
There is a great deal to do in Japan’s 47 prefectures, from visiting temples to buying saucy figures in Akihabara. But once you’ve done all the touristy stuff, there’s still plenty waiting to be experienced! How much, you ask? You’ll have to check out this video of “100 things to do in Japan” to find out!
“Here are 100 things you should experience for real instead of just ‘knowing about,'” reads the tagline for this 103-second long video, which is equal parts advertising, traveler’s guide, and tourism video, produced by the makers of skin salve Oronine. A couple of the activities listed can of course be found in countries besides Japan, but the fact that you can do them all on this one tiny island chain says a lot about how exciting and unusual Japan is.
Check out the video and then refer to our handy guide below in case there are any you couldn’t figure out.
1. Felling trees
2. Catching eels
3. Being stricken by waterfalls
4. Making salt
5. Dyeing jeans
6. Going underground
7. Baking cheese on mountain tops
8. Chopping udon noodles
9. Climbing Mt. Fuji
10. Welding
11. Cooking rice in a stove
12. Gathering wild edible plants in the mountains of Okinawa
13. Making a fan from the frame
14. Cutting grass
15. Making containers out of wood
16. Staying on a mountain
17. Kayaking
18. Making a road to a citron field
19. Climbing trees
20. Roasting fish over a bonfire
21. Riding a bicycle through mountains
22. Making awamori
23. Catching and eating autumn salmon
24. Collecting jade
25. Rebuilding old traditional homes
26. Cooking medium rare bonito
27. Flying through the sky
28. Preparing food samples
29. Making clothesline
30. Making coffee in the Japanese Alps from boiling water
31. Making Okinawan lion statues
32. Making magewappa (bent-wood containers)
33. Drying octopus
34. Checking how long Chiriahama (1,000 Ri Beach, 1 ri = approx. 4 km) actually is
35. Making mochi
36. Barbecuing on a log
37. Falconry
38. Cleaning a Daibutsu (giant statue of Buddha)
39. Digging up yams
40. Running a relay race
41. Making cheese
42. Collecting and eating ginkgo nuts
43. Making a natural hot spring
44. Squeezing olives
45. Making salt-cured salmon
46. Baking Jomon-style earthenware outdoors
47. Making stone walls
48. Catching and eating squid
49. Making Okinawan yushidofu
50. Catching oysters
51. Mudding
52. Making soba noodles
53. Making straw decorations (for Shinto festivals)
54. Riding dog sleds
55. Fishing for pond smelt
56. Preparing nori (seaweed)
57. Collecting edible plants at the beach
58. Roasting coffee beans
59. Shoveling snow
60. Writing haiku on a mountain pass
61. Making and riding snowboards
62. Curling
63. Making earthenware
64. Blacksmithing
65. Making dried vegetables
66. Playing with ice and fire
67. Weaving
68. Riding Yonaguni horses
69. Making miso
70. Digging up lotus root
71. Making brown sugar
72. Sawing lumber
73. Baking bread over a charcoal fire
74. Doing kung fu
75. Making and playing a sanshin
76. Snowboarding in Daisetsuzan National Park
77. Riding horses through Hakkoda
78. Picking mikan oranges
79. Catching ice goby
80. Making dried bonito
81. Tanning leather
82. Digging up bamboo sprouts
83. Baking baumkuchen over a bonfire
84. Climbing a snow-covered mountain
85. Planting rice
86. Starting a fire
87. Surfing
88. Flying in a hot air balloon
89. Building a sauna
90. Bouldering
91. Making guitars
92. Harvesting pearls
93. Making carpets
94. Swimming with dolphins
95. Stand-up-paddling down a river
96. Traditional Okinawan cloth dyeing
97. Making glassware
98. Digging up amber
99. Dancing in the Awa Dori Festival
100. Making tea in the center of Japan
If any of these activities take your fancy–and we’d be surprised if absolutely none did–then be sure to head to the Shiri 100 website for more detailed information, including Vine videos, text explanations and maps. Of course, the text is all in Japanese, but the videos should help you find the activities you’re looking for if you need help and the numbering is the same as our list.
There is also a Shiri 100 Facebook page with more photos and details. There are even Shiri 100 pages for the different regions of Japan, like Shiri 100 Kyushu and Shiri 100 Kanto to help you find activities wherever you may be in Japan.
And there certainly are some great activities for you to experience! Some things might even be new for those of you who’ve been all over Japan–one comment left by a Japanese Facebook user asked, “These landscapes…they’re not all actually from Japan, are they?” Which prompted this excellent response from the Shiri 100 team: “Every photo was taken as we went all over the country doing all these activities. But there are some places that surprise you and make you think, ‘Wow, Japan has this too?'”
Well, now it looks like it’s time for us to start planning our next vacation!
Sources: AOL Japan, Shiri 100, YouTube, Shiri 100 Facebook
Images: Shiri 100 Facebook



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