I am always impressed by JAL’s ability to offer an extremely high-quality trip on their 777-300 aircraft even in economy class.
Sky Hop Bus Tokyo
If you prefer a wide open atmosphere, I recommend traveling through Tokyo on one of the open-top buses that visits all the major metropolitan tourist areas, such as Shibuya and Shinjuku. The service offers three courses. There’s the Green Course that covers the Shibuya and Shinjuku areas, the Red Course that covers Tokyo Sky Tree and the Asakusa area, and the Blue Course that covers Tokyo Tower and the Odaiba area. One of the benefits is that you can get on and off at any stop you like along the route.
Lunch: GOOD MORNING CAFE NOWADAYS
This restaurant features a simple, industrial interior and design. Offering global cuisine within an atmosphere that condenses the modern Neo Tokyo aesthetic, it is popular groups of young people and salaried workers from nearby offices.
Sky Hop Bus Tokyo
This sightseeing bus service operates over three routes that pass by Tokyo Station, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Ueno, Asakusa, Ginza, and even Odaiba, letting you enjoy the metropolitan Tokyo area from different angles. Passengers can listen to descriptions in multiple languages, including French, while enjoying the major sight seeing spots in Tokyo in comfort. Depending on the route you select, you can use the busses as often as you like, either in the course of the day or over several days. The ride from Tokyo Station to Shibuya is approximately 65 minutes.
Lunch: GOOD MORNING CAFE NOWADAYS
This delicious café serves basic Italian food. It was the perfect café for breakfast, offering a chance to dine on abundant vegetables in the morning.
45 minutes by train (non-JR lines)
Japan National Stadium Tour
This stadium, which oversaw numerous historic moments in sports at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, was a very wonderful discovery. Stadium tours are currently offered at the Japan National Stadium, including a visit to the locker rooms and a walk along the central running track, allowing you to relive exciting moments in sports as if you were there. You can find a schedule of stadium tour dates on their website, so be sure to take a look before you visit.
Japan National Stadium Tour
The Japan National Stadium, where the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were held, offers stadium tours. There are also a variety of related exhibits available. Sights include athlete signatures on the walls, an awards platform you can climb to take pictures, a plate with the names of the medalists in all competitions, and even the Olympic torch stand. There are a variety of unique experiences to be had during the tour, such as visiting the locker rooms and viewer stands, touring the running track, and signing autographs for the camera like a winning tennis player and taking home a video as proof of the occasion. You can check the tour schedule on the stadium website.
30 minutes by train（JR）
Kodokan Judo Institute
What could possibly be more representative of Japan than Judo? This small, educational museum, with extremely pleasant receptionists, provides you deep and wide knowledge of the history of judo. Many people also participate in the daily practice sessions in the main dojo. For serious judo enthusiasts, we recommend that you take one of the courses and spend some time staying at the specially provided dormitory.
Dinner: Otako
Oden is one of the many local Japanese dishes available, consisting of a variety of ingredients boiled slowly in broth. But I myself have never really been to an oden restaurant. Luckily, I had the great pleasure this early autumn to get a taste of oden at an extremely reasonable price, surrounded in the warm bustle of the restaurant’s traditional atmosphere, while enjoying the nightlife of Shimbashi.
Accommodation: Marunouchi Hotel
The Marunouchi Hotel is situated in just the right place if you wish to travel Japan in a hurry. Within just two minutes’ walk from a central Tokyo station (with Shinkansen and airport access), it offers rooms that were recently renovated, and the breakfast is particularly tasty.
Kodokan Judo Institute
This dojo, established by the founder of judo, Jigoro Kano, is a must-see destination for martial arts enthusiasts. In addition to the free museum tracing the history of judo, visitors are allowed to watch the daily practice sessions from the 8F seats. This place is sure to be entertaining for first time visitors whether you are a judo beginner or expert.
Dinner: Otako
This wonderful restaurant, located it the highly bustling district of Shimbashi, serves oden, a type of Japanese style pot-au-feu, and offers diners a chance to seep themselves in the deeply local atmosphere.
Accommodation: Marunouchi Hotel
This luxury hotel offers great views in front of Tokyo Station. The area around the hotel becomes very quiet at night, and it is a convenient place to stay if you need to catch the Shinkansen the next morning.
180 minutes by JR Hokuriku Shinkansen
I am constantly surprised at the comfort and high quality of the Shinkansen trains, and the ease with which you can use them, with trains coming one after the other just minutes apart for you to jump aboard. The Hokuriku Shinkansen Fukui and Tsuruga route is scheduled to open in the spring of 2024, making those destinations accessible directly from Tokyo via high-speed train.
