Trip Report (part 2): Lake Biwa to Kanazawa to Takaoka to Tokyo (February 2020)

Hi all

Part 1 of my trip report can be found here which covers our time at the Sapporo Snow Festival – [https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/gocboa/trip\_report\_sapporo\_snow\_festival\_2020/](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/gocboa/trip_report_sapporo_snow_festival_2020/)

As some background, we had been to Japan a few times and the main purpose was to see the Sapporo Snow Festival and Shirakawago light up, so our trip was planned around this.

**Lake Biwa (Biwako) – 4 days (Feb 9 to 12)**

**Day 1** \- We departed on our flight from Sapporo to Osaka mid morning and made our way to our hotel in Otsu (Biwako Hotel). On the way we picked up our 7 day JR Kansai Hokuriku Area Pass which would prove very useful over the coming week. We had previously been to Osaka and Kyoto, so decided to stay somewhere nearby with the aim of seeing a few new things. Otsu is a quiet town with the hotels easily walkable from the station (10 mins). There is also a tram that runs through the town which helps when getting to a few of the sights. The station also has a supermarket which is handy to pick up the essentials. The only challenge is the lack of food options in the area. We went to a great Omi beef restaurant one night (Kadoman) which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone in that area, but the other 3 nights we stuck to restaurants at the hotel, so it would be something to consider if you are thinking of staying here instead of Kyoto or Osaka.

**Day 2** \- In the morning we headed to Daiichi Nagisa Park Rape Blossom Fields to view the rape blossoms that were in bloom. It was a bit of a trek to get there as we had to catch a train to Moriyama Station before transferring to an infrequent bus. The blossoms itself were really nice but probably not worth the challenge getting there as a lot of time was spent waiting for buses. After that we went to Omi Hachiman which was a great. We enjoyed going up the ropeway and then strolling around the canals. We also stumbled across a nice place that served sweet rice balls and rice tea which was comforting given the cold weather.

**Day 3** \- In the morning we headed off to Uji with our first stop being Nakamura Tōkichi. We arrived just before opening and didn’t expect there to be a queue already! The tea, soba and desserts here were great! We actually went to the one in Ginza later in our trip which was just as nice. We slowly made our way to Byodoin temple before walking back to the station. Uji is a great town just to walk around. It’s very compact with lots of places selling matcha treats and a few neat shops. After Uji we made our way to Nara for a late lunch and quick visit to see the deers. We had previously been to Nara but went again so our daughter could see the deers.

**Day 4** \- We decided to do a day trip to Osaka to do a bit of shopping. We also strolled around Osaka castle which I hadn’t previously been to and enjoyed the plum blossoms that were starting to bloom.

**Morning of departure** \- Before heading to Kanazawa we took the tram from Otsu to Ishiyama-dera Temple. It was a really nice temple and very peaceful in the morning. I think we only saw 5 or so other walking around when we were there, so definitely worth checking out for anyone in the area. After that we hopped on our train to Kanazawa.

**Kanazawa – 3 days (Feb 13 to 15)**

**Day 1** \- We arrived in Kanazawa around lunchtime and spent the rest of they day strolling around the town. We had previously stayed in Kanazawa so we enjoyed just being able to walk around Higashi Chaya, the Castle and surrounding areas without feeling the need to visit every shop or attraction. All 3 nights we were there we had dinner at a different izakaya, with the highlight being Fuwari. The last time we were in Kanazawa ended up eating near the station most nights, but this time we found that there were a lot of great modern izakaya’s which served up some really nice dished. It definitely makes we want to come back just for the food. We also found that at the place we went to there wasn’t much smoking, but maybe we just got lucky.

