Tokyo to Kyoto? Millions Pass this Japanese City and Never Visit ★ ONLY in JAPAN
Millions of Tourists to Japan ride the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto passing one of the greatest hidden travel experiences, Nishio – not far from Shin-Anjo Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen.
Guest house owner Rise invited me to Nishio claiming Nishio city nicknamed “Little Kyoto” was better than Kyoto — so I took him up on this challenge and discovered a real destination gem that really impressed me.
📍 Where is Nishio?
🗺️ https://maps.app.goo.gl/DS8uuJojc83yxA9r5?
🚅 From Tokyo: JR MIKAWA-ANJO Station (Tokaido Shinkansen, Kodama) grab a taxi to Shin-Anjo (3km, 5 min ride or 30 min walk) then take the Meitetsu Nishio Line to Nishio Station.
🚆 From Nagoya Station: Take the Meitetsu Super Express to Shin-Anjo Station and change to Meitetsu Nishio Line.
🏠 Rise’s Guest House
https://www.instagram.com/rise_s_house
❤️ This video is supported by Aichi Prefecture’s “Aichi ‘Tsu’ Rhythm Promotion Project”.
🎌 Nishio City Tourism Association: https://nishiokanko.com/en/
00:00 Start
00:57 Shinkansen from Tokyo
01:10 Inside Japanese Guest House
03:24 Hidden Room?
04:41 Where is Nishio City?
06:48 Ancient Japanese Roads
09:03 Comedic Street Statues
09:43 Miso Factory
11:47 Miso Katsu Lunch
12:52 Most Japanese Don’t Return to their hometown
15:05 Nishio Matcha & Tea House
16:25 Nightlife / Izakaya Dinner
18:04 Unagi Eel Farm & Processing Center
21:18 Shrimp Cracker Factory / Ebisenbei
41 Comments
Great video John, as always!
great… bravoo
I know that if I ever have the opportunity to travel to Japan, Nishio is going to be top of my list of places to go to and experience, it looks like my kind of place. =^.^=
John, what a wonderful vid after watching a different vid on Kyoto raising the accommodation tax because of over tourism. You are on something here.
Have you thought of doing a business of tours featuring unknown and hidden towns like Nishio? The places you visited are what I would like to experience where I can travel and be welcomed and be part of helping such communities yet getting a unique experience at the same time.
Only In Japan Tours… I love it ❤
Wow! That’s a really cool place! 🥳🌷👍
John, great job
Looking forward to you featuring other over-looked 'hidden gem' towns.
The food culture there sounds amazing and comforting
Looks like I would have a much better time there instead of Kyoto. And because I don't speak Japanese, to have a "home base" in Risi's House would give me a feeling of having a safety net.
tongue twister "Tokyo,Kyoto" or "Kyoto,Tokyo".
Huh. Planning a Trip for July. And I definitely will research this location for sure. Rise's house looks nice. But I bet it would not be sustainable to stay here as a single traveler.
This young man is a boon to his community. I hope they see a boost to their tourism. He is very enthusiastic.
On my way!
Fascinating place!
John, I love every episode you produce, but this one has to be one of my favorites. Along with the amazing scenery, delicious food, wonderful and welcoming people and lovely music, I would visit Nishio in a heartbeat! Rise is a gem! Thanks so much for showing us this fantastic town!
Nogoya and Nishio are both amazing and very overlooked…I like it that way.,
I am from Japan but didn’t know this area you showed. It’s beautiful and would be better for foreigners to experience Japan here than in Kyoto. My son and I went to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima this fall. His favorite place was Hiroshima Geihoku area, where there weren’t many people. His second place was Kyoto Arashiyama area. Kyoto and Tokyo were packed with foreign tourists. These videos showing places like you did would be great to show less crowded nice places to future tourists.
I actually like Nagoya. I did visit nagoya station on my way to tsumago and magome juku. Nagoya now has ghibli park. So there's more and more there now than ever. Hopefully within 5 years nagoya can continue to build so that travelers stop staying so much in tokyo, osaka and kyoto and add nagoya to their stops and from there day trips to places like nishio can spread out the crazy concentration in places like Kyoto. This is definitely a hidden gem people should consider!
Very beautiful!!!
Thank you!
this is so amazing .
