Back in July, there was a great thread on Ask Metafilter called Upgrade my tourism answering the question:
What do you do when you visit a new city? I feel stuck in a rut of going to the well known museum, maybe visiting a local landmark or the downtown arts district or food hot spot. Everything starts to feel kind of the same. Any suggestions or ideas?
I've been reading Lost Japan and really enjoying learning about the places the author (Alex Kerr) has lived and all the ways he's experienced his life in Japan.
I especially enjoyed reading about his home on the grounds of Tenmangu Shrine ... and it occurred to me that I could easily look up the town and the shrine, to see if there were any photos of the place, and the grounds, which sound enchanting.