Tateyama Highland Bus
The Tateyama Highland Bus operates between Bijodaira and Murodo, two stations on the popular mountainous sightseeing route, the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. This bus journey covers approximately 23 km from Bijodaira to Murodo, which sits at an elevation of 2,450 m, and takes about 50 minutes.
It seems like just a way to get around, but the Tateyama Highland Bus is really part of the sightseeing experience too. The scenery along the way is absolutely worth enjoying.
Shiraito Falls (Nagano Prefecture)
This is one of Karuizawa’s most popular tourist attractions, located along the “Shiraito Highland Way” driving route. It is a beautiful waterfall named after Mt. Asama’s snowmelt water, which gushes out from the rock and flows like thin threads. The water curtains flowing down are transparent, and the area is filled with fresh air.
I thought it would just be an ordinary waterfall, but Shiraito Falls had such an unexpectedly ethereal feel. The air was super cool, and just standing there listening to the sound of the water was incredibly relaxing.
Hitachi Seaside Park
Hitachi Seaside Park is a large park that spans an area of about 215 hectares. During springtime, daffodils, tulips, and nemophila bloom. In early summer, there are roses, and in summer, there are zinnias and sunflowers. Autumn brings forth kochia and cosmos. During winter ice tulips, plum blossoms, and other seasonal flowers bloom. In particular, the nemophilia that bloom from mid-April through early May are lauded for their gorgeous blue color, blending the sky, sea, and flowers together into a vast expanse of blue.
Hitachi Seaside Park
In spring, the nemophila create a whole field of blue that looks like the sky fell to the ground. It’s even more stunning in person than in photos, and once you’re there, you just can’t stop taking pictures.
Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route
This tour route goes through the Northern Alps, lined with mountains over 3,000m above sea level, stretching 37.2km, and the difference in altitudes from the foot to the top is up to 1.975m.
Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route is perfect for first-timers who want to experience Japan’s high mountains. The transportation setup is actually very well organized, and you can easily enjoy the Alpine scenery just by following the route.
Tateyama Cable Car
As the first transportation link from the Toyama side on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route-a mountain tourism route totaling 37.5 km in length with a maximum elevation difference of 1,975 m-the Tateyama Cable Car connects Tateyama Station with Bijodaira Station.
The cabin felt much bigger than it looks in photos and could hold a lot of passengers at once. The ride was also very smooth, without the swaying you often get on smaller cable cars.
Nusamai Bridge
Nusamai Bridge is about 124.0 m long crossing the mouth of the Kushiro river at central Kushiro city. The bridge connects Kita Odori and Omachi in Kushiro city. The place is widely known as one of the world's three best sunsets and the scenery is spectacular when the whole sky is dyed in the sunset.
There are statues of the goddesses of the four seasons on the bridge. It’s actually not very long to walk across, and it makes for some really distinctive photos.
KIRBY CAFÉ PETIT Tokyo Station
KIRBY CAFÉ PETIT is a takeout sweets specialty shop created from KIRBY CAFÉ, the character café themed around the popular Kirby game series. Visitors can enjoy a variety of takeout sweets, including cakes inspired by the world of Kirby. The shop also has a merchandise corner where Kirby Café goods are sold, including items exclusive to KIRBY CAFÉ PETIT.
The whole shop is filled with adorable Kirby stuff. The desserts are beautifully made and super photogenic, and the designs are so cute you almost don’t want to eat them. It’s really easy to end up buying a bunch of merch when you walk by.
Ashikaga Flower Park
At Ashikaga Flower Park, you can enjoy the sight of all kinds of seasonal flowers, which adorn the park according to eight themes: "Early Spring", "The Spring Flower Festival", "A Tale of the Wisteria", "Rainbow Garden", "Blue and White Garden", "The Flower Faeries Who Float By the Water", "Purple Garden", and "The Garden of Illuminated Flowers". The park is a popular location, enjoying not only local visitors, but those from abroad.
The full bloom during the day was truly stunning. The wisteria spread out like a sea of flowers, with rich, vibrant colors that looked even more gorgeous in the sunlight.
Ginzan Onsen
This hot spring resort was developed along with the Nobesawa Silver Mine which prospered in the Edo Period. After the mine was closed, it was turned into a therapeutic onsen resort until a flood destroyed it in 1913. By early Showa Period, local businesses have helped restore the village close to the current landscape with western-style wooden multi-story buildings on either side of Ginzan River.
Ginzan Onsen in the middle of heavy snowfall really looked like a movie scene. The whole street was wrapped in snow. It was so cold I was shivering, but it was so beautiful that I didn’t want to leave.
Fuji Shibazakura Festival
The weeks from mid-April to late May each year bring Fuji Shibazakura Festival, the largest spring flower event in the Tokyo metropolitan area to Fuji Motosuko Resort at the foot of Mt. Fuji. The season rings in with 500,000 moss phlox plants bloom in a stunning shimmy of color that frames perfectly with Mt. Fuji just behind. The festival designs a unique theme each year to showcase the vibrant hues of all seven varieties of shibazakura, including McDaniel Cushion and Autumn Rose.
The sea of pink flowers at the Fuji Shibazakura Festival is absolutely dreamy, and with Mt. Fuji in the background, it’s really photogenic. There were quite a lot of people, but the atmosphere was lively and it was definitely worth visiting!