- This is a continuation post from Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here (Kobe/Himeji, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Mie)
- Refer to link for a map covering Day 25 ~ 31 here.
- This post covers from Osaka to Kanazawa Central, day trip to Shirakawago to Osaka and a dive into Noto Peninsula (Nanao, Wakura Onsen, and everything else on the peninsula), capping with a domestic flight out to Tokyo.
- This trip occurred during Mid-November to Mid-December (autumn season).
– NOTE: although it is already more than half a year since the earthquake, I do note that as of writing, a good percentage of the facilities, lodging and roads at Wakura Onsen and Noto Peninsula are in reconstruction. Please verify that those facilities are reopened ahead of time if you do intend to stop by here.
Lastly, do visit Ishikawa if schedule permits – it’s a lovely prefecture!
Day 25 – Kanazawa Central, Yuwaku Onsen, Ishikawa Prefectural Library (Ishikawa)
Took the first train out from Osaka at 0630 to Kanazawa via the limited express Thunderbird for a 3 hours ride. I would note that at this early timing, the train shops that sell bentos are NOT OPEN this early so do get something to bite on from Lawsons or a 7-11. Additionally, as of March 2024 Thunderbird ends at Fukui and you’ll need to transit via Shinkansen over to Kanazawa instead (which is sort of a bummer since you’ll need to make a train transfer, but presumably it’ll be faster overall). Grabbed the 1-day bus pass from the tourist centre, deposited my luggage at the hotel and started exploring via bus.
The day was split into three parts:
– Morning/early noon at Higashichaya District. The gold leaf museum was closed when I visited, however I enjoyed strolling along Higashichaya and along the Asano River. There is numerous comparisons between it and Kyoto, and I generally agree that its an apt comparison (traditional wooden structures etc etc) sans the crowd. Enjoyed a nice bowl of seasonal crab porridge at a cool 3k yen at a relatively highly rated restaurant named Ushinoya. Crossing the river, I stopped by the Kanazawa Phonograph Musuem which was a small but quaint museum. Spent just under an hour here looking at old models.
– A visit to Yuwaku Onsen on the outskirts in the afternoon. Access to Yuwaku Onsen via bus is limited to once every 1-2 hours. Wanted to explore for primarily anime reasons (Hanasaku Iroha) but I enjoyed soaking in the foot bath (bring your towel or buy one from the nearby shop) and walking around the town. One interesting fact is that this town organizes a festival every October which first originated from the anime itself.
– A trip to the Ishikawa Prefectural Library in the evening. Not a typical tourist hotspot one would expect, but the architecture is simply stunning, with heavy usage of wood (according to their website its almost 80% of the entire structure). It exudes that feeling of vibrancy and warmth which most libraries do not have (in general, libraries are usually ‘stale’ and ‘mute’, at least for me). Additionally, I do like how the designers integrate study spaces within the library. I spent about 2 hours till closing relaxing at the library. Worth a visit, if you are into architecture.
The hotel for the next 3 nights was the Hotel Forza Kanazawa, which was directly opposite Omicho Market, and several bus stops away from the main shopping district Korinbo. The hotel was value for money with a pretty spacious room for one, and comes with some neat features like a shoe dryer (which will come in handy in the coming days). Room rates was about $70USD a day which was pretty affordable and well worth the room quality/space.
Day 26 – Shirakawago (Gifu), Kanazawa Central (Ishikawa)
Morning half day-trip to Shirakawago via highway bus, followed by a continuation of Kanazawa exploration in the afternoon.
Reserved a return ticket for the Shirakawago express bus via phone for free (with help from a friend) as I had the Takayama-Hokuriku Area tourist pass [they do get sold out so reserve ahead of time if possible. The 0810 bus I took was full]. Took about 1.5 hours from Kanazawa to Shirakawago. I spent 2 hours here before having to catch the return bus back to Kanazawa. It was raining rather heavily so the view wasn’t ideal, though it does have that misting effect so that’s sort of cool (in a Silent Hill way). The main things I managed to squeeze in the ~2 hours were
– Hiking up to the Shiroyama Tenshukaku Observation Deck
– Enter one of the guest houses
– Look at the three houses
The (short) hike to the observatory is probably the most time consuming activity (and also physically demanding) with a bit of incline so be forewarned if you intend to do so (at least 30 minutes at a fast pace, double that if you want to take things easy). I contend that you should cater for 3~4 hours here to do things at a more comfortable clip. And do bring a raincoat for the unexpected autumn rain – its more useful than an umbrella. The tourist center do sell raincoats if you accidentally missed it out (which I did).
