Greater Tokyo

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Kubo Memorial Tourism and Cultural Exchange Center

Kubo Memorial Tourism and Cultural Exchange Center

The residence of Sadajiro Kubo, an art critic connected with Moka City, has been given new form as a tourism center. There are a total of five buildings here, which include a Tourism Product Promotion Center and an Italian restaurant, in addition to historical buildings consisting of an Art Exhibition Hall built in 1923, a Tourism Town Development Center built in 1879, and the Kubo Memorial Hall built in 1907.

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WAIN – Vintage Rice Barn in Nasu

WAIN – Vintage Rice Barn in Nasu

Originally built in the early Showa period, this traditional Japanese kura (storehouse) and barn were transformed into a warm and inviting guesthouse through extensive renovations in 2023, designed to comfortably accommodate up to two families (up to 8 guests). While preserving the nostalgic charm of the original architecture, we’ve thoughtfully modernized the facilities, adding two fully equipped bathrooms and kitchens to ensure a spacious and comfortable stay for our international guests. After relocating from Tokyo to embrace a sustainable lifestyle, we now cultivate organic, pesticide-free vegetables that we’re delighted to share with our guests. Set on a sprawling 2000-square-meter garden, the property invites you to enjoy open-air activities: play with our two friendly rescue dogs, explore the grounds, catch insects, or savor a barbecue amidst nature’s beauty. This is a space where modern comfort meets rustic tradition, offering a tranquil countryside retreat.

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Ryumon Folk Crafts Museum

Ryumon Folk Crafts Museum

The Ryumon Folk Crafts Museum is located near the Ryumon Falls, and the observation deck attached to the museum is the best place to see the magnificent view of the falls. In addition to displaying dragons, the museum also features animations of local folk tales and legends, and sells souvenirs from Nasukarasuyama City.   On the way to Ryumon Falls from the Ryumon Folk Crafts Museum, there is an excellent hiking trail, so you can follow it all the way to the bottom of the waterfall and experience the rapid flow of the waterfall from a close distance. The most famous feature of Ryumon Falls is the spectacle of the tram passing over the falls, and with the changes in the natural scenery during the four seasons, the composition of the tram and the waterfalls has become a famous location for photographers and railroad fans. The museum shares the estimated time when the train passes over the waterfall, so please come and take some rare and beautiful photos! *Please remember to stay safe when taking photos.  

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ONSEN RYOKAN YAMAKI

ONSEN RYOKAN YAMAKI

Onsen Ryokan Yamaki is a Japanese style inn built to help guests escape from the daily hustle and bustle and fully relax and heal the body and soul. The ryokan experience here is designed based on the principles of the tea ceremony: harmony, respect, purity, and calmness. These principles, as the ryokan’s philosophy, are also incorporated into its guest rooms, hot springs, meals, and staff hospitality. Calm guest rooms feature the warmth of wood and diatomaceous earth on walls. All guest rooms are designed differently, and some have a scenic cypress bath filled with hot spring water flowing endlessly from its original source. The hot spring here was discovered in 1059. It is called Itamuro hot spring and is famous as the “medicine water of Shimotsuke (old name of the area).” It is said to warm people’s bodies from the core and alleviate fatigue and joint pain. The inn also offers esthetic treatment using essential oil (reservation needed). Please enjoy the hot spring and the treatment to relax and slowly unwind from the long day of your trip. For dinner, the inn serves a Japanese multi-course meal designed based on one of its guiding principles of “respect” for local production and consumption. The dinner menu is developed to serve you a healthy meal prepared with wild plants, vegetables harvested from nearby areas, and seasonal ingredients. Please savor the out-of-the-ordinary time of healing and relaxation produced by Onsen Ryokan Yamaki. 【About the hot spring】 Water color: clear Spring water type: simple alkaline spring water Efficacy: alleviates sensitivity to cold, fatigue, nerve pain, and sore muscles, improves health, and so on

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HOTEL HIGASHINIHON UTSUNOMIYA

HOTEL HIGASHINIHON UTSUNOMIYA

Hotel Higashinihon Utsunomiya is designed with a British taste featuring a high and spacious atrium and stately and elegant space. The hotel has eight restaurants with a rich international flavor including a teppanyaki restaurant with Tochigi Wagyu as the main feature, a high-end traditional Japanese-style restaurant with a garden view, a Japanese restaurant serving food prepared with seasonal ingredients, and so on. The hotel welcomes guests with spacious rooms. Even a single room is 20m2, and there are also a wide variety of rooms ranging from twin rooms to royal suites, ensuring a relaxing stay.

