Hida Takayama and Shirakawa-go Late Winter Trip Part 1: Moving from Tokyo to Takayama and Shirakawa-go

[Introduction]

I traveled to Hida Takayama and Shirakawa-go for three days and two nights. This is my second visit to Hida Takayama and Shirakawa-go since I visited them for the first time in September 2014. In addition, I also went to Hida Furukawa, which is the filming locations of “Your name/Kimi no na wa”, a blockbuster Japanese anime film. In this article, I will write about move from Tokyo to Takayama and Shirakawa-go as part of Day 1.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day1: Shinjuku – Takayama – Shirakawa-go [This article]
* Day1: Shirakawa-go
* Day1: Shirakawa-go (Evening and night view)
* Day2: Shirakawa-go (Morning walk)
* Day2: Takayama 1
* Day2: Takayama 2
* Day2: Takayama (Evening and night view)
* Day3: Takayama (Morning market)
* Day3: Hida Furukawa

[Travel Date]
2017.03.04-06

[Main Part]

It has been a while since I posted the previous article about Hakodate trip. Now I will resume my blog as I went to Hida Takayama and Shirakawa-go Late in late winter.

I visited Hida Takayama and Shirakawa-go for the first time in September 2014. Since then, I have been thinking of revisiting them in other seasons and this time I realized my desire.

So, let’s start the trip!

Moving from Tokyo to Takayama and Shirakawa-go

To move from Tokyo to Takayama and Shirakawa-go, I used a expressway bus which ran between Shinjuku and Takayama. The starting point was the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal. 

The Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal was opened in April 4, 2016 to consolidate bus terminals in Shinjuku area. This was my first time to use the Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal.

The Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal was located on the south of Shinjuku station.

Ticketing counter.

I took the first bus bound for Takayama, which departed Shinjuku at 7:05 a.m.

At Suwako Service Area, one of the stop-off points for a rest.

At Hirayu Onsen (hot springs).

I arrived at Takayama Nohi Bus Center at 12:40 p.m. Then, I changed a bus bound for Shirakawa-go.

I reached the Shirakawa-go Bus Terminal.

Walking around Shirakawa-go

Now I started to walk around Shirakawa-go.

“Irori”, a local cuisine restaurant which I had visited last time.

There were several souvenir shops along the main street.

This is “Kidoya”, a guest house where I will stay tonight.

I checked some of mu baggage and continued to stroll around Shirakawa-go.

I had a quick bite for lunch.

It was a good weather, wasn’t it?

Good combination among blue sky, mountains and snow.

An female traveler who took her selfies.

I will go to the observatory by a shuttle bus.

There were two observatories adjacent each other. The first one was “Tenshukaku (Castle top) observatory”.

The second observatory was “Ogi-machi castle ruin observatory”.

I descended the observatory.

I assumed Shirakawa-go was cold very much, but it was just a little bit colder than Tokyo.

These were snowballs?

I often saw tourists who enjoyed snowy landscape.

Now I will stop my first article here.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about move from Tokyo to Takayama and Shirakawa-go and walking around Shirakawa-go as part of Day 1.

I revisited Shirakawa-go for the first time in two-and-a-half years and realized Shirakawa-go, which is one of the World Heritage sites in Japan, should be great 🙂

In the next article, I will continue to walk around Shirakawa-go.

[Map]

[Related Link]
Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal
Nohi Bus
Shirakawa-go tourist information (Shirakawa Village Official Website)