The best Japanese destination swaps

For a traditional taste of Japan that is less-crowded than Kyoto, head to Kanazawa - (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

For many travellers, Japan’s metropolitan hubs and breathtaking natural scenery have become a lifetime goal to visit, and for very good reasons too.

The popular city of Kyoto boasts 17 Unesco World Heritage sites including shrines, temples and a castle, while tourists are also often led to magnificent sites such as Mount Fuji, an active stratovolcano on Honshu, the country’s tallest peak and a sacred site to the Japanese.