Japan #1 for 2025, the stunning Tango Peninsula, and an actor interview

The stunningly amazing Tango Peninsula NW of Kyoto on the Japan Sea.

This post covers Japan's rising tourism numbers, the incredible attractions of the Tango Peninsula area NW of Kyoto, and an interview with a German actor.

Did you know Japan Ranked as the #1 Must-Visit Travel Destination for 2025? Well that's what Luxury Travel Magazine has stated in big letters. And I know it's true as I recently heard wild stories about how much some Japan private tour operators are charging clients. Outrageous sums and some of the dumbest advice I have ever heard. And I have been in the business for over 35 years!

The latest story I heard was the advice given to a doctor and his son. They arrive Haneda on Jan 03 and depart on Jan 12. The Kyoto based agent strongly insisted that they go directly to Kyoto from the Tokyo airport! Jan 03 is a Friday this year. This means that Jan 04 and Jan 05 in Kyoto and Nara will be a zoo of activity, 97% Japanese domestic tourists. And they insisted that the clients visit Fushimi Inari Grand Shrine on Jan 04 (Nara was for Sunday the 5th; absolute over tourism by the Japanese). The Kansai region is home to Kyoto, Osaka and a total of nearly 20 million people and a certain times of year they all go to the same places: Nara, Fushimi Inari Shrine, etc. Fushimi Inari Shrine is dedicated to the rice harvest, which then became equivalent to the business and government harvest or success. On Jan 01, 02, 03 Fushimi Inari Grand Shrine receives nearly one million visitors per day! It's just sad to see tour operators deceive new comers to Japan with cliche or just dumb travel itineraries. But as the Japanese say, shikataganai or what to do or there's nothing I can do.

Japan is certainly a fixture in the global travel industry news feeds. And this week Japan's record numbers came in. Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, roughly 33 million non-Japanese travelers visited Japan. North Americans account for about 10% of the total foreign visitors in cherry blossom season and also in Momiji maple season.

What's really crazy is that Japan hopes to almost double the number of foreign tourists. Many news outlets have been quoting the 60 million number for a while now. The idea is that foreign tourists visiting Japan will go further away from the big cities and increasingly discover the wonders of a nearly empty landscape. Ironically, Japan is the fastest shrinking country in the world. They peaked at just over 133 million and now they are at 121. So, most of the countryside of Japan is just getting quieter and less populated. The Japanese government wants foreign tourists to go all over the main islands. Makes sense . . . But can Japan really get anywhere near the tourism numbers of Spain and Italy? I doubt it!

The rest of this Japan private tours planning post covers:

Tango Peninsula area on the Japan Sea
Interview with Uwe Walter, actor and more

Content by Japan travel specialist & designer Ian Martin Ropke, founder & owner of Your Japan Private Tours (YJPT, est. 1990). I have been planning, designing, and making custom Japan private tours on all five Japanese islands since the early 1990s. I work closely with all of YJPT's Japan private tour clients and have a great team behind me. I promote YJPT through this content and only advertise at www.japan-guide.com, which has the best all-Japan English content & maps! If you are going to Japan and you understand the advantages of private travel, consider my services for your next trip to save time & have a better time. Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google Search) is also a serious nonfiction and fiction writer, a startup founder (NexussPlus.com), and a spiritual wood sculptor. Learn more!

The Tango Peninsula's exotic lost worlds

Hurry up and slow down. That's just what the Tango Explorer sightseeing train out of Kyoto Station is there to help you do. In a mere two and a half hours this generously windowed train will express you out of town to the Tango Peninsula. Cutting across the base of the 18 by 22 kilometer square-nosed peninsula, the train makes several stops.

Northern Kyoto Prefecture’s Tango Hanto Peninsula, with its amazing coastline of beaches and scenery, is stunning, quiet and close by. Tango's curved stretches of white sand are punctuated by large rock outcroppings offers the visitor some of Japan’s finest rural scenery Where sand is absent, drama is not, as steep bluffs meet the water's edge and collections of rocky islets off the coast beg to have their photos taken. The sounds of Tango are gentle.

Everywhere, even today, you will hear the familiar ka-di-la-ka-di-lak percussion of the hundreds of tiny chirimen (crepe) weaving shops scattered along Tango's rural roads. The fabric produced in these cramped and dimly-lit home workshops is eventually used to make many of the kimonos displayed in Kyoto's elegant textile showrooms.