Headed back to Kanazawa by 1300, had Kanazawa Go-Go curry (900 yen for such a large portion), taking a break at the hotel to dry off myself (the shoe dryer was a godsend) before proceeding to explore more of Kanazawa, this time round on the ‘centre part’ i.e.
– Omicho Market. I feel that Omicho was a better representation of how markets in Japan are like, without the intense crowd levels. On reflection, I feel that visiting almost any other markets in Japan would be a better experience then visiting Tsukiji if one is able to explore outside of Tokyo. Prices were also generally cheaper/less marked-up compared to Tsukiji as well. Had a nice bowl of seafood don for just 1.5k yen.
– Kanazawa Castle. It’s a reconstructed castle, but nevertheless a nice detour if you have the time to spare enroute to Kenrokuen, with some history and details on the reconstruction methods used to reconstruct the castle.
– Kenrokuen. Personally my attraction of choice, I had a good time just strolling in the garden and enjoying the scenery. The entire environment was just serene and evokes a sense of calm. While it wasn’t snowing yet, they had already started setting up the tsukuba (those iconic wooden structures supporting the trees during snowfall).
– 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Arts. I personally had a good time exploring the exhibits (which as the name suggest, has a more modern lean to it). My personal favourites were the swimming pool exhibit, this exhibit on machine learning, as well as a Twitter check mark vending machine, with a 1/100 chance of it dispensing a gold-leaf tick symbol (pretty tongue-in-cheek)
Day 27- Nanao, Kanazawa Central (Ishikawa)
This was an unplanned day, but I decided to head over to Nanao for some anime pilgrimage (for an anime named Insomniacs After School), which was an hour away from Kanazawa via local rail. I was already planning to come here the next day, but I realized I didn’t had enough time so I decided to devote extra time here.
Renting a local electric assist bike for 1k yen at the tourism centre, I explored various spots around Nanao related to the anime. Some spots of interest (that aren’t just anime related only) are as follow:
– Hanayomenoren Museum. A small museum featuring bridal curtains and its importance for marriages in the past.
– Nanao Castle Ruins. Another anime-related hotspot, the cycle up is relatively easy with an e-bike, but probably better done with a car. The reward for cycling up the mountain is a picturesque view of the city facing the sea.
– Roadside Station Noto Shokusai Market (道の駅 能登食祭市場). While small, the food offerings were pretty good and affordable (the same don I had in Kanazawa was about 100-200 yen cheaper here).
– Had some fluffy pancake and coffee from a café that was featured in the manga, tasted divine (Chuoh Saroh, 中央茶廊). Owner was also a big fan of the anime.
Returning to Kanazawa at night, I explored the remaining places that I have yet to do so, namely Nagamachi District and Oyama Shrine. I should mention that at night, both venues are already closed, but you can enter and view the grounds.
Day 28- Wakura Onsen, Noto Peninsula (Ishikawa)
One neat feature offered by the Ishikawa tourism centre is that they offer same-day luggage forwarding services to any places within Ishikawa for a nominal fee (~900 yen) as long as you pass it to them by the cut-off timing. Availing myself with that service, I boarded the final sightseeing train of the trip, the Hanayomenoren *(*related to the museum visited yesterday). The train interior is coated with gold leaf and is tastefully decorated, decorated with numerous bridal curtains. Was an enjoyable 1.5 hour train ride over to Nanao.
