SECRET JAPAN
What is Japan like away from the usual traveller hotspots? Olivia Lee finds out as she dives
into the little-visited destinations of Kansai and Kyushu...T
he firefly danced in the dark above me. I didn’t notice
it at first, too caught up in the rest of the scene – the
gentle croaking of frogs, the bubbling waterfall and
the silky hot water that enveloped me. I was lying in
a rotenburo – an open-air hot spring bath – in the
mountain-clad town of Kurokawa, on Japan's Kyushu island. As I sank
deeper into the warm water, I met the eyes of an old woman on the
other side of the bath. I pointed at the firefly, hoping to share my
excitement with someone, but she just nodded as if it was the most
normal thing in the world. I guess to her this was just everyday life.Experiences like this are common in Japan, if you step off the
well-trodden trails. Most travellers to the country head to Tokyo
first, swiftly followed by the cities of Kyoto and Osaka. But within
easy reach of these hubs lies a side of the country that few other
travellers get to experience: one of white castles and bubbling hot
springs, smoking volcanoes and mountain-top shrines. I was
heading to the region of Kansai, near the centre of Japan, then on to
the island of Kyushu, in the south. Neither destination is well known,
but both offer a window into Japan’s extraordinary everyday – one
that is far away from the bustling crowds.