Hikyo: Japan's Secluded, Hard-to-Reach Places and How to Get There
Hikyo: Japan's Secluded, Hard-to-Reach Places and How to Get There
Hikyo (秘境) is the Japanese word for a remote, secluded place. The two characters mean something like "hidden region", and in Japan it has grown into a travel genre of its own. There are hikyo stations (秘境駅, hikyo-eki), tiny stops in the mountains that hardly anyone uses, and hitō (秘湯), hidden hot springs at the end of long mountain roads.
What makes a place hikyo is usually the getting there. Most of the 24 places in this guide have at least one of these: no train, a bus that runs a few times a day, a ferry that may not be able to dock, or a mountain road that closes for the winter. Each entry says what the place is and how hard it really is to reach. Every place the site tags as hikyo is listed on the hikyo page.
Some practical points. Check the last bus or boat back before you set out: on several routes below, missing it means staying until the next day. Plan on a night, because many of these places cannot be done as a day trip by public transport. A rental car often makes sense, though some roads are narrow and one valley here is closed to private cars. Carry cash, since small inns and island shops may not take cards. And check the season, because several places close from late autumn to spring. Times and fares change, so look up the current timetable before you go.
At a Glance
- Kii Peninsula (Nara and Wakayama): seven places with no railway
- Kyoto Prefecture: a research forest with strict entry rules
- Kanto: the Tokyo islands, Tochigi and Gunma: three islands reached by infrequent or uncertain boats, a walk-in onsen valley, a lone inn with a riverbed bath and a station underground
- Tohoku (Aomori and Akita): a sacred volcano, mountain inns and a coast reached by boat
- Shikoku: the Iya Valley (Tokushima): vine bridges and a hamlet of scarecrows
- Chugoku (Tottori and Shimane): a temple hall on a cliff and islands in the Sea of Japan
- Kyushu: Amakusa and the Goto Islands: two Hidden Christian sites, one with no bus at all
Kii Peninsula (Nara and Wakayama)
Much of the southern Kii Peninsula has no railway. Nara Kotsu's Yagi-Shingu bus, known as Japan's longest route bus at about six and a half hours, ties several of these places together, and it runs only a few times a day.
Tamaki Shrine (Totsukawa, Nara)
Tamaki Shrine stands just below the 1,076 m summit of Mount Tamaki on the Omine Okugake pilgrimage route, among cedars; the Jindai-sugi is estimated at 3,000 years old. From the Yagi-Shingu bus stop at Totsukawa Onsen it is a 40 to 50 minute taxi ride up a narrow mountain road. The village itself says a day trip by public transport from the Nara side is not possible, so plan a night at Totsukawa Onsen.
Tanize Suspension Bridge (Totsukawa, Nara)
A steel-wire footbridge about 297 m long and 54 m above the Totsukawa River, paid for mostly by the people of Tanize in 1954 and still their road to Route 168. It sways more than you expect. The Yagi-Shingu bus runs three times a day and stops right by the bridge for about 20 minutes. For longer, take the 9:15 from Yamato-Yagi and the 13:44 back, which gives you a bit over an hour; miss that and there is nothing back toward Nara until the next day.
Hatenashi Village (Totsukawa, Nara)
A handful of farmhouses halfway up the Hatenashi Pass, where the Kohechi route of the Kumano Kodo runs right past people's doors. From Totsukawa Onsen it is about 15 minutes on foot to the trailhead, then roughly 40 minutes of steep stone steps. People live here, so keep your voice down, stay off the fields and do not fly drones.
Dorogawa Onsen (Tenkawa, Nara)
A street of about 20 wooden inns at around 820 m, built to lodge pilgrims heading up Sanjo-ga-take, a peak still closed to women; the town, Menfudo Cave and the springs are open to everyone. From Kintetsu Shimoichiguchi Station the bus takes about 70 minutes, with only about six a day each way and the last one back in the early evening. A day trip is possible but tight, and most people stay a night.
Odaigahara (Nara and Mie border)
A high plateau where Kamikitayama village puts the annual rainfall at about 3,500 mm. The East Odaigahara loop, about 9 km, climbs Mount Hidegatake (1,695 m) and goes out to Daijagura, a rock spur over a sheer drop with only a chain along the edge. The only public transport is a reservation-only bus, once each way a day from late April to late November, and if you miss the 16:00 departure back there is no other way down. The road and the visitor center close for winter.
