Autumn Week 2 Trip Feedback

Hi All,

I'm currently preparing for a potential trip in November/December and am looking for some feedback on things in the area which I have missed or are worth visiting. The locations are rather eclectic since I've visited a lot of Japan in the past. I'm not too interested in COVID-19 comments as if Japan is closed then it's closed.

Tickets have been purchased but can be changed to local flights in my home country (Australia) so that's not so much of a problem. I got a lot of excellent feedback from my first post which was much appreciated.

November 19 - Chichibu: Mitsumine Shrine, Hashidatedo Temple, Chosenin Temple, Seiunji Temple (plus potentially visit Chichibu Festival Centre & Chichibu Shrine)
November 20 - Enoshima: Enoshima Shrine, Enoshima Sea Candle, Iwaya Cave (I've visited Kamakura countless times but always missed Enoshima)
November 21 - Nagoya Day 1: Noritake Garden, TCMIT, Nagoya Castle, Tokugaewan, Osu Kannon
November 22 - Nagoya Day 2 - Maglev, Shirotei Garden, Atsuta Shrine (could be used to visit sites not visited on 21st - any other suggestions are also appreciated)
November 23 - Meji Mura (revisit - one of my favorite places in Japan)
November 24 - day trip to Gujo Hachiman (I was going to stay the night but expensive hotels): Yudokan
Saito Museum, Omodake Museum, Jionzenji Temple, Gujo Kanko, Anyoji Temple, Gujo Hachiman Castle, Harurankan

As you can see - there is a lot of travel. This is followed by 5 nights in Kyoto, 2 nights in a location not yet chosen and 5 nights in Tokyo. My time in Kyoto is chosen for the best fall colors depending on the year.

My main interests include nice gardens, traditional residences and basically looking at old buildings. As I will be in Quarantine soon - this is also a quarantine project since I won't be able to leave a hotel room for 14 days.....

Hi! I really liked Chichibu area, it is quite nice along the railway and Nagatoro in particular is a nice little town. We saw it in May so I'm not sure what it is like for Autumn, there are certainly lots of trees about so it should be good. Dont expect it to be very touristy though, it is very quiet during week days and might be more fun on a weekend.

Enoshima is one of my favorite places. I've seen it in early December when there was some colour about at the top. I usually stay at Iwamotoro Honkan there which is pretty good value and a great place to see Mt Fuji in the morning across the bay.

Enjoy!

Here some tips for Nagoya, a little outside but generally better than the just average feeling sights within the city:
* Check out these onsens:
** Nagashima Onsen Yuaminoshima (one of the best Onsen lands in japan i know, there is a direct connection shuttle from Meitetsu Bus Center)
** Very special shrine onsen: ‰i˜a‰·�ò ‚Ý‚»‚¬‚Ì“’
* Nabana no Sato ‚Ȃ΂Ȃ̗¢
* Site of Reversible Destiny, in my opinion highly underrated (—{˜V“V–½”½“]’n) with the nice Yoro Waterfall near (—{˜V‚Ì‘ê)
* Just a remark for Atsuta Shrine: left me kinda unimpressed, but well, maybe you like it better

In Gujo Hachiman:
* Sogi Spring �@‹_�… (although it is impossible to miss, since everyone goes there)
* Yanaka Lane (‚â‚È‚©�…‚Ì‚±‚Ý‚¿) nice street

And there is one secret i share with you:
* On the trip to Gujo Hachiman, check out Mino. I will not tell more here to avoid this place getting spoiled, do your recherche, but it is imo one of the best places in japan, e.g. start here
** ‹Œ�¡ˆä‰Æ�Z‘î�E”ü”ZŽj—¿ŠÙ
** i would even reserve more time for Mino than for Gujo Hachiman :-).