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Itamuro Dam Lake Canoe Experience Tour

Itamuro Dam Lake Canoe Experience Tour

Nature Planet's leisurely paddling style is the perfect way to refresh yourself after a long day.   Enjoy the time flowing slowly while freeing yourself from the stresses of everyday life.   This is a canoe touring for beginners that allows you to enjoy nature in each of the four seasons.   The canoes used for the tour are highly stable recreational kayaks (double-sided paddling type), and single boats (for one person) and tandem boats (for two or three people) are available.   The field is a dam lake with no current, so even first-time canoeists can participate safely.   Need to make a reservation ■Eligibility: Healthy people between 3 and 70 years old. ■Number of applicants: 2~30 people. ■What to bring and wear: ①Wear clothes that are easy to move in and can get wet (preferably synthetic fibers). Underwear that can get wet is also recommended. ②Shoes that can get wet (sneakers or sports sandals with a fixed heel) ※Sneakers or sports sandals with a fixed heel are not acceptable. ③Towel and change of clothes. ④Other things that are good to have: Drink (plastic bottle or something with a lid that can be closed), hat, rain wear (top and bottom separates), eyeglass band (eyeglass wearers should wear eyeglass bands), sunscreen  

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Shimotsuke Fudoki-no-Oka Museum

Shimotsuke Fudoki-no-Oka Museum

This museum displays artefacts excavated from the adjoining sites such as the National Historic Site-designated Shimotsuke Kokubun-ji Temple Remains and Amadera Ruins, and the Tochigi Prefecture Historic Site-designated Maruzuka Kofun and Atagozuka Kofun. The artefacts on display range from the Kofun period to the Nara period. Many ancient burial mounds, temple and provincial office ruins, and other sites connected to the prefecture's history and culture can be found in the area around the museum. The museum presents the history of Shimotsuke City from a variety of viewpoints, including government administration and the lives of everyday people in the distant past, the relationship between the region and more central areas of Japan, and the development of civil engineering and construction technologies."

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Okada Memorial Museum

Okada Memorial Museum

This memorial museum celebrates the Okada family, a family whose history dates back over 550 years and which was once one of the leading families of Tochigi City. The museum's expansive grounds sprawl across some 13,000 square meters, inside, the museum displays treasures passed down through the generations in the Okada family. Said to have moved to the area from distant Sanjo in Kyoto, in the Edo period the family is said to have provided leadership in creating the foundations of daily life and to have contributed to the building of a stable community. Later, the Tokugawa clan gave the area the title of Kauemon Shinden Village, which then became Kauemon Shinden Town (now Kauemon-cho)."

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Shiobara Onsen Yuppo no Sato

Shiobara Onsen Yuppo no Sato

Shiobara Onsen Yuppo no Sato has opened on August 1, 2006, as a base tourist facility to advertise the rich amount of the water of Shiobara hot springs and rich natural surroundings to visitors from home and abroad. It has a 60-meter long footbath which is the largest in Japan. In addition, visitors can enjoy hot shower-baths, Insendo hot spring spot, and an exhibition hall that teaches about the history of Shiobara Hot Spring. You can also stroll about the site while taking in the seasonal blooms and monuments to literary and poem-inscribed monuments."

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Mamada Jaga Maita

Mamada Jaga Maita

There is a strange festival which conveys faith in the dragon god called ""Mamada-no Jaga Maita (popularly known as the ""Snake Demon Festival"" that is designated as a national important intangible folk culture asset in Mamada. This event is held before the rice planting to pray to the gods and Buddha for moderate winds, as well as a bumper harvest and the elimination of plagues.   ""Jaga Maita, Jaga Maita, Jaga Maita of April 8!"" These yells echo around the town on the day of the event. This event features 15-meter dragon-head and snake-body animals decorated with fern leaves on the snake body made from bamboo and straw also paraded around the town.   The seven snakes of each district first gather at Mamada Hachimangu Shrine. The snake gathering and purification rites ceremony then takes place. After that, the water of Benten Pond is drunk to the heart's content of the participants before they go around the town again.   This festival was once held on April 8 in Japan's old calendar. However, because the bearers of the event are children of junior high school age and younger, it is now held on May 5 (Children's Day) when the schools are closed.

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Koisagoyaki Pottery Experience

Koisagoyaki Pottery Experience

Try your hand at painting, hand building and wheel throwing at the Koisagoyaki Pottery Experience Centre “Toyu-kan”. Using local clay, visitors can enjoy a therapeutic and creative experience within natural surroundings. The spacious centre with a capacity of up to 100 is perfect for groups. Koisagoyaki is a historic gold-glazed ceramic art and is officially recognised as one of prefecture’s traditional crafts. The Koisago area in Nakagawa-machi is the home of Koisagoyaki pottery and a member of the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages in Japan. One of the famous Koisagoyaki potteries, Fujita Pottery was featured on NHK Television’s travel programme in 2016.

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Kirifuri-kogen Highland (Kirifuri-kohgen)

Kirifuri-kogen Highland (Kirifuri-kohgen)

These highlands, situated 1,200 metres above sea level, are a paradise of alpine plants and are well-known for the “Nikko Kisuge”. With 260,000 Nikko Kisuge blooming from late June to mid-July, the grasslands are carpeted in these bright yellow lilies. Walking paths through the fields are available. Enjoy azaleas in spring, autumn colours and skiing in winter! There are selections of restaurants, accommodations and leisure facilities to satisfy couples and families.

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