Teetoo- Japan 2023 Trip Itinerary (still updating)
- Nov 1 – Arrival at Nagoya, around Nagano Station, Stay : Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagano-Zenkojiguchi
- Nov 2 – Bus trip to visit the famous Snow Monkey Park, Nagano, Stay : Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagano-Zenkojiguchi
- Nov 3 – Easy trek at Togakushi 5-shrines, Nagano, Stay : Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagano-Zenkojiguchi
- Nov 4 – Visite to Zenkoji Temple and hiking at Hakuba Happo Pond, Stay : Hotel Hakuba
- Nov 5 – Relax at Hakuba Mountain Harbour and Oide Park, Stay : Hotel Hakuba
- Nov 6 – Drive to Sea of Japan, Ben-ten Iwa rock, Stay : APA Hotel & Resort Joetsu Myoko
- Nov 7 – Drive to Kiyotsu Gorge and Naena Waterfall, Stay : APA Hotel & Resort Joetsu Myoko
- Nov 8 – Drive around Lake Nojiri, train ride to Lake Suwa and Tateishi Park, Stay : Beni-ya Hotel
- Nov 9, 10 – Train ride to Shizuoka and Nihondaira Terrace sunset, Stay : Nippondaira Hotel
- Nov 11 – Train ride to Fuji City, walk around Atami City, Stay : Super Hotel JR Fujiekimae Kinenkan
- Nov 12 – Shy Mount Fuji, cheap seafood at Co-op and Numazu City festival, Stay : Super Hotel JR Fujiekimae Kinenkan
- Nov 13 – Mount Fuji, Shira-Ito Falls, Fujisan Sengan Shrine, Mount Fuji World Heritage Center, Stay : Super Hotel JR Fujiekimae Kinenkan
- Nov 14 – Mount Fuji, Hamamatsu Station and bus to hotel nearby airport, Stay : Hotel Route-Inn Tokoname Ekimae
The 3 days 2 nights flew by so fast as it is time to shift towns again. It’s hard to say goodbye to the mountains of Hakuba. We will make for a longer stay in the future as the view is perpetually breathtaking.
Our road trip today will bring us north to Niigata prefecture, along the Sea of Japan coast and inland again towards our hotel at Joetsu city. The drive from Hakuba northwards was thru windy and sparsely populated areas with quite alot of bad roads (for Japan standards) but most probably because of rockfalls and landslides. It was truly rural and local Japan.
About and hour later, we saw roadside station Otari and as always, we had to stop and have a look-see. Selling mostly fresh produce from nearby farms, we didn’t have much to buy except using the super clean toilets. It had a public onsen too but time did not permit us the luxury. Funnily, there was a T1000-like sculpture featuring 2 dinosaurs doing head massage.
Before long, we were driving along the Sea of Japan coastal road with strong winds t-boning our little square Kei-car forcing it to swerve a couple of times. We also stopped at Kiyashiki Post Office to purchase some stamps from a cute postal worker. Sometimes they sell special postcards but this branch was a little too small and local.
We were getting hungry as we reached our lunch destination at mouthfully-named Roadside Station Dream Marine Nou at Itoigawa township. This U-shape coastal roadside station is famous for, not surprisingly, its fresh seafood and especially crab. Everything crab-by can be purchased from a number of shops with outdoor seatings dotted along the walkway.
Elaine really wanted a good crab soup coz we had a very good experience at Hakodate, Hokkaido and lo and behold, she spotted only one shop at the corner that served it. Costing only 500y, it was a steal!! Along with it, we bought mostly sashimi style lunch with much chicken-duck talk and hand gestures with the vendors. Instead of eating at the dining space, we had our lunch along the coast overlooking the Sea of Japan. The overcast sky and the gentle wind made it better. The crab-stick and soup are fully recommended but the scallops – no fight with the ones at Hokkaido.
After getting our tummies filled, we walked to an adjacent shop called Leaf Kitchen (リーフキッチン) to have a look-see… mana tau… saw “Crab Ramen” large words on the banner. Cannot resist. We bought it for 1200yen and it was filled with lots of crabs (not crabsticks) and super delicious!!
We left the roadside station for Benten-Iwa Rock (弁天岩) – part of the Itoigawa UNESCO Global Geopark. It is a massive rock protruding from the sea with a lighthouse and a small shrine, connected by crimson-colored Akebonobashi Bridge. Easily climbing up to the top, we had a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area. It would’ve been better if the weather was better but we take we were given.
Ohya.. the parking can be hard to find as it is under the highway. Here it is : https://maps.app.goo.gl/cNUP9fENvoKpqzha7
On the way to our next hotel, we stopped by a relatively new farmer’s market (四季彩館 みょうこう 農産物直売所) and “shangkhla” (rural) 7-11 Arai Nagamori to get our dinner for the night.
Hotel APA Resort Joetsu Myoko is located atop a small hill with golfing greens while overlooking the majestic Mount Myoko. The hotel is filled with predominantly weekday golfers getting their driving fix. After our in-hotel 7-11 dinner, we slept like a baby after the 125km drive from Hakuba.
Itoigawa area had groundshakes of magnitude 5 on the Japanese Ritcher scale of 7 during the Jan 1, 2024 Noto Peninsular Earthquake. We wish for a quick recovery and restoration of Noto Peninsular.
- Useful links:
- From our experiences :
- The Sea of Japan (West Japan) deserves abit more credit. It is really beautiful and we will visit it in the near future, for certain.
- Mapcodes are codes you can enter to your car’s GPS unit sort of Google maps but needn’t key in the words. I prefer using mapcodes.
- Driving in Japan is on the left hand side of the road. Try to make stops at rest stations as everyone of them has its own unique charm and things to sell