August in Otowara sees the popular Yoichi Matsuri, the festival for our local hero Yoichi kun. Based on the local hero Nasu no Yoichi and his exploits in demoralizing the enemy by firing a single arrow while riding a horse in the water; he hit a red ..
A grand festival is held at Nikko Toshogu Shrine twice a year, and in October, includes the Shinto ritual offering of “Yabusame”, firing arrows at targets from atop galloping horses, and the “Togyosai” called “Hyakumonoz..
Welcome to Nikko! Nikko, located in the northwest corner of Tochigi Prefecture, is known for its picturesque beauty, and was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Nikko boasts of three main areas of interest: The World Heritage Tosho-gu Shrine along with other temples and shrines near ..
Ōya is one of the most scenic villages I have visited during a decade of living in Japan. The town is surrounded by man-made cliffs created from an old limestone industry. When the weather is fine, Ōya is a wonderful place to cycle around albeit the streets are more like narrow country lanes. Visit..
The three M's of southwestern Tochigi Prefecture are Moka, Mashiko and Motegi. Today I'd like to talk about Moka (pronounced Moh-oh-ka). There ought to be a dance called the loka moka and a drink the moka moka. I'll work on that if the Mooka tourism board ever hires me. For now, l..
On a day-trip from Utsunomiya to the charming small town of Ooya, best known for its limestone and its large statue of the Buddhist Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), I wanted to find somewhere for lunch before embarking on the climb to the mountain temple o..
For a quick break between Christmas and New Year one time, I decided to visit Utsunomiya, and after an early start and a long train ride I arrived around lunchtime, very ready for lunch. The staff at Hotel MyStays let me leave my bags, and gave me an..
For those living downtown or here on a short-term stay, getting a cat fix has never been easier thanks to cat cafes. Utsunomiya City has two that I know of. The cafes meet a demand for cat-time, and down time. Cats create a laid-back atmosphere, loun..
Nikko is a town at the entrance of Nikko National Park, famous for Japan's most lavishly decorated temples and shrines, and the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. Nikko had been a center of Shinto and Buddhist&nb..
Summer in Japan's lowlands, even in Hokkaido, can get unbelievably hot and humid. Hot by itself is bearable, but hot and sticky is just depressing. So you either need to be near a beach, which is what most Japanese do, or take yourself to the h..
Kinugawa is an onsen town about 17km to the north of Nikko. It's an easy drive, or cycle, in my case, and unlike hyperactive Nikko it is best used as a place for relaxing and dining. The hot springs were first discovered in the 1600s by local v..
The Akechidaira Ropeway, located just off the famous Irohazaka Winding Road in Nikkō, offers unsurpassable views over Lake Chūzenji and Kegon Falls from the top of a nearby mountain. The ride itself is short and not very exciting, but the views are o..
I've been to Nikko many times but somehow never got around to visiting the Tamozawa Imperial Villa before. It turned out to be well worth a visit. The place has a quiet atmosphere and nice garden, and the residence itself is impressive. In fact..
Thanks to its proximity to Tokyo, Nikko already enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a tourist destination although it may be fair to say that most don’t stray much further within the national park than the shrines of Nikko Futarasan and Nikko ..
