Japan’s 10 Hidden Gems to Visit in 2025

[@RoyandAimee]

If you have a hidden gem, drop it down in the comments below! So we can all share and give some love to places off the main tourist route 😍

[@pianoideal]

The most beautiful Japan channel! I am addicted to your videos, so much beauty and so well delivered and edited! You deserve a LOT more views! What you show in your videos IS Japan I want to see. Looking forward seeing a video on Kii peninsula and Wakayama prefecture.

[@RoyandAimee]

Waaa! That's so lovely of you to say! 🥹 This kind of comment means the world to us! We'll keep doing our best to show the real Japan - hopefully with some trips to Kii peninsula and Wakayama too! 🤗

[@pianoideal]

I just hope you guys will get recognition for what you do and nobody else is doing, but you are doing what you love and this is the most important!

[@FollowTheSunAustralia]

So glad that I'll never run out of things to see in Japan , this video makes me realise I need to plan better trips 😅

[@RoyandAimee]

You're too right! The wonderful places to go here feels endless! Hope you've found some good ones from this video 🤗

[@rarefactioncurve]

I totally enjoyed this upload! Glad that you chose Gujo-Hachiman for your very fav spot. I am a Japanese expat living in eastern Canada. I grew up in Aichi, not far from Gifu. When I was 3 or 4 years old, I for the first time went to Gujo-Hachiman with my Dad and his colleagues. Now that my Dad is gone, this memory of Gujo-Hachiman is very special. As a matter of fact, I am re-discovering Japan through you channel. Thank you!

[@RoyandAimee]

Thank you for sharing such a lovely memory of visiting Gujo with your Dad and his colleagues. These memories and travels are so precious, and we're absolutely thrilled that we can provide an outlet for you to enjoy Japan even when you're over there in (the beautiful) Canada! 🤗

[@deanzaZZR]

Two places that surprised me with how wonderful they are are Hagi in Yamaguchi and Hiaraizumi in Iwate. Both small towns are packed with historical sites to visit, the landscapes are beautiful and you will not go hungry or thirsty with amazing local cuisine and sake. Both have hot spring as well although there are better hot spring resort areas if that is what you are focused on. The hot springs close to Hiraizumi in the hills of Hanamaki are wonderful as are the hot springs in Noboribetsu and nearby Toya Lake in Hokkaido. For those bottled up in Tokyo take a short flight over to the small island of Hachijojima in any season for fresh air, plenty of nature options, seafood and onsens. It boggle my mind how few people visit little Hachijo Island.

[@RoyandAimee]

Thank you for coming in again with such vast knowledge and great advice/recommendations for everyone here~! There's a couple here that we have yet to tick off, from your comment Hachijojima especially has piqued our interest, one of our goals in 2025 is to visit more of the off-shore islands of Japan! And the way you wrote about each place is so convincing - I feel like we need to hop in the van/plane and go there straight away! 🤩

[@deanzaZZR]

@@RoyandAimee The flight to Hachijo from Haneda is little more than 30 minutes and it transports you into a totally different world. You would love to hike and bicycle around the sleepy island. It is on sufers' maps as well. Too bad you guys now live outside of Tokyo making this trip less convenient. 笑

[@flyffpsy]

I went to Gujo-Hachiman for the first time in 2018 and it was so wonderful because there were no foreign tourists. Last summer was my second time there and there were already some foreign tourists. Without the tourists, Gujo was simply beautiful and one of the most beautiful places in Japan right after Yakushima, Ishigaki/Iriomote and Shimanami Kaido. 20:23 I knew that and brought my swimming gear with me. The water temperature was just right for summer.

