Nele van Hout

Are you looking for fewer crowds, beautiful nature, and traditional crafts in Japan? Kyushu is the perfect spot for your next trip to Japan! Only 2% of foreign tourists visit this part of Japan, even though it has so much to offer. It’s taken me a few years to finally visit Kyushu, but when I did, I went all in. For two months at the end of 2025, I drove around Kyushu trying to see and experience as much as possible.

Since my first trip to Japan in 2018, I’ve been to Tokyo over 10 times and have stayed in nearly 20 hotels across the city. As Tokyo is so big, there isn’t really a “central” place to stay. I usually look for a hotel in Minato/Ginza, Roppongi, Ueno, Asakusa or Shibuya, as they are well connected and have lots to see and do. With 23 wards and thousands of hotels to choose from, I know exactly how overwhelming it can be to find the right hotel and the right area.

Deep in the mountains of Iya Valley on Shikoku sits a small, quiet town called Nagoro. With only 25 people living here, you wouldn’t think this is a place to add to your itinerary. But what’s special about Nagoro is that there are 350+ scarecrows (kakashi or 案山子) scattered around the abandoned buildings and streets. I spent a few weeks driving around Shikoku, and Nagoro was high on my list of places I wanted to visit.