tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8180714056128243992020-08-30T00:26:43.170-07:00A Tochigi Guide for the Foreign Resident or Touristdavidfromozhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00040570307425181130noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-818071405612824399.post-21432394000504727282010-09-13T15:16:00.000-07:002010-09-13T16:14:27.881-07:00

Kita Onsen - map location must be one of the great hot springs in the Nasushiobara area. It has a beautiful location, good water, lots of history and style. You can stay at Kita onsen overnight or you can drop in for a day onsen. Its also one of the entry points to Nasu park. Building: I don't know the history of the Kita onsen building. But I know Kita onsen opened in 1696! The building is

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There is lots of good walking to be done in the Nasu Mountain area. The walk from Nasu Mountain to Kita Onsen is a half day walk that takes you through some nice mountains and alpine vegetation. If you do it in Spring then there are some Azalias (Tsutsuji) near Kita Onsen. On the down side its much easier to do this walk if you have two cars because the start and finish point are not so close

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On February 5th Sumo's Grand Champion Asashoryu resigned following a long line of sumo code transgressions culminating in a drunken assault outside a nightclub. (please stop for a minute and imagine defending yourself against a drunk sumo).On Feb 7, 2010 there was a one day knock out sumo tournament held in Tokyo. After years of failing to make it to Sumo (including one set of unused tickets) we

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Map LocationWe've driven past St. Michael's many times. Its a rather kitch looking castle that fits into its Nasu Tokyo visitors paradise environment. We've never been tempted to go in. After 2 very positive visits it seems we have to admit we were mistaken.Coffee ShopWe stopped in hoping to have our lunch there. We know their sister restaurant in Nasu Garden Outlet to have rather good

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Map LocationWe are very excited about this ryokan. We just popped in for a day onsen. We'll be back to stay the night some time pretty soon. This is a beautiful area in winter.They have some little private onsen rooms. We booked one for 2500 yen for 40 minutes. We already knew the water was very good in this area (some of the best in Nasushiobara area). They have 3 private rooms that all

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Map LocationWe went to Cassi onsen in the middle of winter. It was a nice winter retreat. We came from Nasu along route 290 and were very, very glad of 4 wheel drive and snow tires. I think overall its much smarter to drive in via route 289 in winter.We stayed at Gohoushou. Its a good, though not remarkable onsen.Food was good.Onsen was better than good and beautifully lit at night.More Photos

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Map LocationWe drove through here ages back while exploring. Onsen areas often look a bit run down, but this place really has a gone bust look to it. There are a few broken down onsens there slowly going to seed. We never thought to go there.Anyway, by chance we ended up spending a midweek night at Myougaya Honkan (the remaining ryokan). Wow! What a great place. I don't think we really got

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You see these places by the river all over Japan. Little hole in the wall open restaurants.There is one in Otawara: Map LocationThe first time we went here was in mid summer. Here's how it works. You go up to a window and there is a Japanese menu on the wall. For us with our basic Kanji reading and good Kana it was the most impenetrable menu ever. But we finally managed to place an order.

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Map LocationIf you've been to Tochigi there is a good chance you've been to Nikko. You might not have been the lakes up above Nikko though. They are well worth a visit. First up is a quite large lake called Chuzenji. We'll blog about that some time. Its quite a nice place. But even further up in Okunikko (deep Nikko) there are some very nice areas. Today we'll write about Yumoto.View from

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Kusatsu is an onsen town in Gumna Prefecture. Its a great place to visit and it looks like there are many other good places to see nearby. Unfortunately, we had bad weather on our trip and we only saw a small part of it.The highlight for us was Saino Kawara Park. A small park right near the middle of town with great autumn scenery and one of the best onsens I have ever been in. Very large,

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Map LocationThis is a nice little Ryokan in Kusatsu, Gumna. Its within walking distance of all the nice places we found in this great town. The service and food are great.EntranceIts very hard to find. The map location linked above is accurate. You can access it from the road to the north or the south, but the north is much easier, even though it doesn't look it on the map.The ryokan entrance

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Map LocationThis is more of an informational post than an interesting one. Its probably only interesting to people who live in this area. Rather a poor post to mark our return to blogging. But, it might save somebody a lot of bother. Also few pictures because Cassandra was afraid of getting into trouble.If you live in Nasushiobara then you have probably struggled with the rubbish collection

