Greater Tokyo

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Hanazono sou

Hanazono sou

Hanazono sou is a farm stay operated by a farming family making rice for 15 generations in Hanazono, Ohtawara City. It is a lodging where guests can indulge themselves in the slow flow of time and the scenery of the vast countryside as well as the starry sky at night. For dinner, guests can cook for themselves in the shared kitchen or with the BBQ equipment. You can harvest chemical-free vegetables from the field and use them for dinner. They also serve home-grown rice freshly steamed on the rice-husk stove. After the meal, you are invited to enjoy Hanazono sou’s original Japanese sake for a relaxing time. In the morning, you will choose a Japanese or Western breakfast and cook it with the farm stay staff. The Japanese breakfast is freshly cooked rice on the rice-husk stove, miso soup with homemade miso, and a dish of seasonal vegetables. The Western breakfast is pancakes using homemade rice flour and soup featuring seasonal vegetables.

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Mashiko Gion Festival

Mashiko Gion Festival

Mashiko Gion Festival began in 1705, when an epidemic of infectious diseases killed many people and pests infested crops, people pray to Tenno for illnesses and harvest. Five towns take turns organizing the festival. The organizer sets up a mikoya and carries the mikoshi out of the shrine for the first day and last day of the festival. On the second day of the festival, a traditional event call “Sake Topping Festival(Omiki Cho-dai Shiki)” is held on organizer’s town. Male worshippers in formal kimonos drink hot sake under the scorching heat to pray for a good harvest and health. After the organizer side finished their drinks, 10 men from next organize town also need to challenge it. This festival is one of the “Top 3 Strange Festivals of Kanto Area”. Also, on the first night of the festival, people will set off Tezutsu-hanabi with majestic yells is breathtaking.

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Iwashita New Ginger Museum

Iwashita New Ginger Museum

A museum dedicated to Iwashita Young Ginger (pickled ginger), which is commonly eaten across Japan. The inside of the museum is a soft pink, matching the distinct color of the products. There are also plenty of playful photo spots at the museum for you to have fun and enjoy yourself, such as the "Ginger Jinja" (Ginger Shrine) that's said to give you good luck in love, and a giant, 5-meter tall young ginger "hat" that you can try on. There is also a museum shop and cafe, so the museum is great for buying souvenirs and having a light meal too.

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Onsen Torafugu (Japanese Pufferfish)

Onsen Torafugu (Japanese Pufferfish)

Torafugu are cultivated using onsen water that wells up in the town of Nakagawa. It is known that pufferfish raised in hot spring water have approximately 30% extra umami (fifth basic food taste) ingredients. The taste of these puffer fish is even richer than those produced in the sea. This means there is no doubt that you can savor a taste overflowing with luxury! You can try onsen torafugu in the onsen facilities and restaurants in the town. Please appreciate the taste of torafugu when you visit Nakagawa!

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Furumine Shrine

Furumine Shrine

Furumine Shrine was built to worship the legendary hero Yamato Takeru 1,300 years ago. The shrine is where the monk Shodo Shonin, founder of the temples in Nikko, was trained. The shrine is also known for the enshrined Tengu, a messenger from the gods who protects people from bad luck. People come here to pray for good luck, fire protection, safe voyage, rich harvests, traffic safety, business success and family health as the god is believed to make all these wishes come true.

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Local Sake and visiting Sake brewery

Local Sake and visiting Sake brewery

Water is an important ingredient making up 80 per cent of Sake. Tochigi has abundant clear spring water perfect for Sake, thanks to the range of mountains in the north and its one and only fresh stream near Tokyo. Skilled brewers produce a range of Sakes with unique flavours in various parts of Tochigi. Sake tasting and a tours of the production process are available at these breweries. You can also purchase Sake, cups for Sake and cosmetics and sweets made with Sake.

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Nichien Momiji Line

Nichien Momiji Line

This 1000-meter-high and 28 kilometer-long scenic route connects Kinugawa Onsen with Shiohara Onsen. It has many scenic spot with natural beauty to enjoy such as Taikooroshino Falls and Shirataki Falls. The views from the Fujimidai observatory are also excellent. The fall foliage is especially beautiful around mid-October to early November each year. The Kinugawa Onsen and Kawaji Onsen hot springs districts are also located nearby. A toll is required to access the road."

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Custom Private Cycling Tours with “Ride Experience”

Custom Private Cycling Tours with “Ride Experience”

Ride Experience's cycling tours are guided by local Nasu cyclists. As such, they are familiar with the local food, accommodations, and people, and offer cycling tours that provide an authentic experience unique to Japan and the region. Themes, areas, schedules, routes, and distances traveled can be arranged to meet your specific needs and expectations to create a special private cycling tour. English-speaking guides as well as professional mechanics will accompany you on the tours, so you can feel confident that you are in good hands. Come and experience an experience of a lifetime, only here and only at Ride Experience.

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Pick-Your-Own Strawberries

Pick-Your-Own Strawberries

Tochigi is Japan’s largest producer of strawberries. The prefecture has the perfect environment for fresh and sweet strawberries, blessed with abundant sunshine, clear spring water, fertile land and an inland climate with a large difference between high and low temperatures. Strawberry picking is a popular leisure in strawberry farms across the prefecture. Starting with “Tochiotome”, the nation’s superstar brand of strawberry, come and sample some of the many varieties available, some of which are only grown in the prefecture. “Skyberry”, the brand-new premium variety created as a successor of “Tochiotome”, is increasingly popular. The perfect flavours and amazingly large-fruit are utterly delicious!

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Boken Katsudo Center

Boken Katsudo Center

The Utsunomiya City Adventure Activity Center is a hands-on learning facility for children with little opportunity to come in contact with nature to develop creativity, teamwork and independence by learning about nature. The center has a full range of facilities including a spacious arena, an observation deck looking out on Mt. Nantai and the Nikko Mountains, wall climbing and an adventure area with a rope swing, a wooden bridge, a cave and more."

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