The Shinkansen is a very comfortable way to travel to Kanazawa via Toyama. It is great news that the Fukui - Tsuruga route on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line is scheduled to open in the spring of 2024.
Lunch: Cafe Imono Kitchen inside Nousaku
This was a quick lunch featuring the main offerings of curries and bagels using local ingredients, served in an extremely bright and modern interior.
Nousaku
Surrounded by the rice paddies of Toyama at the foot of the mountains, this foundry known for its local crafts not only offers opportunities to tour around its facilities from which you will learn a lot about the place, you can also join a workshop run by young staff members. In only thirty minutes, you can take home a sake cup you made yourself, or a decorative item you created easily under the guidance of one of the professional foundry craftspeople.
Lunch: Cafe Imono Kitchen inside Nousaku
This café is conveniently located within the Nousaku foundry. All the tableware used at the café was made in that foundry. The menu includes curries and udon noodles in addition to bagels, and the café also offers Japanese dishes for your dining pleasure.
Nousaku
The town of Takaoka boasts a history of over 400 years. Known as a site for copperware production, the foundry, which has been in business for over a century, offers a chance to learn about the knowledge of the local craftspeople. In addition to a guided tour of the foundry, visitors can also visit the café to enjoy delicious food prepared using implements made at the foundry, or enjoy the experience of making your own accessories to take home. Thus, this foundry combines opportunities to learn, make, and eat all together.
Dinner: Mikizushi Honten
This calm and reserved sushi restaurant serves an abundant array of high-quality seafood caught in Toyama Bay, and will surely help you relax after a hard day of traveling.
DoubleTree by Hilton Toyama
This hotel is situated in an ideal location, just a few steps from Toyama Station and the nightlife area of Sakurabashi. It offers spacious, modern rooms and a buffet breakfast.
Dinner: Mikizushi Honten
This is a very good sushi restaurant that offers a chance to eat seafood unlike what is normally available. You can enjoy a variety of seafood from around the entire Hokuriku region, including Toyama Prefecture.
DoubleTree by Hilton Toyama
This hotel is conveniently located quite close to Toyama Station. It was a hotel that was a great option for business use in addition to tourism. There was also a large public bath with attached sauna.
30 minutes by car
Bed & Craft
You will be able to discover the wisdom of this vibrant region of Hokuriku through projects like Bed & Craft located in a traditional village in Nanto City. This project is geared to enable creators to share their knowledge, where visitors can work together with the artists in their workshops (featuring such arts as lacquerware and sculpture), after which you can enjoy one of the nearby inns that have been redecorated to appeal to sophisticated modern tastes. Here you will enjoy a moment of enchantment that transcends time.
Lunch: Soba-kaiseki Matsuya
This is the ideal place to take a break for those in search of local tradition. This venerable Soba restaurant offers a lunch menu that will surprise you with its visual beauty and rich flavor. Diners sit directly on the tatami mats in this old wooden building located not too far from the wonderful Zuisenji Temple.
Bed & Craft
Each room or house managed by the Bed & Craft association was decorated by local craftspeople and offers the traveler wonderful views by which to enjoy the comfortable time and space, whether it be of baths or Japanese gardens.
Bed & Craft
Bed & Craft is located in the lovely village of Inami, which hosts countless craftspeople who earn their living from their art. They offer six different homes, designed by six different artists, for rent as a service. Each offers its own unique personality and characteristics, but all offer luxuriant comfort. But the greatest appeal of Bed & Craft is that you can experience in-depth hands-on craft workshops with real craftspeople. The three-hour workshops allow visitors to mix their own urushi lacquer from tree sap and pigments to make their own lacquered chopsticks. It is a great opportunity to experience real-life rural Japanese crafts.
Lunch: Soba-kaiseki Matsuya
This soba noodle shop features a wonderful local atmosphere. You need reservations for their kaiseki course meals, but you can enjoy their normal soba and udon noodle menu without reservations. We were able to get a taste of authentic handmade soba.
Bed & Craft
The houses are incredibly beautiful and elegant, and located within a lovely village. Their program that combines accommodations with hands-on experience of the work of local craftspeople is simply wonderful.
