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Recommendations for rail travel to rural areas in Japan

Recommendations for rail travel to rural areas in Japan

鉄道旅行

 

Table of contents

1: Introduction

2: How to create a model route

3: Recommendations for traveling to rural areas

4: Recommendations for rail travel

 

1: Introduction

Dear foreign travelers who have already been to Japan many times and would like to visit more regions of Japan!

We have created up to the 8th edition of our model routes for visiting rural other than the so-called Golden Route, which only includes Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Kyoto, and Osaka. Please use them as a reference for your future itineraries. We will continue to add model routes at irregular intervals.

 

One-week Japan Itinerary for repeat visitors (1) (Miyagi, Iwate, Aomori, and Fukushima prefectures)

One-week Japan Itinerary for repeat visitors (2) (Hyogo, Shimane, and Osaka Prefectures)

One-week Japan Itinerary for repeat visitors (3) (Okayama, Ehime, and Hiroshima Prefectures)

One-week Japan Itinerary for repeat visitors (4) (Tokyo, Nagano, Gifu, and Toyama Prefectures)

One-week Japan Itinerary for repeat visitors (5) (Osaka, Ishikawa, and Fukui Prefectures)

One-week Japan Itinerary for repeat visitors (6) (Saitama, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Fukushima, and Chiba Prefectures)

One-week Japan Itinerary for repeat visitors (7) (Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, and Osaka Prefectures)

One-week Japan Itinerary for repeat visitors (8) (Okayama, Kagawa, Tokushima, and Kochi Prefectures)

 

2: How to create a model route

The method for creating a model route for a visit to a rural is as follows.

(i) Create itineraries to/from Narita International Airport (Haneda Airport) or Kansai International Airport, which account for 70% (in 2019) of the number of foreign visitors entering Japan.

(ii) Create itineraries of six nights and seven days based on the average number of nights stayed by foreign travelers of 6.2 nights (2019).

(iii) Create an itinerary with a budget of JPY 200,000 or less, based on the average travel expenses of foreign travelers at the above three airports of JPY 176,000 (2019).

 

We also used our recommendation of staying in two places (3 nights each in two places for a 7-day / 6-night itinerary) as the basis for creating the itinerary, as staying in two places allows for itinerary changes in the event of bad weather. Travelers may want to visit certain places (tourist attractions) in good weather. If you set up an itinerary where you change your accommodation every day, you will not be able to change your sightseeing itinerary even in bad weather. As the weather in Japan is changeable, it is strongly recommended to create an itinerary that can be changed flexibly.

鉄道旅行

 

3: Recommendations for traveling to rural areas

53% of all overnight stays by foreign visitors are concentrated in the top three prefectures of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto (2019, Japan Tourism Agency data). Conversely, the total number of overnight stays in the bottom 30 prefectures is only 8%. This indicates that the problem of over-tourism by foreign travelers is an issue only in popular tourist destinations such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto Prefectures.

Share of overnight stays by foreign tourists (%)

1Tokyo22.09
2Osaka Prefecture16.71
3Kyoto Prefecture13.84
4Hokkaido8.93
5Okinawa Prefecture8.93
6Chiba Prefecture3.92
7Kanagawa Prefecture2.42
8Fukuoka Prefecture2.40
9Yamanashi Prefecture2.36
10Shizuoka Prefecture2.06
11Gifu Prefecture1.83
12Nagano Prefecture1.43
13Aichi Prefecture1.41
14Oita Prefecture1.21
15Hyogo Prefecture0.90
16Ishikawa Prefecture0.88
17Kumamoto Prefecture0.69
18Nara Prefecture0.66
19Wakayama Prefecture0.66
20Hiroshima Prefecture0.61
21Nagasaki Prefecture0.59
22Kagoshima Prefecture0.54
23Kagawa Prefecture0.54
24Niigata Prefecture0.40
25Shiga Prefecture0.40
26Iwate Prefecture0.32
27Mie Prefecture0.31
28Tochigi Prefecture0.30
29Gunma Prefecture0.29
30Miyazaki Prefecture0.26
31Toyama Prefecture0.25
32Aomori Prefecture0.24
33Saga Prefecture0.21
34Miyagi Prefecture0.20
35Yamagata Prefecture0.19
36Okayama Prefecture0.16
37Fukushima Prefecture0.14
38Tokushima Prefecture0.10
39Ehime Prefecture0.10
40Akita Prefecture0.10
41Tottori Prefecture0.10
42Shimane Prefecture0.08
43Kochi Prefecture0.07
44Yamaguchi Prefecture0.06
45Fukui Prefecture0.06
46Saitama Prefecture0.03
47Ibaraki Prefecture0.03
Total100.00