I then proceeded to do some train spotting related to anime and visited some anime hotspots at Nishigishi Station before retiring at an onsen ryokan named Tadaya (和倉温泉 多田屋) for the next two nights. Special mention for the room which was very large for a single occupant, with a great view of the Nanao Bay in the morning. Dinner was outstanding with a printed-out English menu spelling out what I was offered, with some uncommon cuisine such as shirako/cod milt. I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Regrettably, as of writing, the ryokan has yet to reopen. One night (with dinner and breakfast) costed about 30k yen for one person.
Day 29 – Wakura Onsen, Noto Peninsula (Ishikawa)
Had a friend who helped to drive me around Noto Peninsula. This sector should be done with a car as public transport is almost non-existent, with bus services/frequencies very limited. Some interesting visiting spots are as follow:
– Noto Milk – a local shop specializing in milk produce. The milk ice cream is worth the try if you come here.
– Wakura Onsen Festival Halls (和倉温泉お祭り会館). A large museum/hall showing the local festival that they celebrate annually (they had this larger-than-life floats and a literal fire festival). Also featured in the anime incidentally.
– Mawaki Site. Allegedly the birthplace of the jomon people [prehistoric people], it sorta feels like Stonehenge for lack of a better comparison, except that its made of wood instead of stone. There is also a nearby museum but we didn’t had the time for it
– Mitsuke Island (見附島). An island that is shaped like a battleship, and looks pretty imposing when you are near it. You could cross via some rocks to get close to it, though i would mention that it is not an easy task to do so. Regrettably, the island was badly damaged during the earthquake in January, and is no longer of the same size/stature that it once was.
– Shiroyone Senmaida Rice Terraces (白米千枚田) . Labelled by the UN as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, the view overfacing the sea was great, though we were a bit too early to witness the night illumination (we had to leave early around 1700). The sea breeze can be a bit strong so expect a bit of a chill as you head downwards towards the sea.
On reflection, in order to explore the peninsula more thoroughly, I feel that at least 2~2.5 days is necessary (to explore other parts such as Wajima (which is also badly affected by the earthquake). Retired at the ryokan for the night.
Day 30 – Noto Satoyama Airport à Haneda Airport, Akihabara (Tokyo)
Had yet another great breakfast in the ryokan before checking out and heading towards the nearest domestic airport (Noto Satoyama Airport). A neat service provided by the local airport to residents/tourists on Noto Peninsula is a dedicated taxi service from the ryokan to the local airport at a flat fee of 1500 yen. Together with the flight ticket at 10k yen, it was considerably cheaper and faster to take a domestic flight to Haneda instead of taking the Shinkansen via Kanazawa (was about 15~16k yen then for 4~4.5 hours of train compared to 1h of flight at 11.5k yen).
After arriving in Tokyo just before noon, I spent the rest of the day doing some shopping at Ginza (Yamaha, Tokyu Hands, Itoya, etc), checking out Tokyo Station and spent the remainder of my time at Akihabara looking for good deals and some other vtuber stuffs. Your mileage may vary depending on interests (if you like shopping, you should cater for more time).
The final hotel for the next 5-6 days was the Blossom Hibiya, located near Shimbashi. Initially, I thought it was slightly out of the way compared to hotels at Ginza or Shinjuku, but as days went by I liked the venue more because it was more… quieter and less hectic compared to those locations, with ample affordable dining options just a block away and JR/metro mere minutes walk away. The hotel room itself was not bad, with a pretty large comfortable bed, and a great view of the city (I could even see the Skytree from the hotel room!). Also comes with an iPad which allows you to control the room lighting and even check the washing machine availability. All in all, a pretty good but slightly expensive hotel – would recommend if you dont mind the hole in your wallet.
Thanks for reading. I’m honestly not sure if there is interest in my Tokyo/Chiba leg so this may be the last post (there’s plenty of Tokyo trip reports and they’re mainly of good quality so I'm not sure if my contribution is worth much). Hope you enjoyed reading it! In the event that I don't continue on the Tokyo/Chiba post, I would note that the all-in expenditure for the entire 36 days was approximately $13k USD (inclusive of a business flight ticket upgrade); with some cost optimization I believe the trip cost can go down to $10k USD.
by wardXn