29/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/11/2021 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Eiheiji Temple in Fukui 　永平寺

October 24th. Post typhoon, the morning is bright with watery sunshine and a lot of fast moving, ragged cloud. We set off for Eiheiji Temple arriving about 10.30. On the road there is a lot of debris from the Sugi and other trees. People are out clearing up everywhere. We note more serious typhoon damage here and there, mainly vinyl houses and advertising signs but, occasionally, bigger problems where roof tiles have been lost. Eiheiji Temple The temple is large, with numerous buildings connected by covered passages and stairs but, as it nestles in a narrow mountain valley, it is necessarily compact. There is a spacious, tatami floored hall with […]

25/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/11/2021 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Dinosaur Day in Fukui　福井県立恐竜博物館

October 23rd. The morning after A wild night, not the election, the weather. By the morning, one lift is out of action due to rain being driven down the shaft. The landing in front of the lift doors is strewn with detritus blown down the shaft and through the crack around the edges of the lift itself. Remarkable in a large modern building. Fukui Hotel Academia Breakfast, a buffet style affair, turns out to be much better than expected so for a cheap, excellent deal in Fukui consider the Academia. It also boasts a swimming pool, gym and restaurant/coffee shop as part of the complex. These remain untried. Today is […]

25/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/11/2021 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Kanazawa Noh Museum and Museums in Fukui　金沢能楽美術館、福井市立美術館

October 21st. 22nd. On a Saturday morning, Korogaki no Sato Shika is a very busy michi no eki. The car park is full and people were arriving by local bus to queue up for the vegetable shop that opened at nine. We did not try to shop as the store was very crowded and the queue for the checkout, dauntingly long. Kanazawa Noh Museum　金沢能楽美術館 So, we set off for Kanazawa Noh Museum arriving a little before midday. The town is very busy and we crawl in traffic looking for the museum parking. This, of course, does not exist but there is a large, underground parking garage for a bigger museum(21st. […]

25/07/2019 / Last updated : 28/11/2021 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Noto Hanto Art and Tiny Rice Terraces　能登半島

October 19th and 20th. Well, what a wet night at Himi michi no eki and, sadly an equally wet morning. We are marooned in the car as the rain lashes around. About 10 am the rain begins to ease, and it is possible to venture outside in the, still, intermittent rain. And so begins our tour of Noto Hanto (peninsula). We drive, in a very leisurely fashion, as there is little else to do. Pulling into the michi-no-eki at Noto Shokusai Ichiba, we look at fish. We leave around lunchtime and head on up the peninsula. Mitsukejima　　見附島 At Mitsukejima or Gunkanjima (warship island) we make a stop, so called because […]

21/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/11/2021 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum and Shomyo Falls　立山称名滝

October 18th. Tateyama Caldera Museum We wake to bright sunshine around 7.30 after a quiet night at Tateyama station. To start the day, we visit the Tateyama Caldera Museum or exhibition centre. This does not open until 9.30 but a friendly gentleman allows us in, even though it is barely a quarter past. Once inside, he explains to us the geological features of the caldera and the reason the government, local or national, both perhaps, I am not sure, have been working for 100 years to minimize the devastation that will occur if another eruption and destructive lava flow happen. It is obvious, from the scale models, that such an […]

06/07/2019 / Last updated : 01/11/2021 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Hiking on Mt. Tateyama　立山

October 17th. When we get up around am 6.45, after a very wet night, it is overcast but dry and much brighter over Mt. Tateyama. After our usual breakfast, we walk 5 minutes to Tateyama station and buy round trip cable car and bus tickets. We wait, only about 10 minutes, and board the cable car at 8. 30am. As some bus groups have already arrived, it is fairly busy. Hiking Tateyama The cable car ride takes only 7 minutes and, after another short wait, we are riding a bus to Murodo. By now, the sun has strengthened and the morning is clear and bright. Mt. Tateyama stands out, starkly, […]

01/07/2019 / Last updated : 02/11/2021 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Ainokura Traditional Houses in Gokayama　五箇山

October 16th. Michi no eki Alp Hida Furukawa Last night’s michi-no-eki Alp Hida Furukawa is, in retrospect, worth recommending as a Shachuhaku spot – large car park, spacious toilet and rubbish bins provided. It was also quiet but that may have been due to the incessant rain. The rain persists and we wonder how to spend the day. Finally, we decide to drive towards Shirakawago, as this is a scenic route, and visit Ainokura. Ainokura has houses similar to those of Shirakawago but fewer in number and in a less picturesque setting. It also has far […]

11/06/2019 / Last updated : 02/11/2021 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Gujo Hachiman town walk　郡上八幡

October 15th. D. complains that Ikeda Onsen michi no eki was noisy. The local kids dashing about in their cars but, I confess, I slept like a baby. The morning is damp not actually raining or a least not very much. The michi no eki has several shops selling cakes, soft creams, oysters, fish on sticks and other miscellaneous merchandise. It also has a foot bath, electric bicycles for rental and a reasonable view over somewhere. There are decorative pot plants in the toilets which is always a good sign. Gujo Hachiman　　郡上八幡 Today we are bound for Gujo Hachiman, a drive that takes us initially through a flat unimpressive landscape […]