Newly opened in March 2017, Aeon Mall Shinkomatsu is the latest and the largest shopping mall in Hokuriku region (northwestern part of the main island of Japan). There are around 160 shops, cafes and restaurants and 3,400 parking space! The shopping mall is only 15 minutes away by car from Komatsu Airport. There are shuttle buses from JR Komatsu Station but it’s only twice every hour at the moment. Taking a taxi from the JR Komatsu station costs about ¥2,100 one way.
The name Kanazawa, which literally means marsh of gold, is said to be originated from a legend that the peasant Imohori Togoro who washed gold dust in a local marsh. The history of gold leaf production dates back to the end of 16th century but it was restricted to be produced in Edo (Tokyo today) and Kyoto at the time. Kanazawa, with the suitable climate, temperature, humidity, water, and highly skilled craftsmen was only revived publicly in the second half of the 19th century. Today, over 98% of the gold leaf was produced in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Japan. When you visit Kanazawa, you will see a lot of gold leaf products and you may experience making a lacquer ware with gold leaf yourself. It’s fun!
Nakasendo (Central Mountain Road) is one of the five main roads built during the Edo Period and one of the two connected Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto. The other main road was Tokaido (East Sea Road). There is a saying the East Sea Road with nice views and shorter distance was designated for the rich and powerful people. Normal residence had to take the inland hilly path. There is another saying that some preferred to take Nakasendo to avoid fording rivers. Nakasendo runs through Saitama, Gunma, Nagano, Gifu and Shiga prefectures, stretching over 530km. There were 69 post stations along the route to provide accommodations, food supply and other things that travellers need. Kiso Fukushima was in the middle of the route and was one of the major check points for taxing the travellers, controlling the trafficking of guns into the Edo region and prohibiting women from feudal families to leave so that the feudal lords could not be heavily armed with guns and would always come back for the women. Today, Kiso Fukushima is an old town lined with…
The UNESCO World Heritage Shirakawa-go is one of the most beautiful winter wonderland in Japan. It is one of the snowiest place in Japan hence the creation of traditional farm houses (Gassho-zukuri) that feature steep roofs that look like palms together. Every winter, 6 days in January and February are selected as the special winter illumination dates, attracting lots of tourists from all over the world. There were thousands of tourists visited Shirakawa-go in 2016. It was very packed! If you do not manage to stay in Shirakawa-go, here’s a travel plan for staying in Takayama and visit Shirakawa-go on a day trip. Takayama city is a nice small city with a charming old town, Takayama Jinya, many museums and a Hida Folk Village where you can see a good collection of gassho-styled farm houses. Transportation: Nohi bus runs regularly between Takayama station and Shirakawa-go. Special chartered buses are available during the winter illumination. Bus tickets are sold 1 month before the illumination date and reservation can only be made by phone this year. Please check the website link.