 

Comparison of the share of overnight stays by prefecture (%, share of foreign overnight stays / share of Japanese overnight stays)

1Tokyo267
2Osaka Prefecture251
3Kyoto Prefecture119
4Fukuoka Prefecture38
5Hokkaido33
6Gifu Prefecture20
7Yamanashi Prefecture10
8Okinawa Prefecture-2
9Aichi Prefecture-6
10Nara Prefecture-21
11Oita Prefecture-26
12Kagawa Prefecture-31
13Kanagawa Prefecture-36
14Kumamoto Prefecture-37
15Hiroshima Prefecture-38
16Chiba Prefecture-44
17Miyazaki Prefecture-55
18Wakayama Prefecture-56
19Saga Prefecture-56
20Nagasaki Prefecture-56
21Ishikawa Prefecture-56
22Kagoshima Prefecture-58
23Shizuoka Prefecture-59
24Toyama Prefecture-60
25Aomori Prefecture-61
26Shiga Prefecture-65
27Iwate Prefecture-70
28Nagano Prefecture-71
29Hyogo Prefecture-71
30Tokushima Prefecture-75
31Okayama Prefecture-77
32Niigata Prefecture-82
33Ehime Prefecture-82
34Akita Prefecture-83
35Yamagata Prefecture-83
36Mie Prefecture-83
37Tottori Prefecture-86
38Kochi Prefecture-86
39Miyagi Prefecture-87
40Shimane Prefecture-88
41Gunma Prefecture-88
42Tochigi Prefecture-88
43Yamaguchi Prefecture-90
44Saitama Prefecture-91
45Fukui Prefecture-93
46Fukushima Prefecture-93
47Ibaraki Prefecture-96

 

When I travel abroad, I prefer to go to places where there are as few Japanese as possible to enjoy the exotic atmosphere. I would like foreign travelers to go to rural areas of Japan where there are as few foreigners as possible so that they can enjoy the unique Japanese atmosphere. One of the main attractions of traveling to rural areas is that you can encounter a unique food culture and warm human touch that you cannot find in big cities.

In addition, the Japan Tourism Agency’s survey (2019) on what people did when traveling to Japan (multiple answers) showed that 73.4% of respondents said they did “Nature and scenic sightseeing”, 29.7% “Experienced Japanese history and traditional culture”, 20.5% “Experienced Japanese daily life”, 14.6% “Experienced the four seasons (cherry blossom viewing, autumn leaves, snow, etc)”, 7% “Nature experience tour and farming and fishing village experience” A total of 148.6% of respondents said that they would be more likely to experience sightseeing in the countryside if they traveled to the countryside. In the ‘Things I would like to do on my next trip to Japan (multiple answers)’ category, the above item total rises to 154.8%. Thus, it seems that foreign visitors’ interest in regional tourism is also increasing.

日光

Repeat visitors to Japan have already started going to the countryside. It is clear that foreign visitors who visit Japan more frequently tend to stay in more prefectures. It is likely that repeat visitors to Japan are tired of the golden route of just Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Kyoto, and Osaka, and are visiting the countryside.

 

Repeat visitors to Japan

 

The share of stays by a prefecture for Taiwanese travelers, who have visited Japan an average of 7.2 times, exceeds that of Japanese travelers in 14 prefectures. It is also notable that only Taiwanese exceeded the share of Japanese travelers in six prefectures – Okayama, Aomori, Iwate, Toyama, Miyagi, and Saga – where the share of foreign travelers as a whole is less than half that of Japanese travelers.

 

Comparison of the share of overnight stays by prefecture (%,  share of Taiwanese overnight stays / share of Japanese overnight stays)

1Fukuoka Prefecture190
2Tokyo164
3Osaka Prefecture136
4Aichi Prefecture84
5Hokkaido57
6Kagawa Prefecture54
7Okinawa Prefecture47
8Okayama Prefecture45
9Aomori Prefecture44
10Kumamoto Prefecture44
11Iwate Prefecture25
12Toyama Prefecture17
13Miyagi Prefecture14
14Saga Prefecture14
15Kyoto Prefecture-2
16Gifu Prefecture-14
17Shiga Prefecture-17
18Yamanashi Prefecture-18
19Miyazaki Prefecture-21
20Ishikawa Prefecture-22
21Ehime Prefecture-22
22Kagoshima Prefecture-26
23Akita Prefecture-32
24Oita Prefecture-34
25Hyogo Prefecture-35
26Hiroshima Prefecture-39
27Yamagata Prefecture-39
28Chiba Prefecture-39
29Nagano Prefecture-49
30Nagasaki Prefecture-50
31Ibaraki Prefecture-63
32Gunma Prefecture-64
33Kochi Prefecture-65
34Kanagawa Prefecture-66
35Niigata Prefecture-69
36Tokushima Prefecture-70
37Saitama Prefecture-71
38Tottori Prefecture-78
39Wakayama Prefecture-79
40Fukushima Prefecture-80
41Yamaguchi Prefecture-80
42Shimane Prefecture-81
43Fukui Prefecture-83
44Mie Prefecture-84
45Nara Prefecture-84
46Shizuoka Prefecture-85
47Tochigi Prefecture-86

