We’re coming upon August, when Japanese people move as one to enjoy the sights of the country in the five minutes of vacation time they have each year. This means crowded roads leading to even more tourist-infested destinations full of people and their screaming hell-spawn. I mean children.
For people who want to enjoy Japan’s history it seems that fighting the crowds at Himeji Castle or Kamakura is the way to go, but I really dislike doing that. Instead here are five cultural sites to beat the biggest crowds and still enjoy a summer vacation at a meaningful place.
To do that, we’re looking at list of special places with a focus on an oft-overlooked period of Japanese history. After the end of the shogunate in the 1860s but before the rise of militarism in the 1930s, Japan had developed rapidly into a modern world power. It absorbed foreign ideas and incorporated its own creating a nation that was Western influenced yet still distinctively Japanese.
There really isn’t a name for this timeframe as a whole. A big part of it is the Meiji industrial revolution, which refers to the nation’s industrial modernization up until that emperor’s death in 1912, but I’m looking at that and its continuation as Japan built upon its initial modernization. Externally this was also the period of Japan’s initial imperial expansion as it claimed Okinawa and fought victorious wars against imperial Russia and China.
5. Hokkaido (Sapporo, Otaru and Abashiri)
It’s summer so for once, it’s not snowing. While seeing snow may be the usual reason to visit Hokkaido, if you’re going to visit cultural sights they’re just as grand when not covered in white stuff. I’m a sucker for Japan’s open-air museums, which are ‘villages’ composed of old buildings from certain eras gathered together and displayed as if still in their heyday.
Meiji-mura in Aichi Prefecture is probably the best known and will be hot as hell when I go in August, but Hokkaido has its own to visit, the Kaitaku no Mura “Historical Village of Hokkaido” in Sapporo. Meiji and Taisho era (combined 1868-1925) buildings recreate a city and farming town of the Japanese equivalent of the Old West.
For fans of Golden Kamuy, a manga and anime series that takes place during this period in Hokkaido, many of the series’ location are exact recreations of the village’s buildings. Sapporo is also relatively near Otaru, which has a historic street of Meiji-era buildings as well as a small railway museum.
After that why not take the train up to the old Abashiri Prison? Abashiri is Japan’s original maximum security prison. Built in the Meiji-era, it’s been restored for visitors to see what life was like for those sentenced here.
SL Hitoyoshi
4. Ride a Steam Locomotive
The journey is even better than the destination when riding a steam locomotive. Riding through some of Japan’s most picturesque countryside on a vintage SL (steam locomotive) is a unique and memorable way to see the country. The engines themselves are authentic and served Japan for decades before retirement and the train cars they pull are often also vintage, either restored as special sightseers or to their original specifications so travelers can get a taste of riding the rails in the 1930s or 1950s. (We don’t talk about the 1940s for obvious reasons.)
I’ve ridden SL Hitoyoshi, which was built in 1922 and is the oldest engine running on a main line today, and that trip took me through a beautiful green river valley that felt like the Appalachians in America. It ended at Hitoyoshi, a small onsen town with a traditional Japanese district, a national treasure shrine and lots of nature to explore. Watching the engine on a turntable and seeing the country’s oldest operational engine shed was a bonus.
Ten steam engines run around Japan. Summer is the best time to ride as some of them are only operational in the warmer months. (The exception is Hokkaido’s Fuyu-no-Shitsugen which is a winter train.)
North Battery, Okunoshima
3. Meiji Forts
For an island nation Japan’s coastal defenses were lacking which led to the construction of seemingly numberless little forts and batteries along the coast line during the late 19th and early 20th century. These forts aren’t very big, usually just a few artillery emplacements with associated bunkers and are easy to explore.
Most of Japan’s military sites from its most famous militant era have been dismantled, burned to the ground or are still in use so these are good places to see a different part of the nation’s military heritage. The quality of the forts all differ as some have been maintained rather nicely and others left as deteriorating ruins.
Like the steam locomotive these can be found nation-wide and still in pretty decent volume. Also, they’re most all built to the same plans so once you’ve seen one you’ve an idea what the rest look like. Its still fun to get out and visit more anyway.
My favorite so far has been Okunoshima, better known for its bunnies and poison gas factory ruins; it also has three complete sets of fortifications. This goes nicely with the other ruins on the island, all of which can easily be seen in a few hours while your significant other gets over the trauma she incurred at the island’s Poison Gas Museum by playing with bunnies.
Former Mitsui OSK Lines Office, Mojiko
2. Shimonoseki & Mojiko
Two port cities separated by the Kanmon Strait, they were two of the most important gateways to Japan in the late 19th century. Shimonoseki has a cluster of late 19th and early 20th century buildings downtown and the room where the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ending the first Sino-Japanese War, has been recreated with the original furnishing. (The original room and hotel burned down in an air raid.)
Notable locations include Akama Jingu, which is a very old shrine venerating Emperor Antoku, the former Yamaguchi Bank Head Office museum, Nabecho Post Office (Japan’s oldest post office building), Akita Shokai building (tourist information office) and the old British Consulate. The Consulate is now a tea house and pub, which serves a nice puffer fish and chips meal and does a delightful afternoon tea. Fugu, puffer fish, is the city’s official food and I recommend having it at least two or three times.
Mojiko is the “retro town,” the bustling port whose glory days ended when a bigger port was built beside it. A number of turn of the century buildings here are centered around Mojiko Station, a beautiful wooden station built in 1914 and currently under renovation. Beside it is the Kyushu Railway Museum which has a large, well kept collection of trains and railway paraphernalia from when Mojiko was an important transportation hub.
Visitors can enjoy a grilled “Yakicurry,” which is unique to this port town as well as Mojiko Retro Beer. Their beers are made in German styles and are among my favorite Japanese beers.
Despite the Kanmon Strait, the cities are still within walking distance thanks to an underwater pedestrian tunnel between them.
Irifuneyama Park, Kure
1. Kure
While tourists go to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Park and related sites, a short drive away is the naval port of Kure. Visit a century old base commander’s house, see where the biggest battleship in the world was built and take in the bizarre sight of a modern-day submarine on blocks chilling beside the road. All of these things and more are possible in Kure.
As one of the original four naval ports its recently put a lot of effort into both preserving and sharing it’s many navy sites and English language maps can be found around town for them. The sites also have English-language signage explaining their significance.
The Yamato Museum, dedicated to both the battleship and Kure’s naval history has an 88 ft. model of the battleship, a Zero fighter, naval kamikazes and a ton of artifacts. It’s a very engaging and informative place for learning about Japanese naval history.
Kaigun Curry, the heavy curry preferred by the Imperial Japanese Navy and still served by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force today, is a local specialty. Each JMSDF ship has a unique curry and in turn different cafes around town serve different ships’ curry.
Kure is also the point of embarkation for visiting Japan’s naval academy, Eta Jima, which is on an island in the Seto Inland Sea and has its own museum.