Out of Kyoto, our party of 3 began a 5 day journey to Tokyo that would take us to a few smaller off-the-track cities, across a snow capped mountain range, and through stunning landscapes. Needless to say we ate like a king and two queens, the trains were fast and always on time, and we threw in a hire car for a change and were rewarded with a pretty special day of exploring.
Kanazawa was our first stop, located on the north coast of Honshu, and although just a third of the size of Kyoto with a population of less than 500,000, it boasted some of the usual Japanese offerings: a castle, a picture-perfect strolling garden, and the Higashi Chaya District, a preserved geisha entertainment area akin to Gion in Kyoto.
Whilst Kanazawa itself offered incentive to visit, it was the lure of the surrounding region that had us taking to the roads (which were actually quite easy to navigate) and going exploring. One hour into the journey we came to Shirakawa, a UNESCO listed village of unique architecture unlike anything we had come across to date in Japan A triangular frame and a grass thatched roof made the collection of buildings almost something from a storybook, each dwelling complete with its own rice paddy out front.
Not far away, and a place that had regularly been referenced in articles titled “must do in Japan”, and recommended by friends too was the small city of Takayama (population about 90,000). Yet another gorgeous collection of preserved dwellings, tea houses, shrines and torii gates, we wandered the streets and stores selling ceramics (ok, not Andrew), relaxed in a traditional tea house and drank sake in a brewery. Ending our day trip with an excellent meal of Japanese style tapas and local spirits back in Kanazawa, it was agreed that today had been a highlight for the 3 of us and well worth the effort of having our own car for a day.
From Kanazawa it was on to the Alpine Route adventure – a day of multiple modes of transport (including trains, buses, an inclinator, a trolley bus and a cable car!) that would transport us through the Mt Tatayama area in the Japanese Alps. Although it is a big day of travel, the varying modes of transport to navigate the quickly changing elevation keep things interesting, and the stunning scenery is breath taking (literally, if you are impacted by altitude!). Having forwarded our luggage to the end of the line, we took our time moving from place to place across the day, enjoying the novelty of snow and the brilliant Spring sunshine.
Next stop, and our last before hitting the big smoke of Tokyo, was Matsumoto. With 250,000 residents it is technically a city, but felt more like a large rural town. On a grey and quiet Wednesday we checked out Matsumoto Castle, and Diane and I visited an exhibition of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, whose kooky works had been a feature on the island of Naoshima that Andrew and I had visited just a few weeks earlier. Although there is not a vast amount of things to see here, it was a nice quiet stop to prepare for the craziness to come, and our very traditional ryokan room at Hotel Tamanoyu delivered the goods with a degustation meal that was incredible, and of course an onsen.
After five days of travel, soaking up rural vistas and enjoying small-city hospitality it was time to brace ourselves for the onslaught of Tokyo, the big finale to what has already been an epic adventure that has surpassed expectations.
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