[@RoyandAimee]

We're so glad you agree with the beauty of Gujo ☺️☺️ And thanks for dropping so many other amazing spots from your travels - I'm sure will help many people choose some great spots to go to other than the main areas. Ahh, so jealous you had your swimmers! You're one step ahead of us! Hope to see you down at the jumping rocks one summer! 💦

[@jamimartin381]

We’ve been to 8 out of 10 of these! All so beautiful. Hidden gem? Maybe shinhotaka Ropeway in winter. Only double decker Ropeway in Japan and the views on the way up are STUNNING! Also incredible ryokans in the area (Yumoto Choza for many, many private onsens yet rustic feel-highly recommend)

[@RoyandAimee]

Oooh, what's the two you haven't been to yet? Oh nice, Shinhotaka! Great recommendation! We tried to go to it in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6TKZYpvibyKf7M but.... it didn't go according to plan 😭 I'm glad you guys got an amazing experience though, we'll have to try again this winter :D Thanks for sharing, I hope everyone else see's this and gives Shinhotaka a visit too!

[@yoshitomosaito8879]

Wow, this is truly a wonderful introduction for the next level enjoyment of Japan for more culturally inclined foreign tourists. The spots you have chosen are real gem and the way you tell people about them is also quite charming, I love it. Thanks for your presentation!

[@RoyandAimee]

☺️☺️☺️ That's so lovely of you to say, thank you so much! We really love the side of Japan we see and really want others to see & experience the same!

[@mvpine4288]

This was really helpful when trip planning, thank you!

[@RoyandAimee]

Glad to hear it's useful! Thank you for watching 😊

[@adventureswithmarkandsonoko]

One hidden gem, which I'm hesitant to divulge, is the Tower Yokohama Kitanaka. It's a free observatory in the Minato-Mirai area of Yokohama. You can get really great views of Mount Fuji from there. NObody was there when we went. (Great channel, by the way).

[@RoyandAimee]

Thank you for watching and commenting :D And thanks for sharing! I think this will make a great pick-up to someones travel itinerary! 😊

[@YunaSamui]

Hey guys ! Thank you so much for his video and for the channel ! I just found it out and I am planning to binge watch all your content today (I woke up with a cold !) ! Have a lovely day, cheers from Thailand !

[@RoyandAimee]

Hey there! Thank you for watching and your lovely comment. 🤗 Oh no! So sorry to hear about your cold, Roy's also just recovering from one too 😅 Keep yourself well and warm, and I hope our videos can provide you with some entertainment to get you through it! Rest up~

[@B.27y]

Looks amazing can't wait to see this in September

[@RoyandAimee]

Yay! We hope you have an AMAZING trip this September!

[@TharynTaylor]

youtube algo working well. i love seeing a growing channel about Japan!

[@RoyandAimee]

Yay! We’re so glad our video was able to make it to your feed 😄😄

[@CB-sx8xh]

Gujo hachiman is now on my bucket list :)

[@RoyandAimee]

Yay! Glad to hear it! We have 100% confidence you'll have an amazing time there - it'd be hard not to 😁

[@mnegi9522]

I found your channel this morning accidentally and I watched a couple of your videos. All the videos are good quality and beautiful and I really enjoyed them. After I watched the first video, I decided to subscribe to your channel. I think yours is one of the top channels and I feel like I have found hidden video gems.

[@RoyandAimee]

🥹🥹🥹 Thank you so much! That's so lovely to hear, and it means so much to us! We'll do our best to keep pumping out the best videos we can! We're editing one now as we speak :D

[@kooltube100]

First time seeing your channel and I have to say thank you! I've gone through so many KZbin vids claiming to show hidden gems and they just show the typical tourist hotspots. So it's really nice to see actual hidden gem :)

[@RoyandAimee]

Yay! I'm so glad you said that! We tried really, really hard to do the opposite of what you mentioned, thank you so much for noticing! 😁 🤗

[@r3kt_duuud]

Great video! What cam do you use for video making?

[@RoyandAimee]

Thank you! We use a Panasonic Lumix S5, as well as a Go Pro Hero 10 Black.

[@abnerdanuarta9809]

You guys just made my bucket list longer

[@RoyandAimee]

Hehe! Sounds like a good thing to us! 😉

[@xXNekou]

Great recommendatins, thank you :)

[@RoyandAimee]

You're absolutely welcome! 🤗

[@yuutafan]

To add to your Yamagata info, Yudono-san (Re-birth and the final of the Dewa Sanzan) is really really special. You're not allowed to share pictures or what you experience once you perform your purification ritual (and I am going to respect that) but it is definitely a place to visit, though it has no public transit. If you travel in mid-June to mid July, the hydrangea garden at Deshiomonjudo is lovely. I did find Tendo onsen disappointing, though it could be where we stayed. We really did like a few of the onsen in the Hanamaki group as well, and if you're up for a further away place visit, Osorezan, is a great option.

