A super late post on Nihondaira.
The clear blue skies and cool weather made last Monday a perfect day to do some sightseeing. It was a holiday. No classes, no work. Just the right excuse to go out of Hamamatsu even for just a day. My friend, Ydi (pronounces as Ee-dee) and I have been feeling stuck in our little city for quite some time. With a little planning, we decided to visit Nihondaira at the nearby Shizuoka City.
Nihondaira is a vast mountain park with great views of Mt. Fuji and other mountains and Suruga Bay. It has a museum, an art gallery, a zoo, an observatory and houses the Kunozan Toshugo Shrine. This shrine is historically important for it houses Ieyasu Tokugawa's remains. (He's the first shogun of Japan, that's all I know. Being first in whatever always has its merits.)
The Kunozan Toshugo Shrine has an interesting black and gold roofs. The only shrine I saw with those colors here. It also has intricate carvings of birds and flowers on its gates. It's surrounded by really big and old trees giving a forest-feel to the place. Be prepared though to walk a couple more steps to explore the whole grounds. I admire the old people I saw that day. I was already sweating all over but they still look so proper without sweat. It must be their cute hats. They wear hats almost everywhere!
The shrine has a museum housing the Tokugawa family's things including scissors, small toys and an interesting painting of an eggplant that doesn't look like it. If you're into Japanese history, you'd probably appreciate it. Personally, I don't recommend it so much. I'd rather you visit the art gallery or the observatory.
Sadly, we didn't get to see the art gallery I just think I'd enjoy it more than the museum. The art gallery is 15-20 minute from the Nihondaira Ropeway Station. There's a bus going there but it seldom passes by. And we just feel so lazy after walking up and around the shrine for almost 2 hours.
There's a free observatory and nature trail on the opposite side of Nihondaira Ropeway Station. It offers a sweeping view of mountains and the bay. So relaxing!
We also sampled on some strawberry and mikan small mochis. A box of 10 is only worth 210 Yen. These are sold at the only souvenir shop in the area. Taste is perfectly subtle and sweet.
On our way back to Shizuoka Station, we were surprised to find medium traffic on the other side- the one going to Nihondaira. No wonder our bus was late by almost 30 minutes which is a rare case in Japan. For some reason, peole decided to flock Nihondaira on that day. We're glad we went there early!
How to Get to Nihondaira from Shizuoka Station:
Just take bus No. 42 on platform 11. Buses are more frequent on weekends. For the Ropeway, get off at the last bus stop- Nihondaira Ropeway Station and pay 580 Yen. For the art gallery and zoo, get off at the second to the last stop and pay 530 Yen. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes.
The clear blue skies and cool weather made last Monday a perfect day to do some sightseeing. It was a holiday. No classes, no work. Just the right excuse to go out of Hamamatsu even for just a day. My friend, Ydi (pronounces as Ee-dee) and I have been feeling stuck in our little city for quite some time. With a little planning, we decided to visit Nihondaira at the nearby Shizuoka City.
Nihondaira is a vast mountain park with great views of Mt. Fuji and other mountains and Suruga Bay. It has a museum, an art gallery, a zoo, an observatory and houses the Kunozan Toshugo Shrine. This shrine is historically important for it houses Ieyasu Tokugawa's remains. (He's the first shogun of Japan, that's all I know. Being first in whatever always has its merits.)
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| view from the Museum |
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| view from the Museum x 2 |
We initially planned to take the thousand steps from Nihondaira Station up to the shrine. . Sometimes, we're ambitious like that.Supposedly it will give us spectacular views of the bay and the mountains. Then we realized that we'll be probably seeing the same bay and mountains on top even if we take the less strenuous route. So we took the Nihondaira Ropeway instead. Saved us time and strength needed to explore the grounds.
The Kunozan Toshugo Shrine has an interesting black and gold roofs. The only shrine I saw with those colors here. It also has intricate carvings of birds and flowers on its gates. It's surrounded by really big and old trees giving a forest-feel to the place. Be prepared though to walk a couple more steps to explore the whole grounds. I admire the old people I saw that day. I was already sweating all over but they still look so proper without sweat. It must be their cute hats. They wear hats almost everywhere!
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| On the way to the shrine |
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| Kunozan Tushugo Shrine |
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| in front of the shrine |
The shrine has a museum housing the Tokugawa family's things including scissors, small toys and an interesting painting of an eggplant that doesn't look like it. If you're into Japanese history, you'd probably appreciate it. Personally, I don't recommend it so much. I'd rather you visit the art gallery or the observatory.
Sadly, we didn't get to see the art gallery I just think I'd enjoy it more than the museum. The art gallery is 15-20 minute from the Nihondaira Ropeway Station. There's a bus going there but it seldom passes by. And we just feel so lazy after walking up and around the shrine for almost 2 hours.
There's a free observatory and nature trail on the opposite side of Nihondaira Ropeway Station. It offers a sweeping view of mountains and the bay. So relaxing!
We also sampled on some strawberry and mikan small mochis. A box of 10 is only worth 210 Yen. These are sold at the only souvenir shop in the area. Taste is perfectly subtle and sweet.
On our way back to Shizuoka Station, we were surprised to find medium traffic on the other side- the one going to Nihondaira. No wonder our bus was late by almost 30 minutes which is a rare case in Japan. For some reason, peole decided to flock Nihondaira on that day. We're glad we went there early!
How to Get to Nihondaira from Shizuoka Station:
Just take bus No. 42 on platform 11. Buses are more frequent on weekends. For the Ropeway, get off at the last bus stop- Nihondaira Ropeway Station and pay 580 Yen. For the art gallery and zoo, get off at the second to the last stop and pay 530 Yen. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes.
