#1 Visit the temples of 狈颈办办ō
"NIKK? is Nippon”, goes the town’s slogan. It’s only half-correct, though: visitors to Japan come prepared to take the ancient with the modern, but this town, 128km north of the capital, is up there with the most traditional in the country. It certainly lives up to its billing better than Kyoto, the vaunted dynastic capital way out west.
Most visit 狈颈办办ō to see the World Heritage-listed shrine complex of Tōshō-gū, which sits at the base of mountains crisscrossed by the outstanding hiking trails of 狈颈办办ō National Park. It’s also worth investigating the far less crowded Tōshō-gū Museum of Art, and the Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park, before crossing the Daiya-gawa to explore the dramatically named Ganman-ga-fuchi abyss, which is in fact a modest gorge flanked by a tranquil walking path.
The most beautiful parts of the aforementioned national park are around Chūzenji-ko lake, some 17km west of 狈颈办办ō, and the quieter resort of Yumoto, higher up in the mountains.
Despite its popularity as a tourist destination today, barely a century ago, in the wake of the Meiji Restoration, 狈颈办办ō was running to seed. It was foreign diplomats and businesspeople who began to favour it as a highland retreat from the heat of summer in Tokyo; grand villas such as the Meiji-no-Yakata were built and the Kanaya Inn – now the 狈颈办办ō Kanaya Hotel – was founded by Kanaya Zen’ichirō in 1873.
Outside the peak summer and autumn reasons, and with a very early start, it’s possible to see both Tōshō-gū and Chūzenji-ko in a long day-trip from Tokyo, but to get the most out of the journey it’s best to stay overnight.
In contrast to most Japanese urban areas, the town is refreshingly quiet after dark: very little is open after 8pm, bar a couple of renegade bars and convenience stores, allowing you to wander the town’s lanes unmolested by traffic or flashing lights, drinking in the fresh air which remains clement all through the summer.
How to get there
狈颈办办ō is accessible on two lines from Tokyo, which serve stations sitting almost side-by-side in the east of the town. The JR station is a real beauty, a historic wooden building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; however, unless you’ve got a JR Pass, the Tōbu line will generally be more convenient.
- Tōbu train: The Tōbu-狈颈办办ō line () runs from Tōbu-Asakusa Station, connected by tunnel to Asakusa subway station; an alternative access point for this line is Kita-Senju Station, at the end of the Hibiya line. There are two types of train to choose from: the regular local ones (2hr 30min–3hr 30min), or the fancier limited express “Spacia” or “Revalty” services (1hr 50min); on local trains you’ll need to change at Shimo-Imaichi (and probably a couple of other places, unless you’re travelling on the commuter-time expresses).
- JR train: You can also reach 狈颈办办ō on JR trains, but the fares are far higher (especially so if travelling by Shinkansen), so travelling this way only makes sense if you have a JR pass. The fastest route (around 2hr total) is by Shinkansen from either Tokyo or Ueno to Utsunomiya (宇都宮), where you change to the JR 狈颈办办ō line for a local train to the JR 狈颈办办ō terminus, just east of the Tōbu station.
