Miyazaki Prefecture

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If we mention the name “Miyazaki” to someone with a basic knowledge of Japan, they probably will not know what we are talking about. If we ask someone with advanced knowledge, they will tell us that is the last name of a famous animation director, responsible for successful films like Princess Mononoke or Castle in the Sky. But even that person, almost certainly will not know that this surname comes from the name of a prefecture that occupies most of southeast Kyushu, the most unknown in the region, although this is about to change:

Its homonym capital, Miyazaki, is a quiet city, with friendly people and many amenities. It is the only place in the country where I have slept in a traditional Japanese-style room just for myself paying hostel price, but otherwise, it is totally obviable.
Because if we look for what is the best thing in the city they will say to us Aoshima, a small and charming peninsula or island depending on how high is the tide, 15 km to the south of the capital.
Nichinan Coast is another of its attractions. Traveling by train, car or (and the latter is gaining many followers) by bicycle is delightful. Beaches, islets and other interesting rock formations stretch for hundreds of kilometers in pleasant surroundings most of the year.
But the undisputed star, despite the fact that most visitors do not access from Miyazaki prefecture itself, but from neighboring Kumamoto, is Takachiho Gorge, an incredible jewel hidden by Japanese for years that much to their chagrin, is getting its place between the country’s greatest attractions, for its incomparable beauty and environment that surpasses the imagination of fairy tales.

My advice: it is true that it is far from the Tokyo–Kyoto axis, but if when you go to Japan you have time enough, go now, before the hordes of tourists discover poetic Miyazaki.