Nea Goes to Nagano! | Zenkoji Temple, the Hokusai Museum, & Our First Kaiseki Experience!

#travelvlog #japantravel #nagano #ryokan
In what might of been the best day of the entire trip, we left Tokyo to go to Nagano prefecture. We explored the incredible Zenko-ji Temple Complex that we think is better than Tokyo's own Senso-ji Temple. We made our way to the rural farming town of Obuse, the chestnut capital of Japan. In Obuse, we explored the Hokusai museum to see an authentic woodblock print of "The Great Wave Off Kanagawa" and Obusedo ("Chesnut Alley"). Finally, we end the room at our ryokan in Shibu Onsen and experience our first 9-course Kaiseki meal.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:49 - Ueno Station & Shinkansen
02:40 - Nagano Station
03:24 - Zenko-ji Omotesando and Nakamise
05:17 - Zenko-ji Temple Complex
07:05 - Getting to Obuse
09:16 - Hokusai Museum
11:22 - Obusedo Chestnut Alley
13:47 - Ryokan Room Tour
20:16 - Our First Kaiseki Meal
22:42 - Conclusion

[@robertmines5577]

There was something absolutely magical about leaving Tokyo and going out into the Japanese mountains. Besides being a great way to beat the heat, it feels like visiting an entirely different country!

[@linneanelsonvlogs]

You had a great idea with this. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip and made for some wonderful relaxation after the hecticness of Tokyo!

[@TheRebelliousrabbit]

I will be following the same itinerary on my trip in march

[@linneanelsonvlogs]

I'm so glad that you're enjoying the video series, and we still have a few videos we have left to put together on our time in Kyoto. To summarize the itinerary, we flew into Tokyo then went to Nagano Prefecture (Nagano City -> Obuse -> Shibu Onsen and the Monkey Park) then to Kanazawa (day trip) to Kyoto. We used Kyoto as a hub for the Kansai region which might have been a mistake since Osaka is better connected. We took a day trip to Osaka, a day trip to Hiroshima, spent a day in Arashiyama, and spent a day in central Kyoto. After Kyoto, we spent a night at a monastery on Mt Koya in Wakayama prefecture. We made our way back to Tokyo via way of Nara and Uji (which failed miserably because of rain and the weird hours things were open).
If I were to do it again, I would remove the trip to Mt. Koya from the trip unless you're a practicing Buddhist because you won't understand anything there if you aren't (which would also free up 2 days of the trip). Arashiyama's (western Kyoto) natural features pale in comparison to what you see in Nagano, so it might be worth skipping that (since it's also super touristy). I would definitely do a day trip to Nara from Kyoto. I would also spend more time in Osaka (and nearby Himeji and Kobe) and a couple days in Hiroshima and Miyajima. Instead of taking the train back from Hiroshima, I would then fly directly back from Hiroshima or take a connecting flight back through Tokyo.

[@TheRebelliousrabbit]

@@linneanelsonvlogs good to know about Arashiyama. it does make sense to skip it since I will be already seeing snow monkey in Nagano.