Here is a brief overview of the north coast and the south side of the west coast (the best areas). And at the end you will find what's just west of the southwest corner of the Tango Peninsula. Learn more!

If you want to go to the perfect beach, then Amino Town’s Kotobiki Beach is it. This beach, famous for the squeaking sound the sand makes when you step on it, is a masterpiece. The old ryokan inns at Kotobiki are less than 600 meters inland from the beach, and you can here weaving looms all around you! There is a great camp ground right on the beach! Amino Tourism Office: Tel: (0772) 72-0900.

The secluded Hei Beach area in Tango Town has amazingly clear and unique rock formations. Camping, shower and toilet facilities are conveniently set up near the beach. If you are looking for an extra special way to spend the weekend in rural paradise, check out the 3-4 ryokan inns above the beach. Tango Town Tourism Association: (0772)75-2525.

Continuing along the coast in an easterly directly, you will come to the bayside town of Ine known for its wooden houses with tuck-under boat garages. Several are set up as inns, and one, the Waterfront Inn (Yozano-so in Japanese, Tel: 07723-2-0278), especially welcomes non-Japanese visitors. An overnight stay in Ine should include an early morning stroll to the commercial fishing docks. When the boats come in around 6:30, the docks come to life with the business of disarming swordfish and sorting and icing sardines and other smaller fish. Ine Tourism Office: (0772) 32-0277.

At the base of the peninsula lies Miyazu City, and Amano Hashidate (ranked as one of the 3-most beautiful places in Japan). This legendary land bridge is made of 3.6 kilometers of white sand covered by 8,000 pine trees, and has beaches and great cycling routes. Overlooking the land bridge on the opposite coast, fabulous Nariai Temple (built in 704), located in a huge natural setting, has a serene Buddhist Goddess of Mercy statue, and fantastic views out over the sea and the surrounding area. The local Amano Hashidate Spa area has a number of spas and hotels, ryokans. Miyazu City Tourism Office: Tel: (0772) 22-2121.

In addition to framing views, one's legs can be put to good use at Ama no Hashidate by walking across the 3.6 kilometer long sandbar to Ama no Hashidate Station on the other side of the bay. You can also take a bus around the bay or a boat across to the station, but why hurry? In about two and a half hours from that station, you'll be back in Kyoto wondering how to get back up to city speed, and maybe even why.

Maizuru City: Facing the Japan Sea, Maizuru is Kyoto Prefecture’s largest port. But the city also has parts that are more like an old castle town. For the very adventurous, an early morning visit to the large local fish market is also recommended. The wild atmosphere of rugged Ryu-gu Beach has superb views out onto a number of smaller islands. Also be sure to visit Maizuru’s interesting Red Brick Museum, formerly a torpedo warehouse used by the old Japanese Navy. It is the oldest building of its kind in Japan. Today, it is an interesting museum dedicated to great civilizations of the world. Near the waterfront, the Takanogawa Sokogun area has a number of 100-150-year-old, well-preserved ship wholesaler houses. Or head to the quaint little fisherman’s village of Yoshihara and stroll around. Local Tane-ji Temple dates back to the Asuka period (593-710) and has the largest pair of Kongo Rikishi statues in Japan, said to be carved by Unkei, one of Japan’s most famous sculptors. Reservations are required for this temple. Maizuru City Tourist Information Center: (0773) 65-2100.

Just west of the southwest corner of the Tango Peninsula are a couple more stunning places. First you come to the Tango sand dunes which are smaller than the Tottori dunes but equally captivating (and no camels here!). After the dunes you come to Kumihama bay with its super narrow opening to the Japan Sea. A bit further you will find the willow-lined canals of the famous Kinosaki hot spring town.

Kumihama Bay: Kumihama's long pine covered, white sand Shotenkyo Beach ranks as one of the top beaches in Japan. It is especially popular for small children and inexperienced swimmers because it is so safe. The bay is like a huge seawater lake as the connection to the Japan Sea is so narrow. Good for birdwatching. Great for beach jogging. And home to many family run minshuku B and Bs and classic old traditional ryokan inns near the sea. And great seafood from the clean, cold waters of the Japan Sea. In winter think lots and lots of oyster and crab dishes.