John, you should do more videos like this! This is one of my favorite of your videos so far. Nishio looks wonderful! My wife and I will be in that area in May, so we'll definitely be spending some of our tourist dollars there. We love the idea of beautiful streets with no tourists! Everything you showed in the video looked appealing. So, what's the downside of Nishio, in your opinion?
I love these kind of videos. Most people do the Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto trips. But when I went in 2023, we decided to remove Kyoto and went to Hiroshima and Miyajima instead. Hiroshima and Miyajima were not as crazy tourism-wise, but that part of my trip become my favorite. So whenever my next visit is, I would like to add smaller places like this, and Nishio may be one of them.
Great video! Okay, one pet peeve of mine: Other places in Japan should stop calling themselves "little Kyoto". There are already tons of them, but it just is apples and oranges. Believe in your own strengths!
Would love to visit Nishio on one of my next trips, but even beyond the specific place, I fully agree with the message of looking beyond the obvious destinations everyone is going, but instead explore. I've already been to so many places just like Nishi, that managed (or at least tried) to retain bits of their own local culture which made them special. Just looking at my most recent trip, been to places like Ikoma, Tatsuno, Tsuyama, Wakasa, Kurayoshi. Would I say any of those is an absolute must-visit? Not neccessarily. Did I know these places even existed before I started planning my trip? No I did not. But did I enjoy those places? You bet I did! And that's exactly why even after 20 trips I just don't get tired of Japan. There will always be more places worth viisiting!
It's a "water closet" in its most literal sense.
Does the city have any public transport for visitors?
Awesome episode!
Thank you for this John! We want to visit japan again soon and are on the lookout for cities to visit that are not too crowded. This place looks great!
John- I have been watching your videos for YEARS and have to say, the quality of your videos are now absolutely incredible and professional! I LOVE the coverage of a non-typical location like this and can't wait to get to try the places you highlight when I'm finally able to. They get me so excited to go back to Japan one day because I preferred the "off the beaten path" locations when I was a student in Mishima over a decade ago. I LOVED finding a beetle shop by accident or visiting Mount Hakone and eating an egg out of the volcano while all my classmates seemed a lot more excited about Akihabara (nothing wrong with that, just different preferences 🙂 ). Your enthusiasm for locations like this is exactly what I love, over the trending viral videos. I can't recall- did you have a video about Yamato Koriyama over in Nara (i.e. the Goldfish town)? I'd always thought of going there and was curious if there was more info you had shared!
We're going to visit today from Nagoya (which is such an awesome destination in itself). Thanks for the tip!
Beautiful!
That's an awesome video, showcasing that there are many hidden gems out there in Japan. Even though I prefer more mountainous areas with forests etc. I still think that the positivity of the people out there makes up for the lack of such sights 🙂 Seriously wouldn't be surprised, if John would get to meet some minister of tourism (or what not), just because of how much he's promoting areas like those.
On a side note: do you eat ebi as a whole or do you leave the 'tail' portion left? 🤔
15:39 : What are those fans/windmills at the top of some poles ? And what are they used for ?
I already saw them in other videos about tea fields in Japan and suspect they're windmills, but the shape and orientation look very different from regular windmills used for power generation.
I should definitely add Nishio to my travel list. Rise is a lovely guy.
Interesting western style home in view at 7:41
Oh heck yeah, he got the idea in Michigan!
3:55 Gives me some Malcom in the Middle vibes when Hal and Lois realized the cluttered closet was a second bathroom. It's never mentioned ever again.
I'm glad you dropped by to take a look at Nishio, mostly overlooked as your title suggests. Hopefully we'll see more people visiting this lovely town, and Aichi in general.
I just loved this episode! I would love to book a stay at Mr. Rise's Place, it was so beautiful inside and out. For me Unagi is my Favourite Japanese dish so the fact that this area is the best(one of) for eel than I can't wait to go! Thank you so much for a great video John. Please keep doing your best 😍🥰
This is the type of place I'd love to see- fewer crowds and beautiful places. Thanks for sharing!
Hope I meet you in Japan one day! From Toronto Canada
Saving Japan from overtourism, one city and video at a time! I loved this!
I take it that Rise went to UM. I would love to see the outtakes of your rivalry talk! Thanks for highlighting this town and Rise's House. It seems the kind of place that having a guide to introduce you to the area would be a real bonus in your experience.
Beautiful place , beautiful town , this place is well deserved a visit from tourist .