Ichimaiiwa Rock (Kozagawa, Wakayama)
One face of volcanic rock about 100 m high and 500 m wide, rising out of the Koza River, and a national natural monument since 1941. The 100-yen town bus from Koza Station takes about 30 minutes but runs only four times each way, which leaves about two hours at the rock if you time it right. Most people drive, about 20 minutes from Koza Station.
Doro-kyo Gorge (Wakayama, Nara and Mie)
A steep-walled gorge on the upper Kitayama River in Yoshino-Kumano National Park; its Doro-hatcho section is where Wakayama, Nara and Mie meet. The water-jet boat from Shiko ended in April 2025, and traditional wooden riverboat cruises now run roughly from March to November. The gorge is remote and is reached by car or bus from the Shingu area.
Kyoto Prefecture
Ashiu Forest (Nantan, Kyoto)
About 4,200 hectares of beech and cedar forest at the source of the Yura River, run by Kyoto University as a research forest since 1921. Entry is a day trip on foot, from about mid-April to mid-December; every group fills in an entry form, and apart from three short routes everything needs a certified guided tour. No train reaches Miyama, and the Nantan City Bus from JR Hiyoshi Station runs only a handful of times a day, so work out the last bus back first; by car it is about two hours from Kyoto city.
Kanto: the Tokyo islands, Tochigi and Gunma
Aogashima (Izu Islands, Tokyo)
The southernmost inhabited island of the Izu chain is a volcano with a second cone, Maruyama, inside its crater. From Hachijojima the ferry takes about three hours and sails four or five days a week, and because the harbor is exposed only 50 to 60 percent of those sailings actually go. The helicopter has nine seats a day. There are no restaurants, so book a room with meals and build in extra days on both ends.
Ogasawara Islands (Tokyo)
Tokyo on paper, about 1,000 km south of it in reality, and listed by UNESCO in 2011 for its endemic species. There is no airport. The only way in is the Ogasawara Maru, 24 hours from Takeshiba pier and sailing roughly once every six days, so you will be on Chichijima for five or six days. Book the ferry months ahead for summer, and bring cash.
Mikurajima (Izu Islands, Tokyo)
A round, cliff-walled island about 200 km south of Tokyo with one village of roughly 300 people. Its single pier is the problem: Tokyo's port bureau puts the ferry's average for 2016 to 2020 at 62%, the lowest in the Izu Islands, and on a bad day the ship carries on without stopping. There are no day trips, and the tourism association says you cannot land without an accommodation booking, so book your inn first and leave spare days.
Okukinu Onsen (Nikko, Tochigi)
Four separate inns at the head of the Kinu River in Nikko National Park, all beyond Meotobuchi, past which private cars and ordinary taxis cannot go. You walk in on a forest trail, 80 to 90 minutes to the nearest inns and 2 to 2.5 hours to Teshirozawa, or ride the inn's shuttle if you are staying at Kaniyu or Hatchonoyu. The city bus from Kinugawa Onsen Station to Meotobuchi runs four times a day.
Hoshi Onsen Chojukan (Minakami, Gunma)
There is no hot spring town here, just one wooden inn, Chojukan, below the Mikuni Pass. In its bathhouse, Hoshi-no-yu, built in 1895, the spring comes up at around 40°C from the bedrock under the river stones of the tubs; it is mixed bathing. Without a car it is the Joetsu Shinkansen to Jomo-Kogen, a bus to Sarugakyo and a town bus that runs four times a day each way, and only one schedule makes a day trip work. Day bathing is not available on Wednesdays.
Doai Station (Minakami, Gunma)
An unstaffed JR Joetsu Line station whose down-line platform sits inside the Shin-Shimizu Tunnel, about 70 m below the station building. Getting out means climbing 462 steps, then 24 more, about 10 minutes. Only five trains stop each way per day, so plan around the timetable: arrive on a down train, climb out, and leave on an up train or a bus to Minakami.
Tohoku (Aomori and Akita)
Osorezan (Mutsu, Aomori)
A caldera of bare grey and yellow rock with steam coming out of the cracks, beside a lake so acidic that almost nothing lives in it. With its temple, Bodaiji, it is counted with Koya and Hiei as one of Japan's three great sacred mountains, and four wooden hot spring bathhouses are included in the ticket. The bus from Shimokita Station takes about 45 minutes and runs only from May to October, 4 or 5 a day; the rest of the year the site is closed under snow.
