A decade agoflorajogo, many travelers considered Japan too expensive for a vacation. What a difference a weak yen has made — suddenly, it seems like everybody is here.

Numbers from the Japan National Tourism Organization support that feeling: The country had a record-breaking 36.9 million international visitors in 2024, a 47 percent increase from the previous year.

The most prominent online pollsters — Google Consumer Surveys, Reuters/Ipsos and YouGov — all produced good or excellent results. With the right statistical adjustments, even a poll of Xbox users fared well.

If that wasn’t special enough, two studies published Thursday in the journal Current Biology by Dr. Kingsley and other researchers show that sea robins use their spindly legs to taste stuff, too.

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But a lot of tourists stick to the well-trodden path of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. And while it is hard to blame anyone for wanting to see the neon lights of Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood or the Arashiyama bamboo forest in Kyoto, they do miss out on other (perhaps even better) locations.

Andrew Faulk, a Tokyo resident,7jogos has been a freelance photographer here for 10 years, often working for The New York Times. “Traveling beyond the typical hot spots,” he said, “allows visitors to experience Japan’s true spirit — its culture, landscapes and unique traditions.”

So here are some of his recommendations, accompanied by photographs he has taken over the years:

YokohamaImageSojiji Temple in Yokohama, Japan.Credit...Andrew Faulk for The New York Times

Yokohama is just another big city, like Tokyo — right?

Actually Japan’s second most populous city has a few distinctions of its own: As one of the country’s first ports to open to foreign trade in the 1800s, it has retained an international flair. And it boasts a vibrant Chinatown neighborhood.

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