10 minutes by car
Rakudo-An (Experiences, meals, and tours)
This spacious, traditional home, situated in the middle of the field, has been completely renovated as a place to introduce artists of traditional to modern crafts and the abundance of the local region. After participating in a delicate tea ceremony, visitors can go on to enjoy the individual rooms, each designed by a different local designer, and the extremely high-class services. In a room adjacent to the main house, visitors can also dine on a dinner of Japanese and western food, directed by a chef trained In Italy, that is a superb example of contemporary fusion cuisine. Then, why not take a walk into the night of this rural town to help with digestion, and visit a rehearsal of a local group of traditional taiko drum performers.
Rakudo-An (Room, service and breakfast)
The unrivaled peaceful evening can only be described as amazing, and the breakfast was sumptuous, like dining at Pantagruel in Paris, rivaling the dinner the night before. In a word, perfect.
Rakudo-An (Experiences, meals, and tours)
This luxury ryokan inn is extremely comfortable, and offers a particularly rare chance to enjoy a moment of quiet and relaxation surrounded by nature and rice paddies. When you arrive, you are served with a welcome drink of matcha green tea in a show of elegant and refined hospitality. The rooms are spacious, with the utmost care taken in every aspect. The food is also amazing, offering a fusion of Italian, French, and Japanese cuisines using local ingredients. The breakfast in particular is absolutely delicious. As an additional activity, visitors are suggested to attend the rehearsal of the local Japanese taiko drum group at a secluded shrine in the middle of the fields on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. It’s a warm and touching opportunity to interact with the local people!
Rakudo-An (Room, service and breakfast)
The rooms here are comfortable, the service is attentive, and the lunch is outstanding. This inn offers visitors with a moment of beauty and luxury.
90 minutes by train (Hokuriku Shinkansen + the limited express ”SHIRASAGI”) Show details
You can travel smoothly from Toyama to Fukui by using the Shinkansen and a limited express train.
This train is a comfortable way to reach Takefu in just around 90 minutes.
O-edo+ (lunch)
This stylish café, surrounded by centuries old trees and situated adjacent to a small shrine and temple, is a wonderful example of community revitalization. Here you can experience colorful sushi and sashimi sets of stunning beauty that beg to be posted to social media, alongside a variety of pastries and home-brewed espresso.
Takefu Knife Village
Knife making is surely the most well-known craft of the Fukui region. Visitors can see the creations of no less than 40 craftspeople at this association of knife and blade makers. You can also visit their shop next door to attend a workshop where young artisans will give you expert advice as you forge your own blade.
O-edo+ (lunch)
This restaurant is truly a hidden gem of Echizen! The restaurant offers diners a chance to taste the numerous delicious dishes on the menu, with temarizushi (small balls of sushi) included in extremely beautiful and creative ways. You can create your own ideal sushi by freely mix and match fish, various types of rice, and numerous different condiments. In addition to this tempting treat, you can also enjoy amazingly delicious homemade desserts, such as their muffins that melt in your mouth.
Takefu Knife Village
This knifemaker association offers you the unique opportunity to watch the craftspeople work right there, enabling you to learn the entire process of making Japanese knives. The free tour allows visitors to watch the craftspeople work from a high observation point, while the paid tour allows you the unique experience of creating your own real knife over a six hour course. The staff are very welcoming and speak perfect English. The shop also sells a selection of wonderful knives produced by the craftspeople in the village.
Dinner In the hotel
After an extremely informative tour of the craft facility in Udatsu, nearby the Otaki Shrine where the god of washi paper is enshrined, and a look at the extremely detailed production process, I head towards Echizen. The dinner that awaits you there, at a restaurant that rivals a traditional ryotei inn, will reach levels of wonder you will not be able to believe, as you enjoy a variety of seasonal seafood, refined kaiseki cuisine, and sake from local breweries (which you should take in moderation). It will be an unforgettable experience.
Kyo Yorozu
After a traditional breakfast in the dining room, and spending a comfortable night in the spacious guest room appropriate for even families and groups, take a refreshing walk through Echizen and its ancient paths.
Dinner In the hotel
This was one of the best meals of the trip, and every part of it was amazing. It consisted of a kaiseki course dinner that was refined, elegant, and delicious.
Kyo Yorozu
The spacious rooms in this beautiful inn feature a large, very comfortable bath.
60 minutes by car
Heisenji Hakusan Shrine
This is the type of place that you really need to visit in Japan, far away from the popular tourist routes and the crowded temples and shrines. The Heisenji Shrine could be described as a veritable treasure, surrounded by nature and mossy rocks, offering the visitor moving views of unique scenery that evoke the spiritual ancestors of Japan. Visitors can enjoy traveling the many small pathways, climbing up and down the stone steps surrounded by wooden structures weathered by moisture and age, past massive trees and historic rocks.
