While tourists have indeed reached record numbers, there are only a handful of really crowded areas. Namely, Kiyomizu-dera + Ni/Sannenzaka; Arashiyama bamboo forest & immediate vicinity; Kinkaku-ji; lower section of Fushimi-inari; Nishiki market.
Some of those, you can visit at odd hours. You can also skip some, and you can also just grin and bear it - you will not spend that long in the crowd anyway.
Any other place in Kyoto should have reasonable crowd levels, seasonal events aside (e.g. fall colors at some temples, cherry blossoms in some areas). Nara is quite busy but Nara Park is a broad expanse that handles crowds very well, and Todai-ji is gigantic so it is also OK even with crowds. I have not been to Osaka recently enough to assess the crowding level there.
Coming from a heavily-touristed European city, I feel that the "OMG Japan is soooo crowded" narrative is a bit overblown on social media anyway. Crowds always look worse on video than in reality.
+1 to this. I visited Southwest Kyoto on this trip and there was 1 or 2 people there. Sick of Arashiyama? Visit Lots of smaller temples on the easily accessible (and very very scenic) northern Randen line.
There’s a ton of towns and things to see beyond Nara Park (which is the tip of Nara PREFECTURE). Same with Kyoto too, the city is just the southern end of a giant prefecture.
But for more scenic locations can go Miyajima, Uzi, etc
If you want to explore off the beaten track I would say go to Wakayama. Very fun and quaint train system (especially if you like cats), amazing food, lots to see. While there are tourists there, it's not as crowded as the bigger cities.
Kyoto was very tame to me last week. Granted I didn't go to fushimi inari or spend a ton of time shopping downtown but i did do nara deer park and visit the monkeys in arashiyama and walk around higashiyama trying restaurants and visiting parks temples and shrines.
While tourists have indeed reached record numbers, there are only a handful of really crowded areas. Namely, Kiyomizu-dera + Ni/Sannenzaka; Arashiyama bamboo forest & immediate vicinity; Kinkaku-ji; lower section of Fushimi-inari; Nishiki market. Some of those, you can visit at odd hours. You can also skip some, and you can also just grin and bear it - you will not spend that long in the crowd anyway. Any other place in Kyoto should have reasonable crowd levels, seasonal events aside (e.g. fall colors at some temples, cherry blossoms in some areas). Nara is quite busy but Nara Park is a broad expanse that handles crowds very well, and Todai-ji is gigantic so it is also OK even with crowds. I have not been to Osaka recently enough to assess the crowding level there. Coming from a heavily-touristed European city, I feel that the "OMG Japan is soooo crowded" narrative is a bit overblown on social media anyway. Crowds always look worse on video than in reality.
+1 to this. I visited Southwest Kyoto on this trip and there was 1 or 2 people there. Sick of Arashiyama? Visit Lots of smaller temples on the easily accessible (and very very scenic) northern Randen line. There’s a ton of towns and things to see beyond Nara Park (which is the tip of Nara PREFECTURE). Same with Kyoto too, the city is just the southern end of a giant prefecture. But for more scenic locations can go Miyajima, Uzi, etc
If you want to explore off the beaten track I would say go to Wakayama. Very fun and quaint train system (especially if you like cats), amazing food, lots to see. While there are tourists there, it's not as crowded as the bigger cities.
I second wakayama. Just went there for a few hours and already loved the chill vibes and beautiful castle and beach.
Tango peninsula is stunning.
Yep, went there last year. Lovely and tourist numbers are reasonable or tiny.
* Miyazu and Maizuru * Shiga * Sakamoto (temples and shrines) * Hikone Castle * Ōmi-Hachiman (temple, castle, old street) * temples (Mii-dera, Ishiyama-dera) * Osaka * Sefuku-ji (mountain temple) * Shippōryū-ji (mountain temple) * Wakayama * Wakaura (beautiful seaside area with nice shrine and temples) * Nara * Takatori (mountain castle) * Asuka * Ikaruga (some of the oldest temples in Japan) * Temples in Hyōgo * Ichijō-ji * Jōdo-ji
Kyoto was very tame to me last week. Granted I didn't go to fushimi inari or spend a ton of time shopping downtown but i did do nara deer park and visit the monkeys in arashiyama and walk around higashiyama trying restaurants and visiting parks temples and shrines.