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Hey guys!
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How's it going?
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My name is Micaela and today I want to make a video about some of the most popular places
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to travel all throughout Japan.
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I have a lot of friends who are planning on visiting Japan this year, from Canada.
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So I've been getting tons of questions over facebook and I've been giving people advice
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to the best of my ability on where they should visit, and I realized, why not make a video
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about it?
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Because I'm sure that there are tons of people who will make the decision to visit Japan
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this year but have no idea where to start.
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The fact is, when you're on vacation you usually don't have a lot of time so you end up having
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to pick just a few places.
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If you're new to the country, and you don't really know what's good, I'll tell you.
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Right off the bat, if it's your first time in Japan, and you don't know what to expect,
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and you're looking for the most well-rounded and foreigner-friendly place, that place is
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definitely Tokyo.
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I feel like this is where you get to experience the most "Hollywood" version of Japan, by
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that I mean, there's HARAJUKU where you can walk down the street and see all kinds of
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young people decked out in the craziest fashion, there's Akihabara, where you can go to purchase
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all your electronic and anime goods, you can even go to the Karaoke-Kan in Shibuya and
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get the room that they used in "Lost in Translation".
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If you want technology and pop culture, Tokyo is your place.
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If you have any dietary restrictions like, allergies to wheat, or you're a vegetarian,
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or a vegan, you're definitely going to have better luck finding food you can eat in Tokyo,
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because they're used to serving all different kinds of people, and as you get into smaller
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cities in Japan, you're not going to find as much service, so, that's something to consider
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as well.
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If you're coming to Japan and you're hoping to experience Geisha, and temples, and surround
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yourself in tradition, then without a doubt, Kyoto is your place.
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Kyoto has done an excellent job at preserving the traditional ways of Japan, although the
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city itself is still very modern.
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Again, Kyoto is a very touristy city, so this is a place where you can go to dress up as
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a geisha, and have your photoshoots, and take walks down the road, and it's very scenic,
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it's very elegant, it's very beautiful, it's the type of place that I would maybe wanna
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take my parents.
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If you're looking to be transported back in time, if you're looking for a place where
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you can take a nice quiet stroll and enjoy the scenery, definitely, I think Kyoto is
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a great place to visit.
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If you DO end up visiting Kyoto but you find yourself getting a little bored, luckily Osaka
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is really close by.
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Osaka is very loud, it's very exciting, it's very confident, it's a confident city.This
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city provides an excellent contrast to Kyoto because it is very very busy, very populated,
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very exciting...
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And Osaka castle is pretty cool, too.
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If you do end up going all the way to Kyoto, I definitely recommend going to Osaka just
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to experience the contrast of the two cities.
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And if you're interested in history you can't miss Hiroshima.
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Hiroshima is also very popular for travellers because of it's Peace Memorial Park, where
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you can learn about the history of Japan and the war, and the atomic bombs.
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And it's a very peaceful, sullen, quiet atmosphere.
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It really does serve to remind us the damage that we are capable of doing, and how we must
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never ever use that power ever again.
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It is an eye opening experience, so if you're interested in history, and you want to see
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that then Hiroshima is your place!
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And if you go all the way to Hiroshima, you definitely have to check out Miyajima, which
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is a very picturesque beautiful island, known for it's shrine, and it's deer, and it's delicious
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momiji manju.
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If you can afford a Japan-Railway train pass, a lot of tourists, what they like to do, is
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arrive in Tokyo, and take the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka to Hiroshima,
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and hit up all four of these locations.
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And I think it does really provide a very interesting insight into Japan as we know
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it, but there are also other places worth visiting as well.
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In the Northern island of Hokkaido, Sapporo is also a very popular city to visit.
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They say that Sapporo is a foodie's paradise, because of all the fresh fish that is taken
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from the oceans around the island.
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But if you DO go to Sapporo, you should go in the winter, and that is because Sapporo
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hosted the Olympic Winter Games in 1972.
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If you are a Winter Sports fanatic, skiing and snowboarding and all that fun stuff can
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happen up in Hokkaido.
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Also, a must-see in Sapporo, is the snow festival, and I believe Rachel and Jun made a video
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about that so you can check that out in the description below.
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If you're down with cold weather and snow, in fact, if you love it, definitely, Sapporo,
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put Sapporo on your list.
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In the Southern island of Kyushu, Fukuoka City is also rapidly gaining popularity with
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tourists as well.
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And I'm not just saying that because I have some sort of bias because I've lived here
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for forever.
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Yo, there is a reason why I have lived in Fukuoka for so long.
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Fukuoka also has an amazing food culture, and, I know I JUST said that about Hokkaido,
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but because Japan is a vertical island, the temperatures and climate in Hokkaido are completely
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different than the temperatures and climate in Kyushu, and so, both areas, polar opposites,
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have incredible food culture.
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I would say that Fukuoka is a very lifestyle-oriented city, it's not flashy and it's not overly
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touristy, but you can come here and you can see how we live and what the future of Japan
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looks like...
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We also have a very vibrant start-up community, we even started issuing visas for foreigners
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who want to have a start-up in Fukuoka.
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Fukuoka's popularity in the past five years has JUMPED, it's now one of the top 10 most
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popular places to visit in all of Japan, so.
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Finally!
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If warm weather and sandy beaches are your thing, definitely catch a flight down to Okinawa,
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the Okinawan Islands.
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Okinawa is actually very interesting, because they are so separated from the rest of Japan,
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it's almost like you're visiting a different country.
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Every time I go to Okinawa, I always have so much fun, the people are so much fun, they're
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so friendly, they're smiling, they're very chill, it's very--it's completely different
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from Tokyo.
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It's a different world.
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Naha is definitely the most foreign-friendly, and actually if you look on Airbnb, I actually
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made a wish-list of places I'd love to stay in Okinawa, so I'll share some of those listings
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down below too.
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But if you wanna kind of get away from the super touristy Naha island, you can go further
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down south to Miyako-jima, or Ishigaki-jima, oh my gosh, the waters are like, pristine,
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the beaches are pristine, there's hardly any people on the islands, they're very small,
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but they're really tight-knit communities, and you can go stay at a bed and breakfast
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(ryokan) and really enjoy traditional Okinawan island life.
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So I know that I've missed a ton of cities and I'm sure that there are expats living
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all over Japan who are going to watch this and go, "Well she didn't introduce my city...."
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so please, if I missed out on your city, write about it in the comments, let other people
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know how awesome it is where YOU live...
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Or, if you have been to Japan, or if you have any opinions about where people MUST visit,
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please please please leave a comment because your information is helping others!
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If you are more interested in exploring more rural Japan, but you don't know where to start,
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maybe pick one of the main cities as your hub, something that kind of suits your main
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needs, and rent a car or get on a train, and just go out into the countryside for a day.
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Like I mentioned in my previous video with the rice terraces, if you just get in the
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car and go up to the mountains, or, you know, force yourself to get out of the city, there
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are so many hidden gems in the nature, in the surrounding areas that a lot of people
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just don't know about!
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So, definitely if you're interested, explore!
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Explore more!
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Explore all you can!
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So if you have anything else to add, any links, any recommendations, any areas that you think
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people should visit, please leave a comment below and let us know!
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Okay!
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Talk to you soon!
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Bye!