Heisenji Hakusan Shrine
Heisenji Hakusan Shrine: This magnificent shrine is speckled with moss throughout and filled with abundant greenery, and allows visitors to immerse themselves in the unique, mystical atmosphere. Not many tourists make it all the way to the deep, secluded location, so one soon finds themselves alone, as though they were in a forgotten secret paradise. You can also go hiking on Mount Haku (Hakusan) starting from this shrine.
30 minutes by car
ESHIKOTO
This is another example of success in this innovative region of Hokuriku. This multipurpose facility in a massive ultra-modern building, located in a basin surrounded by the mountains of Fukui, offers a chance to gaze on the unique scenery while dining on a lunch of creative cuisine made from the meats, fish, and vegetables of local farmers and fishermen for only a few thousand yen. The facility is operated by Kokuryu brewery that was invented by a new generation of a long-established sake manufacturer, and you can try a taste of their special Eshikoto sake.
ESHIKOTO
This very modern restaurant offers cuisine and ingredients created using Japanese sake. They also produce breads and desserts in the same manner! The cuisine combines influences of both France and Japan. The view from the restaurant is breathtaking, allowing you to look over a vast area of greenery with a river running through it. It is the ideal environment for enjoying this high-quality cuisine. In addition to the restaurant and pastry shop, there is also a Japanese sake shop with a bar corner where you can enjoy stunning drinks.
Dinner In the hotel
I have no idea the lengths they must go to at this large restaurant, that was just renovated in a highly tasteful manner, to provide each customer with painstakingly prepared kaiseki cuisine in private rooms, but the experience of dining on the delicate and rich flavors was amazing. It is the perfect way to end a tiring day before getting into the main bath at the Grandia Housen hot spring.
Grandia Housen
The first floor features a massive room with a private bath facing a Japanese garden, and there are many other traditional style rooms as well, but the rooms on the upper floors are not to be outdone either. The rooms of this hotel, that was completely renovated just two years ago, are extremely modern and spacious. Each room features an indoor terrace facing a large bath, with extremely bright and beautiful wooden bathtubs are used to add a great effect. This highly enjoyable hot spring resort town offers luxury at a reasonable price.
Dinner In the hotel
The restaurant offers a beautiful and delicious dinner based on a theme of the tsukimi moon festival. The pleasant staff also speak English quite well. Dining here was a wonderful experience!
Grandia Housen
This luxury ryokan inn, located in the attractive Ashihara hot springs resort town, is particularly noted for offering several rooms with their own private outdoor baths, offering guests a moment of comfort and relaxation. With very efficient and considerate service by staff who understand English, the dinner is also beautiful to look at and delicious to taste.
20 minutes by car
20 minutes by train (the limited express ”SHIRASAGI”) Show details
10 minutes by bus
70 minutes by plane (JAL) Show details
During the JAL flight that allowed me to travel smoothly in relaxation between Tokyo and the rich Hokuriku region, I was able to reflect on my unforgettable journey of several days in the quiet comfort of a private space in the aircraft.
The roughly one-hour JAL flight from Komatsu to Tokyo was very comfortable.
I thought it would be difficult to tackle the challenge of traveling to two completely different parts of Japan in several days, with the Tokyo metropolitan area on the one hand and Hokuriku on the other, without getting exhausted, but the extremely easy access and regularity of public transportation got me to a variety of locations in just a few hours, making the journey enjoyable. I was extremely pleased that I was able to enjoy a moving, intense experience during my stay, with deep joy, rather than just skimming the surface. After visiting the city of Tokyo, so rich and plentiful that it is impossible to experience it all, the important point to visiting Hokuriku is to stay at a luxurious and accessible hotel where you can experience a taste of the Japanese lifestyle. I realize after this trip of several days that I simply want nothing more than to return to Fukui, Toyama, and of course Tokyo as soon as possible, to visit again the nature, the long hiking trails, the spiritual places, and the craftspeople, and enjoy the delicious meals and immeasurable hospitality.
This tour from Tokyo to the Toyama and Fukui areas taught me about parts of Japan that I had been unaware of, namely Tokyo with a focus on experiencing the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, and regional areas that keep maintaining traditional crafts at the same time. On top of that, it is possible to enjoy these sights in comfort with high quality food and accommodations.
