Hello everyone! I am writing this trip report for a couple's trip we took this Jan/Feb. * We are a couple in our early 30s, speaking some...
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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/cruciger on 2025-02-14 17:42:50+00:00.

Hello everyone! I am writing this trip report for a couple’s trip we took this Jan/Feb.

Mo 27. Shinjuku → Matsumoto (Mitsubikiya)

  • Arrived in Tokyo the evening before and took a limo bus to business hotel in Shinjuku.
  • 7:00 – 9:38: Ltd. Express Azusa to Matsumoto. Booked at 6:00 but window/neighboring seats had sold out. Should have booked in advance.
  • Wandered around aimlessly. There are lots of cute shops and cafés in the historical castle town, and the view of the Alps is spectacular.
  • Lunch: Okinadou. “Western” restaurant est. 1933. Applesauce, pork steak, and beer, all local. Simple and great.
  • Visited Matsumoto Castle. It’s pretty under construction. There is an archeological dig you can watch. Bad for photos but still worth a visit.
  • Stopped by a bar for an afternoon drink and met some interesting people, which took over most of the afternoon.
  • Dinner: Mitsubikiya. A soba restaurant with an assortment of local specialties: fresh Azumino wasabi, duck hotpot, soba, and Shine Muscat grapes. There are rooms above and behind the restaurant where we stayed. Delicious and cost-effective.
  • Planned to visit castle illuminations but felt ill from jet lag and slept immediately instead. Still an amazing day!

Tu 28. Matsumoto → Okuhida Fukuji Onsen (Kakurean Hidaji)

  • Simple and solid breakfast, coffee and oranges at a kotatsu, and check out.
  • Went to Ishii Miso Brewery to do a tour, but tours don’t start until 11:00. Not sure if the website hadn’t been updated yet or if I just missed the info. I should’ve done this on Monday when most museums & historical buildings in town were closed. Also saw Matsumoto Timepiece Museum. Fun enough.
  • Early lunch: Nakamachi Saryo for tea and fancy fruit sandwiches. “Tabelog Gold oyaki” popup at Shinshu Omiyage Base (if you see it, must-eat!).
  • Bought some souvenirs on the way to catch the highway bus. There’s a HUGE gift shop and food court under the bus terminal where I should have gone instead.
  • 13:05 – 14:50: Bus to Fukuji Onsen. Surprisingly, the Matsumoto–Hirayu bus ride was one of my favorite memories of the trip. Monkeys running across the road as the scenery gradually gets snowier and craggier… stellar views.
  • Checked into Kakurean Hidaji. I planned this week of the trip around visiting this ryokan and it was totally worth it. So peaceful and secluded. Barely saw any other guests. Almost all the staff spoke English. Dinner was MOUNTAINS of mountain vegetables, river fish, and wagyu, and baths had an amazing view.

Wed 29. Okuhida Fukuji Onsen → Takayama

  • 9:46 – 11:10: Bus to Takayama. Delayed 45 mins due to snow.
  • Lunch: Kyoya. A touristy local delicacies restaurant in an old house. Got hobo miso with Hida beef, and mountain veggies. Good food and great atmosphere.
  • Sakurayama Hachimangu (gorgeous in snow), Float Hall (very interesting museum about town’s festival), Nikkokan (eh), Kusakabe Mingeikan (cool enough)
  • The old town was pretty, but it varied between super touristy parts full of low-quality souvenirs and so packed that it’s hard to visit, and streets where everything was closed. Didn’t really like the vibe. Possibly due to Chinese New Year, but the crowds there seemed to be mostly non-Chinese.
  • Hidatakayama Retro Museum & Showakan were small but great fun.
  • Drinks: Japanese Pub Yu (excellent American-style cocktails), dinner at an izakaya.
  • I was worried that a half-day was too short for Takayama, but I was good with that. I heard it’s “a small town” but it felt a lot busier than most places I visit.