**Day 2** \- We didn’t really have any firm plans for day 2 and 3, so just kinda did what we felt like. On day 2 we decided to go to Gokayama for a visit and hopefully see some snow. We knew it was a warmer winter and were hopeful there was snow given we were going to Shirakawago in a few days. The trip to Gokayama was pleasant. We took the shinkansen to Tokaoka before switching to their local train for Johana which was decked out in anime pictures. We then hopped on the bus to Gokayama. It was a bit of a journey but when you aren’t in a rush it can be quite enjoyable. Gokayama was a pleasant visit. There was still some snow on the rooftops and ground but we could see that it was starting to melt as we frequently saw large chunks falling off rooftops. We walked up to the viewing platform which was a bit tricky with the icy ground but was definitely worth it. Back in Kanazawa we visited Kenrokuen at night for their free winter light up. There wasn’t any snow but it was still really nice seeing the garden illuminated. Maybe it was good that it was a bit warmer as we were able to walk around and explore for an hour or so without feeling the need to go back to our hotel.

**Day 3** \- Again, no real plans so we just walked went to the markets, went to the shops for a bit. We spent a lot of time at the Ishikawa Local Products Center where they have a number of craft workshops. We probably did around 4 or 5 different things here and it turned out to be quite enjoyable and we have a few souvenirs to bring home.

**Takaoka – 1 day (Feb 16)**

One of the reasons for our trip was to go to the Shirakawago winter light up. We had this booked in for the evening of February 16 with our bus departing from Takaoka. So we departed Kanazawa and made the short trip to Takaoka. It was raining so we found that we couldn’t really do too much walking when we got there so mainly stuck around the station. We spent our time focused on Doraemon, checking out the statues, sending some Doraemon postcards from the Doraemon post box and also taking a short trip on the Doraemon themed tram. It was fairly enjoyable but we found that the station area was really quiet with not many food options. Perhaps if the weather was nicer we could have explored a bit more but the main purpose was going to Shirakawago, so at around 3pm we hopped on our bus knowing the weather wasn’t great.

We arrived at Shirakawago and were greeted by lots of rain and no snow. It was kinda expected but at the same time disappointing, but who can control the weather. I consider myself lucky that we managed to go to Gokayama a couple of days prior and was able to see the snow covered houses as there wasn’t really much to see at Shirakawago that night. The one thing I didn’t know before booking was that there are set times to go up to the viewing platform. So once we arrived in Shirakawago we were almost immediately guided to the bus stop as we awaited our bus to the viewing platform. Once there we had to wait around an hour in the rain before the light up commenced, but even then it wasn’t completely dark. Given the rain it wasn’t worth waiting any longer so decided to just spend the time walking around and eating some snack. Overall it was a disappointing and wet night. Maybe one day I’ll make the trip back here or maybe not…

The following morning we were greeted by sunshine! Before heading to Tokyo we decided to take a walk to check out the Bhuddha which was neat. There were a lot of closed shops along the way as we went before Takaoka had woken up, so it would be neat to come back again on a nice day and see the city when it is alive.

Overall we enjoyed our time in the Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures and I would love to come back when it’s warmer and hire a car and drive around. I feel like there is so much to see but it can be tricky if you are limited to trains and buses.

**Tokyo – 9 days (Feb 17 to Feb 25)**

I won’t go into too much detail as we had been to Tokyo a few times so we spent our time revisiting things we loved while checking out a couple of new things. A few highlights included:

* Checking out the plum blossoms that were in bloom and enjoying the festivities. Yushima Tenjin was probably the pick. We went on the weekend and they had live music and lot of treats to eat including some plum blossom mochi. I always love it when the festivals are on.
* Spotting some early blooming cherry blossoms near Fureaibashi Bridge.
* Going back to Disneyland and DisneySea – always a lot of fun.
* Checking out Teamlabs Borderless for the first time and getting completely lost.
* Going to Gomaya Kuki around 5 times for the best black sesame ice cream.
* Stumbling across Tokyo Station Character street – how did I not know about this before??

Well that is it. I’ll keep dreaming about my next trip. I leaning towards a drive around Kyushu so hopefully that can be soon! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!