 

岡山県

 

The share of stays by a prefecture for Hong Kong travelers, who have visited Japan an average of 8.8 times, exceeds that of Japanese travelers in 12 prefectures. It is also notable that only Hong Kong residents exceeded the Japanese share in five prefectures – Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Okayama, Tokushima, and Tottori – which have less than half the share of Japanese overnight stays among foreign visitors as a whole.

 

Comparison of the share of overnight stays by prefecture (%,  share of Hong Kong people overnight stays / share of Japanese overnight stays)

1Fukuoka Prefecture279
2Osaka Prefecture270
3Tokyo212
4Kagoshima Prefecture150
5Aichi Prefecture100
6Miyazaki Prefecture63
7Hokkaido57
8Kagawa Prefecture47
9Kumamoto Prefecture32
10Okayama Prefecture30
11Tokushima Prefecture25
12Tottori Prefecture3
13Okinawa Prefecture-4
14Oita Prefecture-12
15Gifu Prefecture-14
16Aomori Prefecture-21
17Yamanashi Prefecture-22
18Wakayama Prefecture-24
19Toyama Prefecture-25
20Ehime Prefecture-27
21Saga Prefecture-30
22Kyoto Prefecture-30
23Hiroshima Prefecture-33
24Nagasaki Prefecture-36
25Ishikawa Prefecture-38
26Shiga Prefecture-44
27Kochi Prefecture-49
28Hyogo Prefecture-53
29Nagano Prefecture-66
30Niigata Prefecture-69
31Kanagawa Prefecture-71
32Saitama Prefecture-71
33Chiba Prefecture-71
34Iwate Prefecture-72
35Fukui Prefecture-74
36Nara Prefecture-74
37Shimane Prefecture-76
38Miyagi Prefecture-77
39Mie Prefecture-79
40Yamagata Prefecture-79
41Akita Prefecture-80
42Ibaraki Prefecture-81
43Gunma Prefecture-85
44Shizuoka Prefecture-87
45Yamaguchi Prefecture-89
46Tochigi Prefecture-90
47Fukushima Prefecture-95

 

桜島

 

Even repeat visitors to Japan, such as Taiwanese and Hong Kongers, account for less than half of the Japanese overnight share in 18 and 20 prefectures respectively. There is still a great deal of room for rural tourism.

 

4: Recommendations for rail travel

Train travel is a great way to visit rural areas. Eating an Ekiben (lunch box sold at train stations) with a view of the countryside and drinking sake (local sake), Japanese wine, or craft beer by train is a pleasure that cannot be experienced if you drive a rental car. Also, the rush hour crowds in the big cities are virtually non-existent on local trains.

みがき弁当

男山

Furthermore, rail travel is a practice of sustainable tourism. According to 2019 data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, the CO2 emissions per kilometer traveled by one person are 98 g (75% of car emissions) for airplanes, 57 g (44%) for buses, and 17 g (13%) for trains, compared to 130 g for cars.

 

CO2 emissions per capita travelling 1 km

 

The most important issue to be considered when traveling by rail in rural areas is how to get on and off one-man-operated trains. On one-man-operated trains, you have to press a button to open the door yourself when getting on and off. In many cases, a numbered ticket is taken when boarding the train, and the ticket and the fare are placed in the fare box before getting off the train.

ワンマン列車

For one-man-operated trains, it is safer to always ride in the first car. When traveling in rural areas of Japan, train boarding and alighting rules should be remembered. However, whether to get on through the front or rear door of the first car depends on the train operator.
Please understand these precautions and enjoy your regional travel in Japan by train!

京都丹後鉄道

We are planning to start a travel rental service next spring to make it easier for you to travel around the country without bringing any luggage. Until the rental service is launched, we will provide itinerary creation free of charge. Until the rental service is launched, we will provide itinerary creation free of charge to only the first 10 customers.

I have traveled a cumulative total of more than 200 times, almost every two months, both domestically and internationally, and have created many itineraries. In addition, our company has already compiled a database of more than 20 000 tourist destinations in Japan. We can create itineraries according to travelers’ preferences, so if you wish, please contact us via “Registration / Inquiries.”

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