Overall I was very impressed with the number of managed walking paths when we were in Japan. Allowed you to get away from the crowds pretty quickly if you'd like.
> Is climbing Mt. Fuji worth it?
> Yes, though it is very on the beaten path, and you can infer some things from that about what the human experience of a Fuji trip will be like.
As for the hiking trail and the major mountain stations, this is very true. On the other hand - it really is very concentrated and the vast majority of tourists will just head straight to the hotspots.
Case in point: I happen to live here (Fuji 5 Lakes area; technically on Mt Fuji) since a couple of years. Been in and around Tokyo for several years prior. This summer, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, they finally threw the famous usually-yearly fire festival in town here.
It was really something, and even having been to more matsuri than I can count, this one really stood out in how lively it was, and the fact that it went on throughout the evening (the event peaks with the fires after sunset). Packed with locals and even more tourists - many thousands of people, including hundreds of foreigners. The air was electric. You could feel the fires bring out something different in the people. Many were drinking, of course.
At the tail end of the event (around 10pm), I went down to the local bar area and hung around for a bit. 'twas totally dead. Maybe even more than a normal weekend. I didn't see a single non-local soul out on the streets or in the few couple of bars. It was eerie. You'd think at least a percent or two of the visitors would stick around or explore instead of heading straight out or to their private accommodations on the dot?
Anyway, apart from just reinforcing your point and OPs about the beaten path being very narrow: Do come to Fuji, even off-season there's a lot more around here to see and experience than that hike itself and locals are still very much in want of business.
Please do tell!
Seriously just pick a random city from Japan Guide or go to an onsen. Visit Kyushu, it's beautiful and nobody seems to travel there because it's too far away :P
Ideally I'd take a train out of the city and rent a car or bike in whatever smaller city I make my hub. Would love any other advice you have, and open to DMs/emails/etc. :-)
- Kurobe Gorge (industrial train ride into a beautiful deep mountain gorge)
- Kanazawa (middle size town with a beautiful garden and castle ruins - near Kurobe/Touyama)
- Izumo (100% inaka, one of the oldest shrines in Japan, traditional iron working museum, nice coast with a beautiful lighthouse, in day trip distance from the only real desert (!) in Japan in Tottori)
- Kinosaki (gorgeous onsen-only town, reachable by express train from Osaka)
- Kagoshima (has the huge active Sakurajima volcano right on the other side of the bay, many Meiji restoration landmarks, don't forgot to check what the satsuma maid group is up to)
- Hitoyoshi (a little town in a mountain valley pan in Kyushu, the mid point of the Hisatsu Line - a bit less reachable right now due to some washed out railway bridges, setting of Maitetsu VNs)
- Ikede (day trip distance from osaka, home to the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum & nice view of Osaka from the hill)
- Beppu (a not so big city that is effectively the onsen capital of the world, really - the Kannawa district that hosts the 7 hells is just bonkers)
- Enoshima (go by hanging monorail with tunnels (!!) from Ofuna, visit a beautifula island with calves, shrines, temples and botanical gardens, go back to Kamakura via Enoden - a cute old electric train that hugs back dors of peoples houses and runs on regular streets part of the way)
For other advice I would recommend that at least one of your group speaks enough Japanese to ask directions, order food, use a laundromat, shop at a supermarket, describe what you want at a barber's, tell a doctor what you're ailing, ask a staff member where the lost and found is, that kind of stuff. Also note that New Year's and Golden Week are really awkward times to go and summer is hot and humid. Make sure to talk to your GP to make sure you have whatever vaccinations you need, I'm thinking of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in particular. Also make sure you take enough cash to get the most basic necessities if the airline manages to bungle your luggage. In short, just keep all the basic travel advice in mind and you'll be fine.
A ways through his explanation someone else came up to us to ask us where we were going, and told us that our destination was simply straight ahead, and after saying our thanks we just kept listening to the guy rattle on. That kind of thing is what I really like about travelling, being a couple of thousand miles away from home, just listening to someone go on a ramble about whatever they think is interesting to talk about.
This order also very useful if you want to buy stome stuff, as usually Tokay has the best selection but you don't want to lug it all over Japan with you - best do the shopping at the end of the trip.
This doesn't seem to be a must now that JR themselves is selling it online (though at a slightly higher price):
(Elevantion 800 above see level, 1 hour walk from Keyakidaira, which itself is 1 hour industrial train ride from Kurobe. Coincidentaly the very first onsen bath we took in Japan back in 2017. And without the cold water hose - but back then we didn't know an onsen should not be that hot. :D )
Even in Venice, if you leave San Marco and if you cross into San Polo, you just have to leave the Ponte Rialto behind. It also helps if you arrive by boat and land at Fondamente Nove and just don't take the "straight" route to Piazetta San Marco.
Cinque Terre is a similar "theme park" in italy. We've been there on an holiday weekend in spring with really nice weather. The trains were packed like in Tokio during rush hour. But even there, as soon as you left the main route, ascended some stairs, you had amazing views all for yourself and the only other tourists were those you saw down below.
People are just too lazy to take even small detours.