So many photos come to thoughts when somebody mentions Japan: from neon-saturated Ginza nights to Harajuku’s wild various style to the normal tea homes and temples of Kyoto.

It’s often known as a land of contrasts the place the impossibly historical sits surprisingly comfortably alongside the ultra-modern.

However on a latest go to to the Kansai area, I found a slower aspect of Japan – a whole distinction to the intense lights and life-at-a-million-miles of different journeys. In the event you’re heading to Kyoto or Osaka in your subsequent vacation you might wish to take into account one among these aspect excursions.

LAKE BIWA

Kyoto is an excellent vacation spot, steeped in tradition and historical past – and a must-visit for its majestic temples, tea homes and conventional tradition. However for those who’re there in excessive season you may want a breather from the vacationer crowds. Lake Biwa is Japan’s largest lake with 235km of shoreline and at its closest level is barely a 10-minute prepare experience from Kyoto.

We delighted in hiring bikes and cruising its well-manicured shores; fairly certain I’ve by no means seen so many geese in a single place – Siberian migrants, in keeping with our information. In summer season it will be an awesome place to kayak, take a ship experience, swim or camp. Additional up the west aspect of the lake is Biwako Ropeway, a cable automobile that may whisk you upwards for a drink with a hell of a view.

The shimmering sapphire pool – purely ornamental – that surrounds all of the terraces make this spot next-level instagrammable.

Keep: Lake Biwa Marriott

In the event you head up the opposite aspect of the lake, Hikone Fort, house of feudal lords from 1622 to 1867, is a stupendous historic construction nicely price visiting. On the way in which there or again, Omi Hachiman is an enthralling cease for a peek at historic service provider buildings and meandering canals.

We took a experience on Hachiman-bori canal and I solely want I might have bottled that sense of serenity. It was all the advantages of the perfect meditation/yoga/float tank expertise simply by sitting in a low-slung vessel on tatami mats, drifting below bridges, absorbing the stillness of glass-like reflections and watching a slower, less complicated life float by.

This space can be well-known for Omi beef, one among Japan’s favorite wagyus. As a result of fatty marbling, it’s going to actually soften in your mouth – for those who do that aspect journey it will be prison to not make it a lunchtime precedence.

SAKAI

This one is just a little offbeat, however for those who prefer to cook dinner or are a historical past geek it’s well worth the 25-minute drive (45-minute prepare experience) to Sakai. It flourished for a few years as one among Japan’s main commerce cities and the knife business right here goes again 600 years.

Sakai knives are wanted by cooks around the globe and I’m nonetheless in each day marvel on the reducing functionality of my very own buy. The museum not solely particulars the historical past of knife making however a number of different artisan crafts like material dying and carp-flag making.

In the event you do go to Sakai, head as much as the commentary deck at Metropolis Corridor the place you’re going to get a view out over town. However don’t let the beautiful patches of inexperienced idiot you, what appear to be good hills lined in timber are literally historical burial mounds. The most important (you possibly can see a number of from up excessive) is the Fifth-century tomb of the Emperor Nintoku – at 486m lengthy it’s one of many largest tombs on the earth. Who knew?

MIYAMA

This aspect tour is just a little additional out at one and a half hours from Osaka and an hour and 1 / 4 from Kyoto however well worth the drive in order for you a really Japanese rural expertise. We stayed on the cutely-named Futon & Breakfast in Miyama – a stupendous previous farmhouse, full with a conventional sunken cooking pit.

The individuals who personal it set us up with quite a lot of artisan actions within the space – studying to create compost, rake and plant crops on an natural farm, studying to thatch a roof (received’t be giving up my day job) – and there’s additionally mochi making and different enjoyable actions obtainable.

Thatching is a vital exercise on this space as Miyama is likely one of the few locations that work to protect this distinct sort of structure – lots of the homes date again to the mid-Nineteenth century. In reality, it’s been designated as an Necessary Preservation District for Teams of Historic Buildings.

You’ll be able to go to a residing village the place all the homes are thatched, it’s like stepping right into a bygone period. As a part of our keep we additionally had some pretty women come and train us to cook dinner some Japanese dishes – a base dashi inventory, tai meshi, chawanmushi and even native potatoes (perhaps the creamiest I’ve ever tasted).

The Aunty in cost spoke rudimentary English however it’s superb how straightforward it’s to speak in a kitchen with hand gestures and lots of laughing. Staying in the home itself was a really distinctive expertise (even for individuals who have stayed in conventional Japanese ryokan earlier than).

Keep: Futon & Breakfast

So for those who’re in your second journey to the Land of the Rising Solar, and even when you have time in your first, there’s lots to discover within the stunning Kansai area. Osaka and Kyoto undoubtedly shouldn’t be missed however they don’t seem to be the one fascinating locations to discover on this a part of Japan.

For extra, see japan.journey/en/au