Can you believe this is *not* Tokyo?

Mt. Shogadake

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I get it.

Some kid on his first trip *out* of Tokyo. Besides getting to ride on the Shinkansen, why would you ever want to do that?

We all want to feel connected. We all want something to relate to, some point of reference that makes us feel like we belong somewhere.

That’s part of being a human.

But does it have to be Tokyo?

Japan is a massive country.

Although Tokyo is the country’s capital that also happens to make up one third of its economy, it by no means makes up one third of its landmass.

Why does it have to always be the reference point?

In saying that…

When people post things and say ‘Can you believe this is Tokyo?’, sure it’s a catchy headline. Tokyo is supposed to be only skyscrapers and Shibuya crossing after all. But did you know Tokyo has 224 named mountains? Here is a list of the top 10. Or that it also has remote islands some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away?

For those with a bit of geography knowledge,

yes, we can believe this is Tokyo.

We also know Japan is more than that.

The standard first trip to Japan goes something like this:

Fly into Tokyo. Spend a few days there. Visit Asakusa and wonder whether Senso-ji is Shinto or Buddhist. Go shopping for electronics in Akiba. See the weird people in Harajuku. Get some of that quintessential Japanese matcha green tea from Starbucks at the aforementioned Shibuya crossing.

Then jump on the OG Shinkansen to Osaka.

Order a beer to prove to your friends that you can do that in Japan. Catch a view of Fuji-san at 300kph. Hold up some of the cherry blossoms you stole off an Oji-chan’s bonsai or whatever.

Do that and you have yourself a Japan trifecta.

Congratulations.

Seriously. You’ve pretty much accomplished Japan by now and you haven’t even arrived in Osaka where you’ll see the epitome of what people come to Japan to do in the first place:

That whole tradition meets modern thing.

You know.

The Elevator in Osaka Castle.

Inside this 16th century castle you will find an elevator. It doesn’t get any more traditional v. modern than that.

Then if you’re lucky, take a day trip to Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, and Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. Perhaps top that off with a day trip to Himeji to see the other Japan castle. Or, if you’re really lucky, an overnight stay in Hiroshima with an excursion to Miyajima.

Or at least, if you switch the Tokyo and Osaka parts around, that pretty much sums up my first trip to Japan.

The Japan trip that had me hooked.

The trip that was enough for 16-year-old me to tell myself ‘I may have a face covered in pimples from all the amazing Japanese sweets I’ve been eating, but by Kami, I’m going to live here one day’.

And you know what?

I actually meant it.

It only took three years till that was a reality.

Well, sort of.

That Japan I just described to you is the Japan the majority of travellers to Japan experience; the so-called Golden Route.

But it’s so shortsighted.

Yes, I believe that is Tokyo. And yes, I believe that is Fuji-san looking like an orca.

Three years after that fateful high school trip to Japan, I was about to board my flight to study abroad at a university in Okayama.

Suddenly, someone from my university piped up:

‘You know Okayama is the Inaka, right?’

‘Oh, the Inaka? That derogatory term for countryside? You’re assuming I won’t like it because it’s not Tokyo, or Kami forbid, The Golden Route? Right?’

Joke’s on you, bro.

I just want to live in Japan.

The place that is more than Tokyo and The Golden Route.

Drastic The Baggage, and also, the steering wheel? When Tokyo has shops like these, it’s hard to want to go anywhere else.

(Plus, it’s pretty hard to call a city with a population greater than that of the capital city in New Zealand I grew up in ‘countryside’)

Alas, The Golden Route remains The Golden Route.

And I don’t see it changing anytime soon.

Despite my efforts, and the efforts of many other Japanophiles, everyone seems to want to flock to The Golden Route, and kind of just stay there.

Boring.

Don’t do that.

The Golden Route is like living with your mum.

No late nights.

No alcohol.

Not even on the Shinkansen.

No fun.

Ok, this part is debatable. I mean, it was enough to get me to move here…

Either way, don’t live with your parents longer than you need to. Tell your mum you no longer need her to hold your hand.

Tell your mum:

‘Mum. The Golden Route is tame.’

Allow me to let you in on a secret.

Sakata City and Shonai Town in The Shonai Plains in Yamagata Prefecture. That’s my house there to the right.

I live in the Shonai Region of Yamagata Prefecture, home to about 250,000 people in the space of Tokyo’s 23 wards.

Even within this tiny region of northern Japan there are multiple microcosms of Japanese culture.

I’ve already mentioned a few of them to you.

The thing is, Japan is covered in places besides The Golden Route like this.

Don’t get me wrong.

You should definitely do the Golden Route. However, do it with intention. Do it with the intention of having it inform your travel all over Japan.

All you have to do is get a JR Pass or whatever, point in any random direction, and just go there.

Seriously. Japan is a safe country, and the Japanese love having to look after non-Japanese. It gives them something to talk about at Starbucks.

And the best part is

No matter where you go, you’ll always know how to get to Tokyo!

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