The best small towns and villages in Japan

Ranked for a first or second trip to Japan, not for repeat visitors chasing obscure places. Each pick is a town you can reach by train or a short bus ride, sleep in for one or two nights, and walk most of in a morning. Nights are the minimum that works without rushing.

We kept towns that are walkable, have at least one thing worth the journey, and sit within a few hours of a main Shinkansen or limited-express line. A place that needs a car, or two buses and a taxi, is a different kind of trip and does not belong on a first-timer list.

We also weighted what the town is like when the day-trippers leave. Kanazawa, Takayama and Matsumoto all have evening streets worth walking; Nikkō and Miyajima empty out after the last train or ferry, which is the best reason to sleep there rather than visit from a city.

Finally, we avoided towns that duplicate each other. Two canal-and-warehouse towns, or three castle towns, is one too many for a short trip. Pick by region and route, not by count.

Spring and autumn are the safe picks: April to May and October to November give mild walking weather and the best light. Late March to early April is cherry blossom, which is also the most crowded and expensive window in the country. Autumn colour runs from mid-October in the north and mountains to late November further south.

Winter is the reason to go to the Alps and snow country: Takayama and Shirakawa-gō under snow, Kanazawa for crab. Expect cold nights and some closed passes. Summer is hot and humid almost everywhere except Hokkaidō and the high mountains, and August brings Obon travel peaks.

Two periods to plan around: Golden Week, roughly 29 April to 5 May, when domestic travel fills trains and small-town inns, and mid-August. Small towns have fewer rooms than cities, so book early for both.

Fly into Tokyo Haneda or Narita for the eastern picks, or into Osaka for Kanazawa, Kurashiki, Onomichi, Hagi and Miyajima. An open-jaw ticket, in one side and out the other, saves a long backtrack and usually costs little more.

Between regions, use a reserved Shinkansen seat and forward your big bag to the next hotel; small-town stations often have no lifts and narrow streets make rolling a suitcase unpleasant. For the last leg, local trains and buses are the norm, and some mountain buses need a reservation in peak season.

A nationwide JR Pass often loses money on these routes; point-to-point tickets plus a regional pass, if one fits, is usually cheaper. Check current fares and pass prices before you commit.

Approximate positions, town centres. Use them to group picks into a route rather than to navigate to a specific sight.