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NIPPON QUEST: Discover a Japan the world rarely sees

18 Comments
By Alexandra Hongo

When planning a trip to Japan, places like the Golden Temple in Kyoto, Dotonbori in Osaka, the deer park in Nara, and, of course, Tokyo Skytree at Asakusa, are usually the first to pop up in every guidebook and travel website. We have all been there, seen them all, and, perhaps, have gradually got tired of these over-populated and slightly over-rated tourist sites and attractions.

But what if there was a place that could offer us a bit more? What if there was a way to look into the hidden beauty of Japan; the sights, venues, food, goods, attractions and spots that are usually known only to locals and visitors challenging the status quo of tourism? Perhaps these are questions that many enthusiastic travelers have asked at least once when planning their next trip. Check out NIPPON QUEST – a website that aims at introducing “the still unknown” Japan – not only intriguing, but also pleasantly refreshing, informative and unique in its style.

Launched in late July 2015 and going by the slogan “Discover Nippon, the world has never seen,” NIPPON QUEST aims at introducing newcomers to unique Japanese sites and objects that visitors would rarely have the chance to learn about if stuck within the frames of a regularly planned trip. The website allows Internet users – Japanese and foreign alike – to post photos and introductions of their favorite places, local products or random unique discoveries in Japan.

Categorized in "Goods," “Foods” and Activities,” posts stretch from Hokkaido to Okinawa, and users can search by prefectures, categories or keywords depending on their nature of interest, or browse through all entries by clicking on “See All” from the top page, in case one is not sure where to start from. The search then takes you into the world of rarely known Japanese features, including an underwater Shinto Shrine in Tateyama, Chiba; the Amakusa Ariake Octopus Road in Kumamoto; the white-sand Jodogahama shore in Miyako, Iwate, or local specialty treats such as the “Atsuyaki” baked fish cake from Saga Prefecture, Dorayaki pudding cakes from Shimane or Island Tofu Chips from Okinawa.

All posts are accompanied by a photo and basic information about the location associated with it. Users are then invited to evaluate entries by clicking on either “Tried it” or “Wanna try it!” buttons placed just right under posted photos if they are interested.

In order to contribute to the website, make comments and evaluate posts, users may log in through their Facebook or Twitter accounts, or become a member by registering an e-mail address and a username - all for free. Companies are free to join in and promote their corporate products, as well. The only requirements for posting, as the website puts it, is “that you post local specialty goods, foods or fun activities that you would really like people from all over the world to share.”

Simple in design and content, the website is overall very easy to navigate through and free from any irrelevant information. Having said that, NIPPON QUEST could certainly benefit from adding a detailed access guide to the introduced locations and sites, as well as add information on where the products could be in fact purchased from. Official links, if available, could be added as well and a bit more English presence in the comments section could make it even more foreign-friendly and popular.

Nevertheless, for a brand new project that is still developing and evolving, the idea is what really matters most at present. Let us hope that with NIPPON QUEST now in light, there will be more focus on the still unknown and unseen in Japan.

Monthly Awards

QP (Quest Power) is a point system that scores local specialties by popularity using an original algorithm. The more people discover a specialty (especially foreigners), the higher its QP rises. High-ranked specialties will have a chance to become the subjects of interviews by NIPPON QUEST editors, and nominated for NIPPON QUEST Awards.

Every month we choose several local specialties with high QP Points that follow the spirit of NIPPON QUEST as Monthly Nominated Specialties. A final vote will be held among these Monthly Nominated Specialties, and the winners will receive Yearly Awards in February 2016.

With this system, any specialty has a chance to get a commendation. Those of you who want to invigorate local specialties, please feel free to post anytime, with any specialties you want to disseminate to the world.

For August and September, the winners were chosen from posts between July 1 and Sept 30 based on QP points.

Food
No. 1 Halal Gyoza by Nikkoken https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=501 No. 2 Tofuya Ukai https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=499 No. 3 Katte Rice Bowl of Kushiro Washo Market https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=404

Goods
No. 1 Onigawara Iemori https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=236 No. 2 Art Blankets https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=523 No. 3 Raven Edo Kiriko that is developed for the first time in the world https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=138

Activity
No. 1 Shinto Shrine in Hasama Underwater Park https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=698 No. 2 IDEVENTURE https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=188 No. 3 Visiting a Japanese Swordsmith at Work https://nipponquest.com/search/detail.php?item_id=840

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18 Comments
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The site is horrendous.

Mind-numbingly oblivious in it's design. It's as if the makers of it saw lonelyplanet or japan-guide and said,"I can do that! Only we'll put no info on access, prices, or any other information every single person needs to know to reach the place or the buy the product."

Also, I looked up my area, there's nothing "hidden" about the food or activities mentioned. Look up "the prefecture name + activities" on google and you'll get the same suggestions everywhere with more detailed info and simply more suggestions.

If you're going to spend the time making a new website, give people something they can't get somewhere else, not an inferior site of what exists everywhere already.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

So now the quiet unknown places will become crowded with noisy tourists.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

...Or the unknown quiet places will get the tourists who give money to keep these places open and a little safer from developers. Unknown places are nice, but realistically they need tourist cash to survive.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Just try it out and came up with zero for Inchoseki Iwate Prefecture concerning food, attraction and goods. What use is it. I got more info of google maps. Why are JT promoting it, for it is useless. They actual pay someone to design this program. What a waste of time and money

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Bad luck about Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture. The website has only just started. Maybe it takes time to collect enough entries. Why don't YOU post one of Ichinoseki local specialties?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Ichinoseke ! Doors! Famous for Doors! all sorts of doors

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What are you talking about?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@John-san

Perhaps you came up with zero because you spelled the name of the city wrong.

I was vaguely interested in what and where the "art blankets" are but the link led to the entry on onigawara iemori. So I thought maybe the links were reversed but the onigawara iemori link also led to the onigawara iemori entry, so I read that. The "English" was so atrocious and inaccurate I wasn't inclined to delve any deeper.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Don't worry about the flood of tourists to your favorite spot. This website will never get off the ground. Typically uninviting and dry bureaucratic approach you get whenever the government is somehow involved. They build awful websites that nobody will use so they can waste tax money and feel good about themselves. You can bet the company that developed the website made out like a bandit though.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Just looked up art blankets and got a page for a wooden mask. Maybe the word blanket has a unique meaning in Japan. :(

0 ( +1 / -1 )

They build awful websites that nobody will use so they can waste tax money and feel good about themselves. You can bet the company that developed the website made out like a bandit though.

It's true. Web design is atrocious in this country, and the companies that do it charge a pretty penny for their crap design. If you want quality, it's ridiculously expensive (and almost impossible to get anyways).

That said, this site actually looks pretty nice, though the mixed mulitlingualism doesn't work for me. Better to have an English and Japanese site separate.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I recommend you use the search function and read the English for the individual product entries.

Wow, that's crap alright. It just goes to show that even though the site is ostensibly for English speakers, they didn't bother to actually get any input from English speakers during or after the development process. Which as you said is the fatal error - who wants to look at a site that is gibberish?

As the young like to say: epic fail.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The English translations for some of the entries are indeed "atrocious." I suspect they are machine-translated. Otherwise they wouldn't be in such gibberish.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Definitely machine translations. What a shame.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

When hearing about out of the way places I want to know about amenities. What are the toilets like? Are the accommodations decent? I mean will I have centipedes crawling out of the woodwork? Are the sights worth the trip. What is the pubic transportation like?

Thanks, I have had enough of the Japanese countryside. It is not like France. It is usually gross.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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