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One of our favorite things in Nasushiobara is the fruit market. Map LocationMost people think Japan is very expensive. But rural living, in a place like Tochigi, is actually quite cheap. The fruit market is a great example of this. Sometimes friends from Tokyo ask us to take them there to stock up on cheap fruit before returning.We buy all our fruit and vegetables there. They have a wide

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Late last year a new outlet mall opened right here in Nasushiobara. Map Location Previously, the closest on to Nasushiobara was the Sano OutletI had previously thought this mall was run by the same people who run Sano Outlet. But I now don't think thats the case. Anyway, it fits the American outlet mall format pretty well.I don't like Nasu Garden Outlet as much as Sano. But it is a decent

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Map LocationUeno Park is a beautiful park in Tokyo. Its a nice place to go at any time of year.In July the Lotus flowers are blooming. This is my favorite time to be in the park (though Sakura is very good here too). This year they were at their best on or about the 25th of July.More Pictures

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Map Location for one of quite a number of entry points into the park. There are many entrances.Oze wetlandsOne of the most famous natural areas near Tochigi is Oze National Park. This park spanning Tochigi, Fukushima, Gunma and Niigata prefectures features great wetlands, mountains, forests and a lake. Its quite crowded in Spring and Autumn. In fact it was fairly busy when we were there on a

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Its been some time since I wrote of the Tochigi Driving Test. Well the good news is I passed the test. The bad news is I still don't have a clear set of rules to deliver on how to do it. I swore, if I ever passed that I would write the best guide I could on how I did it, so here it is.Preparation is covered in Applying for a Driver's License in TochigiPlease keep in mind some of this might be

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Map LocationThis is a tiny little castle. But its very worth visiting. We went in summer, but there are lots of cherry trees so its sure to be good in spring and the whole area must be lovely in autumn too. You can combine a trip here with a trip to Nanko Park which is only a very short distance from here.You can take the train to Shirakawa and walk to the castle and then Nanko park would just

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Map LocationThe park is in Fukushima, but its a short drive from Tochigi and well worth the effort. You can combine a trip to this park with a trip to Komine Castle (which also has an excellent rose garden).There are two main parts to the park both of which are fairly quick visits. The gardens are a classic example of a Japanese garden complete with tea rooms. Entry to the gardens is 350 yen

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Map LocationSano Outlet Mall feels pretty much like an American Outlet Mall. In fact I think this company also manages the outlet mall in Las Vegas (which is amazingly good BTW). You can find plenty of international brands here. I've heard people complain its hard to get large sizes here.Sorry for the awful photo. Its taken before we started to take photos seriously.You can get there easily

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Map LocationThis park's claim to fame is its wisteria vines (has the biggest one in Japan??). A great place to visit in early May.You really should get here nice and early. It gets quite busy. We got there at 8AM and things were already starting to getting busy. Its lit and can be visited at night (which is sure to be beautiful) but we haven't been there at night.There are other attractions

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Map LocationThis park has a very beautiful flower display which you can view in early May. The photos here were taken on May 1st 2008.I don't recommend going here as a dedicated trip. However, if you are going to somewhere nearby (like Motegi or Mashiko) then you should stop here. It won't take very long to look around. Its a fairly small simple park.There is a dam right next door to it which

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Map LocationWe all know about Narita because its where the airports is. Everybody flies in and out of Narita, but few know that its a nice place to visit. We frequently stop there for the night on our way in or out of Japan or perhaps when we have to go there for a guest visit. The hotel we stay at has a bus to both downtown Narita and the shopping center.The highlight of Narita is the temple,

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Map LocationMito is a seaside town in Ibaraki prefecture. Its just a couple of hours drive from Tochigi. I would imagine its nice to go there at any time of year to sit by the ocean and watch the waves or to eat seafood. But what Mito is most famous for is the plum (Ume) trees in Kairaku-en park. Kairaku-en is thought to be one of the great 3 parks of Japan.Ume trees flower before cherry

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Cherry Blossom (Sakura) was probably at its best in Nasushiobara on the weekend of April 12th this year. It was great in Tokyo 2 weeks earlier. I haven't found a place locally to compete with places like Ueno Park, the Palace or Akasaka yet. But here in Nasushiobara you don't have to share the beauty of the Sakura with thousands of people.This is a special time in Tochigi. Firstly, the trees

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