xgao

Any suggestions for places to visit for 3 days other than Tokyo and Kyoto? (I will be traveling in and out of Tokyo.) I've been to Kamakura and Yokohama as well. Thanks.

mrwunrfl

Are you saying that you want to be near Tokyo for those three days? Then Nikko and Hakone meet your basic criteria. If not, then Takayama & Shirakawago or Hiroshima & Miyajima & Himeji.

Will you have a JR Pass? When will you be travelling? What is your basic itinerary?

kuranosuke

xgao; i will be making a day trip to nikko in late oct. if you can wait, i can post a trip report and you can decide if you want to go or not. i ran a search on this site for a nikko trip report but couldn't find one.

mrwunrfl: can you make takayama and shirakawago on a day trip from tokyo?

xgao

Sorry for not making my point clear. Actually I am looking for a best feasible 3 day itinerary out of Tokyo. It could be close to Tokyo or far away from Tokyo. It doesn't have to be day trips. But I need to come back to Tokyo eventually. The trip will be in September. I haven't done enough research to know whether I need a JR pass or not.

mrwunrfl

kuranosuke, Takayama is about four and a half hours from Shinjuku. Shirakawago is about 2 hours from Takayama.

xgao, you will probably need a JR pass. You can learn about it here: http://www.japanrailpass.net/

For Takayama & Shirakawago, Gifu prefecture:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/PTG/pdf/pg-409.pdf
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/RI/chu...gifu/gifu.html

On this page:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/PTG/index.html
you could take a look at the Tateyama, Nagano, and Kiso guides.

xgao

Thanks mrwunrfl. Hiroshima seems a bit far out and I am afraid I don't have enough time to do the round trip there (including Miyajima) from Tokyo in three days, right? How much time is needed to explore areas around Takayama? Or maybe I should just spend two days in Hakone and one day in Nikko for the best use of my time?

xgao

Just did a little bit more research myself. Now I think Kanazawa sounds interesting. Will I have enough time to add Shirakawago to the trip? Is the bus running between Kanazawa and Shirakawago convenient? Thanks.

glorialf

Kanazawa for a two days and Kamakura for a day trip. Or spend three days in Kanazawa.

Spygirl

No trip reports on Nikko? Okay, I'll give you one. I did a day trip there just this past April-all by myself, even! It's very easy. From the Asakusa subway stop (the end of the Ginza line), you take a minute's walk across the street to the Tobu Asakusa Eki line. This is a private rail line-all seats are reserved-no credit cards-one way fare was approx. 3,000Y I believe. Once you get to Nikko Eki-you can decide to 1) go to Lake Chuzenji with its lovely Kegon falls, or 2) go to see Toshogu-the magnificent shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the great 16th cent. warlord of Japan, and related temples nearby. In one day, you really won't have time to see both, since the bus to the Lake is approx. 40 min., with a lot to do in that area, so I opted just to go to the shrine and temples.

The bus in front of the station will let you off below the Toshugu complex-and you start walking upwards on a winding road from that point. You'll get to a big parking lot, which is just below Rinno-ji-a Tendai sect Buddhist temple with an especially fine garden that you don't have to pay to enjoy. The best way to see the major shrines is to buy a multiple entry ticket here at the ticket office, which will get you inside Rinno-ji, its gardens, Toshugu shrine, the Daiyu-in mausoleum, with Tokugawa's tomb, and the Temple of the Sleeping Cat (for this last temple be prepared to literally walk and walk straight up into the sky-it's a BIT strenuous (I climbed it behind some Japanese who had imbibed a few too many-understandably, the climb was considerably harder for them-but they made it all the way!) Once you get to the top, for all that work, all you see is this tiny figurine of a sleeping white cat curled up in a very dimly lit temple! However, the view of the forest from this height is well worth the climb, since the temple complex and the town of Nikko are surrounded by national parkland.

As far as Toshugu, it is over-the-top ornate-a great place to take pictures, but actually I preferred Rinno-ji temple, set back in the woods at the base of the hill, with the tall cedars and lovely flowering bushes and streams in the garden area-this is a real highlight.

If you go on a weekend, be prepared to share the experience of Toshogu with hordes of Japanese and many school groups as well-I saw virtually no westerners when I was there on a Sunday in April, and those that did come through appeared to be together on day tours which breezed through Nikko, Lake C. and Kegon Falls.

One of Japan's most photographed spots is the Yomei-mon (Gate of Sunlight) at the top of the second flight of stone steps in the Toshogu complex-it is one of Japan's designated National Treasures. I believe I read somewhere that it's also called the Twilight Gate, because you can spend all day until sunset gazing at the ornateness and detail of the carvings. To get into the main hall of Toshogu, you have to leave your shoes in a locker, and pad barefoot down a long corridor, until you get to the Oratory (forget the Japanese word for it) which is again, magnificently ornate (or gaudy, depending on your point of view) like all the bldgs. and gates within the complex. In the Oratory, there are some friezes and a ceiling festooned with dragons, as well as pillars covered with poems from famous poets-this area was quite beautiful and interesting. To get to the Oratory and inner sanctums, you must pass through the Chinese Gate, another National Treasure of Japan, through which mere mortals may not enter. But of course, as with just about everything, mortals can indeed enter after paying a fee (either separately or through the multiple entry fee).