November 24 - day trip to Gujo Hachiman (I was going to stay the night but expensive hotels)  

You might want to try this place:

�ňÀ‰¿Ši 5,455‰~ (�Å�ž 6,000‰~)�@  
http://www.yado-sagashi.jp/yoyaku/plan/plcal.jsp?y=6366663987473&p=34&...;

Ah, maybe something else near Meji Mura, which i forgot:
* Eihoji (ŒÕŒkŽR ‰i•ÛŽ›)
* and i suppose you have seen Inuyama Castle and Urakuen (—LŠy‰‘) already?

Thanks for the info everyone. One thing I'm considering doing is now staying 2 nights in Nagoya - do my stuff and then hire a car and drive for 2 nights to cover some stuff in this area. There seems to be a lot of slow public transport to Meiji Mura and Gujo-Hachiman which will be as fast as my slow driving.

I've found the town you are speaking about and the hotel mentioned Shinji might end up being useful a bit closer to the date (still too early to book). I'm also hesitant about booking during peak season when I might not even be able to get in Japan - even though my expectation is that my country will stop me from visiting more than Japan (Australia).

Yeah I'm from Oz as well and am resigned to no overseas trips until late next year (figuring sensible permission conditions by mid next year but no point travelling until later due to heat). But on the upside, I've just put a big cedar hot tub in at home to compensate so I'm not missing the onsens as much.

good luck!

Lazy Pious: Cedar Hot Tub???? Wow! Now i am envious! :-)
In desperation for not be able to onsen, i make myself every day hot baths with onsen-bathing salts.... But of course that sucks compared to a cedar tub :-(

should mean "jealous" not "envious". stupid autocorrect

Thanks! Yeah it's quite an interesting process setting it up and the tannin is still leeching a bit out of the wood but the smell is amazing. My wife likes to put the lights on and have bubbles going in it, but I am like "onsen bathing is serious business, there is to be no fun in here!". Unfortunately I can only get it to just over 40 degrees, I think about 42 is optimum for a real onsen. But yeah, I'd rather be in Japan but I cant complain at all!

completely offtopic, but did you have it made "tailored" for you or was it buyable this way out of the box? and how much did it cost? is it made of one piece of wood? (i remember bathing in japan in a giang hollowed cedar tree in some onsen. it was wonderful)

Brizvegas here.

Caught up with a doctor friend this morning, he reckons no travel overseas until towards the end of next year. The vaccine race is on, but while it's happening fast in medical terms, it will take a while.

Broome is calling but even that won't be for a while I think.

Lazy Pious I am envious of the bath to soak in, particularly now the weather is cooler.

mfedley I hope I'm wrong and you get to do your trip. I liked Nagoya, and wanted to go to Meiji Mura but was floored by hayfever and couldn't face the public transport. Your plan to drive is probably what I'd do next time. Atsuta is really special, and we enjoyed Inuyama Castle. The train museum we went to was way out at the end of the line, near the Lego museum, and was most interesting. I don't think there was a Maglev museum when we were there. I didn't love Nagoya Castle but the area around it is very interesting.

Hope your quarantine is comfortable.

Cheers sorry to hijack thread but Glimpigumpi it is a western red cedar hot tub, I got it from sproutwell greenhouses in Victoria if you are in Oz yourself, they were great to deal with. I got the 1.8m size which is pretty big (they come in 1.5m, 1.8m and 2.1m), and had it connected to our pool heat pump to run efficiently, though it comes with a heater included which would probably cost a packet to run. It comes as a kit which I think they get in from Canada or the US. You assemble it yourself which is a bit of a production but easy enough if you take your time, you need to have at least one helper. It was about $12K Australian which is not cheap but I figured it is less than I usually pay for a trip and I wont be having one of those this year lol. There is another firm in South Australia that makes them and ships them assembled, and they seemed good to deal with as well.

I appreciate that there is novelty factor involved as it is pretty new, but seriously it is the next best thing to being in an onsen town. Ours is filled with rainwater and it is sanitised by an ozonator so it is very nice, soft water which I've put some magnesium in.

If you want more details let me know and I'll post a separate thread "Advice for the onsen deprived Ozzies"