However, with that criteria I would also suggest Kagoshima could work, (museums, local sites, a hot sand burial excursion 1 hr away by train, ferry to volcano with day trip onsens, local delicacies of black pork, beef, and chicken sashimi), but it is much less connected and "chain" hotels as FT expects are pretty much non-existent. Every calibre, just not the names we know/expect.