In order to do some justice to this complex and the other shrines/temples in the immediate area, you will need most if not all, of a day. However, there's a treat waiting for you in the afternoon period, should you decide to avail yourself of it-it's a restaurant contained in a 19th cent. western style stone house just below the east side of Rinno-ji temple to the left as you're coming down from the shrine complex to get to the main road. It's called Meiji-no-Yakata-and it's famous in Nikko-the townspeople all know it (I know this, b/c I had to ask a number of times before I could find it, and everyone I asked knew enough to show me the general direction).

Meiji-no-Yakata is a lovely 19th cent. stone house that belonged to a former American diplomat who used to summer there-I believe it was built in the 1890's or thereabouts. It has lovely high ceilings, polished wood floors, working fireplaces, and plenty of charm, PLUS it has a fantastic western style bakery adjoining the dining room area that makes scrumptious butter cakes, other kinds of cakes and pies, and whipped cream-filled chocolate rolls, just to name a few of their goodies! Not only that, but they make and sell their own housemade apple juice- so if you want to take something delicious back to Tokyo with you, you can, and I did! As far as the meals in the restaurant, what I had was very good, fresh rainbow trout from the nearby lake, vegetables, housemade rolls, and that excellent apple juice (plus one of their desserts, of course!)The restaurant does take all credit cards, but don't let the fact that it is western keep you from going there-the place was cram-packed with Japanese- I was one of only a few westerners there. In fact, at the table next to me there were some Japanese grandparents with their 2 year old grandchild showing him how to sit back on his heels, Japanese style-he was quite proficient at it! The grounds outside the restaurant are very pleasant as well-there's a wooden porch and a parklike expanse for children to play in.

All in all, I found the trip to Nikko quite worthwhile, however, I would be remiss if I didn't say all that ornate detail gets a bit wearing after awhile- (it's kinda like Angkor Wat in that regard!) your eyes start to glaze over, and the law of diminishing returns begins to set in-which is why I prefer the beauty and simplicity of the Zen temples and gardens as exemplified by Rinno-ji. The good thing is that you can have both in the same complex in Nikko.

I also think it would be nice to spend the night in Nikko at one of the many fine ryokan in the area in order to take in the National Park/Lake Chuzenji area, as well as take time to do some hiking in the National Park area. There were hundreds of Japanese who appeared to be doing just that on a lovely Sunday in April.

xgao

Thanks Spygirl for the long report. Last time I went to Kamakura during a weekend and I was not very impressed. I guess the main reason probably was that being a Chinese myself, I had seen a lot of temples before and I am somewhat farmiliar with Buddhist arts and culture. I am looking for something more distinctly Japanese. After reading some posts here, I think maybe Shirakawago and Kanazawa are more interesting. The question is that will I have enough time to explore the whole area or not. Are there night trains to Kanazawa from Tokyo? (so that I can save some time on the road.)

kuranosuke

spygirl: thanks for the report. when you had your lunch, did you have to walk back into town, lunch, then walk or bus back to toshogu? can you bring a bento and eat in the shrine area?

i think the bakery items will make a good omiyage for me to bring back to the mama-san of my favorite izakaya. thanks for the tip.

Spygirl

Kuranasuke-actually, I did NOT want to go back into town after coming down from the complex-since I knew that the restaurant was basically just below Rinno-ji, practically within the complex-but I couldn't find the darn place, initially. I was determined to check it out however, so that's when I walked back to the edge of town, (about a 6 min. walk) and enquired in some shops where it was-they told me, I doubled back, saw a road leading back into the shrines, walked along for awhile in the woods and was about to turn back, when I saw a western stone house, and knew I had finally found it, and I am so glad I presevered, because it's really a great, and unexpected, restaurant find.

From the Nikko Eki, you can easily walk all the way up to the shrines-or, if you're lazy, take the bus to the foot of the hill below the shrines. I'd say from the Eki to the bottom of the shrine road is about a 15 min. walk. As far as taking a bento, that sounds like a good idea-you could stop in town-there are a number of shops and restaurants there where you could pick one up. I don't think you could eat around Rinno-ji, but certainly, the front yard area at Meiji-no-Yakata has plenty of areas to sit and eat-or, if you saw somewhere else that struck your fancy, you could eat there as well. There should be a number of lovely places in the forest area to sit and have a bento lunch.

As far as the bakery, yes, absolutely, any one of those treats would make a great omiyage, but I think especially the lovely bottles of housemade apple juice- mama-san I'm sure would love that!

P.S. There is also a lovely little Japanese restaurant on the grounds of the Meiji restaurant-I believe it is only open for dinner however.