“When Japan” is very clear throughout this website that first and foremost, you go for the food because Japanese food is amazing. Plan you trip around sampling the food and experience the Japanese service, then fill in the gaps with sightseeing. There is no food that is not worth trying, however there are plenty of rubbish and crowded tourist traps that can be avoided. Here are the Top 10 (there aren’t 10).
Sensouji Temple in Asakusa
Don’t get “When Japan” wrong. Asakusa Temple is actually a pretty unique experience, and the temple itself is picturesque. However, it is teeming with tourists and the famous street from the Lightning Bell gate to the temple itself is just full of tourist-trap tat that no one should be spending their hard-earned cash on. There are so many temples and shrines in Japan, you can give this one a miss and instead focus your Tokyo efforts on other things you can’t get elsewhere.
Nikko Temple Complex
Nikko is a famous town north of Tokyo with some stunning temples set into the mountains, which makes it extremely popular with tourists and hence overcrowded during peak seasons (tourist numbers have doubled in the last 5 years). The peak tends to be in October when the cooler mountains start their fall leaf season and Japanese rush there for a chance to bump into each other while taking snapshots of the colorful trees.
There also is not much to do in the town itself besides visiting the temple complex, which is probably why a lot of people just stick to a day trip. Nearby is Edo Wonderland, a historical theme-land heavily aimed towards tourists. It has rave reviews on Google Maps however “When Japan” has not been there.
The local city of Utsunomiya is also a bit of a one trick pony. If you aren’t that into Temples or crowds of tourists, then there are better places to go.
Disneyland
Why would you come all the way to Japan just to go meet Mikey Mouse? Only go if you have young kids who are fed up with temples. There are however plenty of more unique (and cheaper) theme-parks in Japan so perhaps don’t tell the kids Japan has a Disneyland and hope they don’t notice?
Kyoto
Kyoto has it’s own problems that many may have read.
Ushiku Big Bhudda
You can read why this is a big waste of time.