DESTINATIONS RAIL TRAVEL | JAPAN
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Dinosaur sculptures outside JR Fukui Station; Awara Onsen; Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train
PICTURES: Fukui City Tourist Board; JNTO; JR East Railway Company; Shutterstock/Akkharat Jarusilawong
expertexper ASK THE
Kate Samuel senior Japan tailor-made
product manager, InsideJapan
“With Japan being so popular, travelling with a specialist who knows the country well can get customers to off-radar
destinations, offering plenty of what makes Japan such a special place but without the crowds. The new Hokuriku line makes some of these incredible places and experiences even more accessible.”
The shinkansen’s arrival has fuelled development. In the old town, a renovated ‘Museum Street’ – home to wooden buildings that survived the Second World War – houses restaurants, cafes and shops along newly laid cobblestone streets. The Kami-Warabe Washi Paper Doll Museum offers insights into traditional paper straw modelling and origami, while the nearby Kitotenowa Cafe, a pharmacy-turned-eatery, retains its medicine cabinets and landscaped garden. At Nihonkai Sakanamachi, the Sea of Japan’s
largest seafood market, more than 50 vendors sell everything from the daily catch to green-tea ice cream, but the speciality is rice bowls crowned with generous sashimi. Nearby, I savoured the sweet winter delicacy of snow crab at Kaisen Minatoya, a canteen set among warehouses in the heart of the working port.
ARTS AND CRAFTS From Tsuruga, the bullet train will reach the next new station, Ichizen Takefu, in 36 minutes. This stop will serve an area renowned for its artisans, who excel not only at preserving traditional crafts but also enthusing visitors about them. Workshops and studios, known as ‘villages’, invite guests to try local crafts, while there are also excellent cafes and souvenir gift shops. Visitors can perfect their whetstone sharpening
skills at Takefu Knife Village, while in Echizen, they can learn about ancient paper-making at Washi Village or enjoy an intimate clay-working experience at Pottery Village. Foodies, meanwhile, can grind buckwheat flour to prepare soba noodles at Soba Village.
42 14 MARCH 2024
33Ichizen Takefu’s artisans excel at preserving crafts and enthusing visitors about them
My next stop is the prefectural capital of Fukui
City, an important centre for Zen Buddhism. Regular bus routes and local trains run from the city to temples secreted in the surrounding mountains. Just outside the city lies Daianzenji Temple, where I had
my introductory encounter with Zen. Its day retreats offer zazen meditation, sutra tracing, kirie (paper cutting), and shojin ryori, a plant-based Buddhist meal. InsideJapan’s new itinerary includes an overnight stay at the temple. The spa town of Awara Onsen, Fukui’s fourth and final new bullet-train station, offers clients a soothing send-off. For day-trippers, Saintpia Awara, a day onsen a short walk from the station, is a relaxed introduction to the Japanese custom of communal nude bathing. InsideJapan’s tour takes in nearby Kaga Onsen, which has been a hotspot for bathing since the eighth century. While submerged in the hot spring waters, bathers can leave an egg to slow-boil in a separate tub which, it is claimed, can tell a couple’s romantic fate. Despite healing waters and soothing meditation,
Zen’s calm eludes me on my journey back to Tokyo. Instead, my mind fizzes with the vibrant cultural experiences, culinary delights and artistic encounters that await travellers to this unique region.
TW
ROARSOME FAMILY FUN
With 80% of the country’s dinosaur fossils found here, Fukui is Japan’s prehistoric playground and visitors can learn more at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, housed in a striking dome-shaped building in Katsuyama. A 52-minute train ride from Fukui, it features life-sized moving dioramas (pictured) and tours of active dig sites. Family groups will love the dino- themed rooms at Katsuyama New Hotel, featuring giant dinosaur feet sofas and treehouse-style lofts.
BOOK IT
InsideJapan Tours’ self-guided Hidden Zen cultural adventure starts at £6,025, including 14 nights’ B&B accommodation, transfers, some meals, private guiding and cultural experiences. Departure dates are available throughout the year.
insidejapantours.com
travelweekly.co.uk
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