I will be going to Nikko with 30 of my colleagues on a business trip. My boss has asked me to come up with a 2-3 hour activity for us to do in the area. Suggestions were hiking and onsen, but we’ve planned for onsen and I don’t know how to motivate the ojisan’s to go on a hike. Any other suggestions?
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Go play with the monkeys.
https://www.osaruland.jp/
Visit Toshogu Shrine? Even if you don’t sit and listen to any of the tour/explanations or pay for anything extra, you can pretty much wander the grounds at your own pace and kill 2-3 hours. And if I recall correctly there’s food and coffee stalls to kill additional time.
find a good kyaba or soapland i guess
Why is this the Foreigner’s responsibility?
Seriously just go to a nice restaurant or Monkey land.
You dont need to go into the mountains for a hike. Around chuusenjiko is pleasant and not too demanding.
But yeah might still be hard to motivate ossans. If it’s after snow has fallen you can do cross country skiing(including rental)
edomura 🤩🤩🤩 http://edowonderland.net/ i think ossans will enjoy the museums/oiran ladies
Geez, why you?
Well, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve been there, but wife used to work in Utsunomiya so I’ve been there a number of times.
There is/was a bus trip that goes through the area including the waterfall. In the Fall, it should be scenic. Look up the Tobu bus tours. One of them is a World Heritage Site tour.
It might be a PITA to corral 30 dudes onto a bus tour though.
You could also just kill time going through the main temple area and then hit an izakaya?
This isnt in Nikko itself, but rather outside of Utsunomiya. It’s an underground quarry that’s so huge they stored planes inside during WWII and has cool lit up sculptures to wander through. There’s also a huge Kannon statue and shrine built into the cliff. I’d doubt many of your colleagues would’ve been there before. Perhaps you could stop here on your way to/from Nikko (assuming you’ll be chartering a bus for group transport). Spend 2-3 hours here then head on to Nikko to checkin at your hotel.
– [Utsunomiya Oya Stone](https://japantoday.com/category/features/travel/utsunomiya-a-place-to-quarry-out-the-history-and-geology-of-oya-stone)
– [Oya Subterranean Quarry](https://maps.app.goo.gl/eGz7NKQm3i5ZL8BL6?g_st=ic)
– [Oya Temple](https://maps.app.goo.gl/kWtbAzEoHynPo8Ro9?g_st=ic)
– [Heiwa Kannon](https://maps.app.goo.gl/GDFSHARfXcsB214G7?g_st=ic)
Dayagawa park is plenty big and very relaxing. You can ground golf 18 holes for like five bucks a person. <- this to me seems super old people friendly and fun to do. It’s not quite as small as put golf, aesthetic in terms of nature, cheap, and what ojisan doesn’t like golf?
Nikko abyss is a cool little spot by the river with many statues.
You can drive up the irohazaka to chuzenji town and lake which is a plenty beautiful spot to walk or rent a boat.
There isn’t really alot of unique things that set Nikko apart from everywhere else in terms of attractions but they do have the tobu world square miniature park and Edo wonderland. My thought is that both would be pretty corny for adults / people on business.
Everything here is beautiful, but it isn’t huge on stuff. The scenic towns are off the beaten path as yunishigawa is also quite beautiful. There’s also a wetlands town past chuzenji I can never remember the name off with very sulphury smelling onsens.
I’m curious as to the nature of the trip considering all I can think of that employs quite a few people here that isn’t public is the power plant near Kiyotaki.
The local ramen most people prefer is kidzoku ramen which is over near the shimotsuke-osawa town area of imaichi. Next to a typical driving range and a karaoke spot. It has this spicy beef ramen they call karabi (I think?) And it honestly slaps.