Th 30. Takayama → Shirakawa-go → Kanazawa

  • 7:20 – 8:10: Bus to Shirakawa-go. Purchased in advance. Takayama → Shirakawa-go buses were sold out for days.
  • Shirakawa-go was totally abandoned, with shoulder high snow coming down fast. Even with an umbrella it was too wet to use my map or phone, and some directional signs were snowed over. So I got lost. I tried to go to Gasshozukuri Minka-en but took a wrong turn and ended up at “Three Houses Viewpoint.” The atmosphere is amazing and kind of creepy… On the way back, we ran into HUNDREDS of people (mostly Chinese-speaking), and a massive queue to store luggage. I was regretting booking our visit when most stores, etc. weren’t open, but going later would have its own challenges.
  • 10:25 – 11:35: Bus to Kanazawa. No buses sold out today.
  • Lunch: Notomae Sushi Morimori Sushi. This is a famous Kanazawa chain, with two locations near the station, conveyor or table service. There was a long wait for the conveyor so we chose table service. Our sets were stellar and covered most of the regional specialties I wanted to try here.
  • Omicho Market, Kanazawa Castle Park, Kenrokuen.
  • Pastry at Le Musée de H – did not enjoy. They seated us conspicuously in a corner and the flavour and texture were poor for the price.
  • Terrible weather! Wet and windy. Normal for Kanazawa.
  • 18:00: Fuwari (reservation). An izakaya with very good rep from Western food guides. Well-cooked and lots of regional specialties but it didn’t really blow my mind all things considered.

Fr 31. Kanazawa

  • Breakfast: Ippuku Yokocho at Omicho Market. A food hall with oden, grill, and fried food. Seems lots of idols went there and they play idol music. Lively and tasty. We wanted hot food because we were cold but there are also lots of sushi places here, including a Morimori that had almost no line at breakfast time.
  • Walked to Higashi-chaya-kai and visited some tea houses, which were interesting and peaceful. Very nice shopping here, if a bit out of my price range.
  • Lunch: Bistro Todoroki-Tei. 100-year-old Western restaurant. Fine food, great prices.
  • Taxi to Nagamachi. Samurai house, Shinise Kinenkan. Taxi to the next destination.
  • 15:00 – 16:30: Fukumitsuya Sake Brewery (reservation). Extremely cool tour where you can enter the factory and see sake brewing in vats (English supported, winter only.) Even though we’ve done multiple brewery tours, we learned new things!
  • 18:00: RISTORANTE HARAGUCHI (reservation). Kaga delicacy ingredients prepared in Italian style. Stellar meal. Wonderful way to leave Kanazawa.

Sat 1. Kanazawa → Nagano → Tokyo

  • 10:05 – 11:10: Shinkansen to Nagano. Originally planned to leave early and visit Zenko-ji and Snow Monkey Park. I waffled a bunch on this after our cold and crowded time in Shirakawa-go, but it was a perfect sunny day so we eventually decided to go.
  • We would have made the 11:15 bus to Snow Monkey Park but it was full. Had to wait for 12:20 – 13:05. The shinkansen and bus area were a mess of tourists and luggage. Large coin lockers were full. Beware trying to store a big bag here in ski season.
  • Snow Monkey Park! There were a LOT of people, very international. The walk through the snow-dusted cedar forest was gorgeous and peaceful despite the crowds. The park was TOTALLY WORTH IT. Hundreds of monkeys of all ages doing monkey things and getting right up close to you. There’s a lot more than just the onsen. Extremely glad I decided to go.
  • 15:50 – 16:35: Return bus to Nagano.
  • Dinner: Meiji-tei. “Sauce katsu” and other regional specialties in Nagano Station. Horse sashimi and venison katsudon. Huge portions! Even as the only meal today I couldn’t finish it. Drinks at Kamosu on the floor below (local wine, sake, cider, gin.)
  • 19:05 – 21:00: Shinkansen to Tokyo and check into our hotel in Otsuka.

Sun 2. Tokyo (Shibuya / Shinjuku / Ikebukuro)

  • Meiji Shrine. Peaceful and foggy.
  • Tried to go to i’m donut Harajuku at 10:20 (open 10:00), but there was a big line. Walked to the Shibuya location by 10:40 (open 11:00) but there was also a big line, so we decided not to wait.
  • Lunch and shopping in Shibuya and Harajuku. Shibuya was a bit of a pain with all the construction around the station right now.
  • Namco TOKYO arcade in Kabukicho Tower. I wanted to check out this new barcade. The neon decor and VR rides were cool. Drinks took a long time even though the bar wasn’t busy at all. Food, drinks, and games were extremely overpriced. We left pretty quickly.
  • Finished shopping in Ikebukuro Sunshine City. (Also went to a bunch more…

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