A contrarian view of Japan as a slow traveler

I had the opportunity to take a year off so from April 2025 to April 2026, I was outside the US pretty much the entire year.

I'd been in a really bad car accident in November 2024 but thankfully I didn't break anything, but my back was killing me and I decided to take time off to heal.

I flew to Tokyo and immediately flew to Fukuoka, stayed a few days go get used to the time change, and rented a car and drove all over northern Kyushu, staying in small towns for the most part. The Japanese have this idea of Tōji, or hot spring therapy, and I loved going to onsens since I'd gone to a Japanese language school in Akita in 2024. I went to dozens of onsen, many only costing ¥200-300 for the day - sometimes I'd hit up two or three in a day. I never saw any other Americans around, maybe the occasional Taiwanese or some Koreans but I was almost always the only white guy anywhere I went.

NHK had done a YouTube video about onsen therapy in a little town called Taketa and I stayed there for a while, going to the onsen and restaurants mentioned in the video. Every time someone asked me what made me choose to stay there, I'd mention the NHK video and they'd say I was the first tourist to visit because of that video, and they were happy it worked on me lol.

I should mention when I was in Fukuoka I was at a sake bar and the lady next to me was celebrating her 60th birthday and wanted to practice her English. I've studied Japanese for a couple years and can have a basic conversation but I still could get quickly overwhelmed. Anyway she was asking where I was planning on going and I mentioned I was going back to that language school in Akita and she asked me where it was, and I said Kazuno. She shouted "that's where I'm from!!" and pulled out her iPad and called her sister to introduce me to her - she was so excited that I knew her hometown and had stayed there before. I told her where my dorm was and of course she knew exactly where. Anyway she wanted to go bar hopping so we spent the evening going to different bars and she took me to this amazing jazz club too. I had a blast. She made me promise to visit her house after I was done driving around Kyushu so I could meet her niece, who was a bit younger than me but half American.

Anyway, I went to Akita for a few weeks after that and realized it was too boring to sit around so I got a lift to the airport and rented a car. And sooo glad I did. Yes there are buses on a limited basis but the trains aren't very convenient once you're in the countryside, so a car is still the best way to go. I should also mention I got food poisoning for the first time in many years eating crab at a local ramen shop.

After going to school for a few weeks to bone up on my vocabulary, I continued north to Aomori and then up to Hokkaido. Same deal - rented a car and generally avoided the cities.

After that, my visa was about to expire so I went to visit an old buddy in Mongolia for a few weeks before returning to Japan.

A buddy of mine in Tokyo put me in touch with a friend of his who lived in Karuizawa, where I was considering opening my business after closing it in LA. Through him I was able to connect with a host family and got a whole house to myself for about $600/mo, plus they let me borrow their car. For the next few months I used that house as my base and drove all over Nagano, Gunma, Yamanashi, and Niigata. Again, visited tons of onsen. I should add that my back was pretty much better by then. Onsen therapy worked for me.

Here's where I want to share some of my experiences that may be a bit different from the average omg-Japan-is-so-perfect stories you keep seeing.

First off, the Japanese *tolerate* tourists, even in rural areas, but they'd be just as fine with you not visiting either. Many many times I would get dirty looks going into the onsen - I think because maybe they thought I didn't know onsen etiquette like showering first, not putting your towel in the water, etc. But after visiting the same place for weeks or months at a time, I was soon ignored and I even had some great conversations.

Secondly, the food. Yes I had some amazing meals in Japan. I still think about this little mom&pop sushi spot in Gunma that had some of the best nigiri I've ever had anywhere, and it was ¥800 for lunch. But I've also had the worst sushi of my life in Japan (old man at some crappy place in Kyoto of all places). But especially in rural areas, I was surprised how the quality of the food was very hit and miss. I think this surprised me because even my teacher told me it's impossible to get food poisoning in Japan because their food is so clean. Yeah right - Japan is not a monolith when it comes to their food. You can have a shitty roadside diner in rural Japan just as you can in rural parts of the US.

Third, by and large people were decent but I had several run-ins where shop owners would refuse to seat me, or one place (with my buddy in Tokyo who speaks fluent Japanese) that told us they didn't have any tables, only for a group of Japanese to walk in as we were leaving and asking if there were any tables available, and being seated immediately. But I was in Yamanashi once and at the train station trying to find my way to the bus terminal and I politely asked (in Japanese) where the bus terminal was and the station agent just shook his head and went back to his desk. It was pouring rain and I had a ton of luggage - I hate that guy lol. Sorry but if you're a station agent you shouldn't just ignore questions if someone is asking you politely in your native language and when they clearly need help on your turf.

Anyway, I love Japan, I've been there many times, and I've traveled from Okinawa to Hokkaido and explored all over Honshu, though I feel I've barely scratched the surface. But it's definitely a society that prefers to keep to itself for the most part. I will say people in Okinawa were probably the most friendly of any area I stayed in. They were the most likely to strike up conversation.

I do really prefer rural Japan to the cities, but I'd say that even speaking a bit of Japanese went a long way for me, and locals generally were helpful but very few were genuinely welcoming.

I'll share one more quick anecdote - I was staying in a small city of Hita in Kyushu and drove to a really cool spot to go hiking, and there was nobody around. I was hiking along a river in the woods when a Japanese girl in her 20s passed me, saying good morning in Japanese and I said it back, and she said in English "oh! I didn't see you were a foreigner!" (I have a large hiking hat that covers my face if I'm looking down) And struck up a conversation with me, asking why I was there, and did I check out the shrine yet? No I hadn't. So she led me to her favorite shrine and she prayed then asked if I'd had lunch yet. I hadn't so we hiked back to our cars and she had me follow her to another town up a hill where there was a little Thai fusion restaurant in this couple's house, and this girl treated me to lunch and even gave me an onsen ticket. I asked her why she was being so generous and she said she was so happy to see a visitor not only in her hometown, but hiking in one of her favorite spots.

I was in Japan for a total of six months (the maximum you can do on a tourist visa in a year) and I'm obviously leaving out a ton but just wanted to share this as I don't think many people have done this slow travel thru rural Japan like I did.

Happy to answer any questions as well.