Nyuto Onsen (Senboku, Akita)
Seven hot spring inns deep in the mountains near Lake Tazawa, each with its own spring. There is no train: the Ugo Kotsu bus from JR Tazawako Station takes about 48 minutes, roughly hourly on the timetable revised April 1, 2026, and the last bus back leaves at 18:15. Between the inns a shuttle runs five times a day, but only with a pass, and the pass that includes a bath at each inn is sold only to guests staying at a Nyuto inn. In winter the shuttle does not reach every inn.
Hotokegaura (Sai, Aomori)
About 2 km of white and pale green tuff on the west coast of the Shimokita Peninsula, worn into spires and walls up to about 90 m tall. Boats from Sai Port take about 30 minutes each way and give you about 30 minutes ashore, from late April to late October, and stay in port when the wind and waves are up. Otherwise you park on Route 338 and walk down a path, mostly steps, that drops about 100 m: around 20 minutes down, longer back up.
Shikoku: the Iya Valley (Tokushima)
The Iya Valley is one of Japan's three great hikyo. The Iya Kazurabashi is on a bus route; further up the valley buses are rare, and a car is the practical way in.
Iya Kazurabashi (Miyoshi, Tokushima)
A 45 m bridge woven from hardy kiwi vines, hanging 14 m above the Iya River and rewoven every three years. There are gaps between the slats, so you see the river below as you cross. It is about 25 minutes by bus from JR Oboke Station.
Oku-Iya Double Vine Bridges (Higashi-Iya, Tokushima)
Well upstream of the Iya Kazurabashi, a longer male bridge and a shorter female bridge cross the Iya River, and beside them is a yaen, a small open cart you pull across the river by rope. They are open from April to November and closed in winter, admission is charged, and in practice you need a car to get there.
Nagoro (Higashi-Iya, Tokushima)
A depopulated hamlet at about 800 m where a resident began making life-size cloth-and-straw dolls decades ago. Several hundred now sit in everyday scenes, in the fields, at a bus stop, in the former school, and they outnumber the few people who still live here. Walking through is free. Come by car; parking near the former school ground is limited.
Chugoku (Tottori and Shimane)
Nageiredo, Mount Mitoku (Misasa, Tottori)
A small Heian-period hall propped on long wooden stilts in a hollow on the north face of Mount Mitoku, and the only National Treasure building in Tottori. Seeing it up close means a steep climb of 1.5 to 2 hours round trip, grabbing tree roots and a chain. The temple does not allow solo climbers, checks your shoes, and closes the route in rain, snow and all winter. Buses from JR Kurayoshi Station (about 35 minutes) are not frequent and reception closes at 15:00, so aim for a morning bus.
Nageiredo (Mitokusan Sanbutsuji)
Oki Islands (Shimane)
Four inhabited islands and about 180 islets in the Sea of Japan, some 50 km off the Shimane coast, and a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2013. The ferry from Sakaiminato takes about 2.5 hours to Dogo, the main island, and small aircraft fly from Izumo. Buses on the islands are limited, so rent a car or a scooter to get around.
Kyushu: Amakusa and the Goto Islands
Sakitsu Village (Amakusa, Kumamoto)
A working fishing village on Amakusa Shimoshima, part of the Hidden Christian Sites listed by UNESCO in 2018; during the ban, villagers venerated statues of Daikokuten and Ebisu as Deus. Its Gothic church, rebuilt in 1934, has a tatami floor and villagers still worship there, so book a visit ahead and do not take photos inside. There is no rail on Amakusa and the bus connections from Hondo are sparse; by car it is about 50 minutes from Hondo.
Kashiragashima Church (Goto Islands, Nagasaki)
A sandstone church on a small island off Nakadori, built from 1910 to 1919 by a congregation that quarried the stone themselves and fished for squid at night to pay for it. The local bus ended in March 2026, so after the boat to Nakadori (from Sasebo to Arikawa, and there are also sailings from Nagasaki) you need a rental car, a taxi or a tour. Give notice before you visit, and expect rough seas to cancel boats, especially in winter.
Before You Go
Almost everywhere in this guide, the hard part is getting back. Before you commit, find the last bus, boat or helicopter out, decide where you will sleep if you miss it, and keep spare days for the islands.
These 24 are only part of the list. The hikyo page has every place the site tags as hikyo.