on Instagram, online engagement, fused with entertainment and viral content, is what drives much of tourism in the modern market, where niche appeal, excitement, and landscape form a trifecta, as you can see in the link below.
There are certainly pros and cons to a cruise, and it all depends on the type of traveler you are. For some people, the goal of visiting Japan, particularly rural Japan, is to flex their language skills, speak with locals, try the cuisine, and experience an undiluted and authentic version of the country.
A cruise gives you this in a controlled format. It is perfect for those who want to experience places around Japan without spending days or weeks in the countryside. It also gives you a condensed trip where you can tick off six or seven cities and go from the stimulating brightness of Tokyo to the serenity and reflection of Hiroshima.
My cruise itinerary consisted of Yokohama, Kochi, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kagoshima and Fukuoka. It would be a challenge to skip between these cities without incurring hotel, train and travel costs, and if you want to get back to a broader range of cuisine that you’re more familiar with, you can return to the ship.
While these lesser-known cities see less tourism, they lack the range, vibe, or electricity that Tokyo has. It’s important to get a balance. The Japanese countryside towns and smaller cities provide a fascinating window into a slower, conventionally Japanese lifestyle, but beyond a few days, they lack the depth of the major cities.
This is the same for any cruise; it is often the cities which act as a perfect base for a longer stay. However, if you have weeks to spend in Japan, then spending the entire time in Tokyo will not give you a collective idea of what Japan offers. In Hokkaido, the bleak winters and globally revered skiing resorts are a far cry from the culture and volcanic terrain of Kyushu.
Ultimately, though, you can use the internet to your advantage, and by ensuring you do the appropriate level of research and that you are venturing to Japan for reasons that captivate you, it’s very difficult to come away from the trip disappointed, regardless of whether you are going on a cruise or opting for a solo, bespoke itinerary that you compile yourself.