Kinosaki hot spring town: Kinosaki, which is nearly 1,300 years old, is literally full of people bathing, eating and walking around in their bath yukatas. The hot spring is very well known for its 7 tattoo friendly natural hot spring baths. Though not on the sea it's real close, so the seafood is always exceptional. They also special in Tajima beef dishes. The entire town boards a mellow willow-lined river. Hot springs were discovered here in the late 8th century. In the evenings local ryokan guests stroll around in yukata and wooden geta sandals. The attractions nearby include amazing coastal biking and hiking, a stunning geological park on the sea, and a major stork sanctuary.

A chat with Uwe Walter: actor, shakuhachi player & wise fool

Uwe Walter is a man of many ways. As a professional performer, he tours the country doing mime, tightrope walking, outrageous clown routines, a variety of musical styles, all with his own special kind of heart. When he’s not working, he wanders the paths around his country home playing the shakuhachi with total soul. This interview took place in November 2003.

YJPT: What were you doing before you came to Japan?

UW: I was heavily involved in acting. For the last while I was in a German circus theater group. We performed shimingeki (citizen’s theater) for the people and with the people, in a circus tent that could accommodate 500 people. It was a wild and crazy time.

YJPT: How did you get from there to here?

UW: On the last night of what was to be our last performance of the tour, a member of our group gave me a tape with Noh music on one side and shakuhachi music on the other. It was the first time I heard the dirty sound of the shakuhachi, a sound that seemed to come out of the mud and become a flower. The Noh music was absolutely incredible for me. The pauses were pregnant with tension, uncountable. They created an enormous space. I had always been thinking of how I could create this kind of space, and in the Noh music and chanting I found my first clue — the breath.

A good way of translating the impression I get from Japanese rhythm in art or in music is in the sword fight scene between Sasaki Kojiro and Musashi Miyamoto, two great samurai generals. They are standing in the water with swords raised, not moving, just standing there. And then suddenly it [the energy] is moving, the swords are moving, and they are fighting. And then out of nowhere, Kojiro, as if to say “you’ve got it, you win,” begins to bow, and in that same instant his head falls off. It’s incredible this rhythm which starts from a silence, a stillness, that could go on forever. This is the essence of Japanese art, and it can only come from long years of training and preparation.

YJPT: How did your studies begin?

UW: Someone I knew introduced me to Becky Teele, a woman who works very closely with the great Noh actor of the Kongo style, Utaka Sensei. He became my teacher. This was in 1982. When I started my studies I more interested in the understanding Noh through practice, than through pure intellectual understanding. So I started with Noh dance and chanting. For the first few years, I moved and chanted in the Noh manner where ever I was — under bridges, before important job interviews, in train stations. Everywhere.

YJPT: How did you get started with the shakuhachi?

UW: Because I couldn’t get an introduction to, Watatsumi Do, the teacher I wanted to study with, I studied with Izu Kiyoshi, a pharmaceutical company employee, who played extremely well. After he passed away, I became devoted to the komuso or Zen meditation shakuhachi style and traveled around a lot, combined my playing with trips to holy mountains to join the yamabushi [mountain ascetics]. I always have my shakuhachi with me.

YJPT: What do you think will happen to the Noh world in the next 20 or 30 years?

UW: Now when you sing a Noh song to Japanese people who are under 40, or play a shakuhachi song in the komuso style, they seem uncomfortable. People who are older, feel natsukashi [nostalgic]. Fifteen years ago in Kyoto, I remember seeing monks strolling around the city playing shakuhachi. It was part of everyday life then. . . . Noh stories, even though they are ancient, are up to date. Their use of space and time is just right for jidai [historical period] we live in now. We need to experience Noh, now more than ever, to get grounded. It is also important for people in the Noh world to get outside the form and smell the wind. In the same way that Basho, and so many others wandered, breathing the air of chance, traveling unknown paths. This is not really part of the Noh way of study today. I know a young Noh drummer, Okura Shonosuke, who is the head of a major Noh music school. A few years ago, he went to play in the volcanoes of Hawaii to reconnect himself to the source. He became a peasant — growing his own crops and living simply. Now, he tours Japan on his motorcycle, with his 200-year-old hand drum, playing here and there. He asked me the other day if I was free in August. I said, “What day?” And he said, “Every day. Let’s go and really play!” [Big smile, bright shining eyes.]

Tango Peninsula area on the Japan Sea
Interview with Uwe Walter, actor and more