[@RoyandAimee]

Wow that's super great information, thanks for sharing with everyone! It sounds like you took part in the purification ceremony? We can only imagine what that would be like! How special! I'm sure that's going to bump up Yamagata to make the list for someones trip!

[@yuutafan]

@@RoyandAimee Yes, I didn't hike from Gassan to Yudono-san, I'm not much of a hiker and I was traveling with my teen, but we went to Yudono-san and I did the purification ritual and got to visit the shrine.

[@S-a-t-u-r-n]

I guess I will add Gujo to my list for my trip to Japan this year after seeing this video!

[@RoyandAimee]

Summertime Gujo is definitely the best! But if you’re going any other time all the other places in the video are also top places to check out ✌🏻

[@Beneathroots1944]

You’re staring at him like Dolores Umbridge waiting to punish him when he slips up saying the wrong thing

[@RoyandAimee]

Oh no! 😂😂 I guess I just need to wear all pink now 😆

[@danwong2191]

Some.good places to add to the list for real

[@RoyandAimee]

Yay! We’re glad you think so - We hope you can make it to some of these places and enjoy the beautiful for yourself :)

[@CLJuvenal]

The festival happens everywhere. My girlfriend is Japanese, in 2010 I was at the festival for Shinjuku. Didn't notice any other gaijin, and had a great time watching the dancing parade and the food stalls at the local park. It happens in every Japanese town, you just have to find out when.

[@RoyandAimee]

Very true! I think the beauty of the Gujo Festival is how inviting it can be to participate. We've seen many dancing parades around Japan over the years, and even to this day it's continued to hold a special spot for us because of the combination of easy to pickup moves, easy to jump-in environment and amount of other domestic tourists joining in, but most importantly the long time-frame that it's running over. With it going over almost the entire span of summer, it's so easy to fit a visit into your travels plans. And for us, the festival is the cherry-on-top of all the other remarkable points we talked about that Gujo has to offer!

[@akinasukizakura]

戸隠の魅力がバレてしまったｗ 本当に戸隠はどの季節に行っても素晴らしい。

[@RoyandAimee]

戸隠はもう隠れないですね！笑 確かにどの季節に行っても綺麗です！冬は少し滑りやすいですけど 😂

[@andrewnguyen2467]

Gujo Hachiman sounds amazing! Is it worth going in June if they do not have the festivals? After a quick internet search, it seems like the festivals start in July.

[@RoyandAimee]

Oooh, that's a tough one! The town definitely has an amazing charm even during non-festival time, and with the castle, cafe's, beautiful water ways etc. it's still something that will make you feel like you're in a beautiful, quiet Japanese countryside town. If you were to go not during festival season, to fill in on the missing cultural side, you could do some of the workshops in the area (food replica making, traditional indigo dyeing etc.). Ultimately, if your goal is to soak in the vibes of a quaint Japanese village, and it works in nicely with your itinerary, it would make a fantastic addition. But, without the festival, it's perhaps not worth making a big deviation in your plans if you already have other spots in mind.

[@erickg3508]

I saw you add Yudanaka shibu onsen and Jigokudani snow monkey park

[@RoyandAimee]

Yeah! That’s some good spotting! Togakushi is the hidden gem, but we also wanted to include a little bit about the surrounding area 😊

[@heythave]

I will be in Izu soon :-)

[@RoyandAimee]

Yay! We hope you have an awesome time in Izu and you get some good weather and can see Fuji clearly! 🗻

[@heythave]

Thanks. ❤️👍

[@Ypsheim-Gindelbach-bd7ee]

Climbing the mountains of the Japanese Alps as if you were hiking is extremely dangerous. If you do not choose proper mountain climbing equipment and a mountain and course that is appropriate for your level, you will get lost.