Wakasa Wan National Park comprises most of the wide Wakasa Bay and
its several peninsulas and smaller bays between Miyazu (and Ama no
Hashidate) on the West, to Tsuruga city on the East. These include
the Nairu, Oshima, Tsunegami, and Tsuruga Peninsulas as well
as the Mikata Go-Ko (Five Lakes) and numerous islets. It is wild
picturesque coastline (as is much of the Japan Sea coast) with plenty of
opportunities to head out on little-visited peninsulas. This area is
best explored by car. Details of several of these peninsulas are below...
Just west of Obama, on an otherwise ordinary patch of the Japan Sea coast, is a big long bridge over a finger of Obama Bay, out to the Oshima Peninsula. Like most peninsulas in the area, it consists of a ridge of mountains projecting out into the sea, skirted by cliffs and narrow shores. This is a fairly interesting natural area that was probably very isolated twenty years ago. Now that they have built the bridge to short-cut the long drive around the bay, and have just completed a new paved road out on the peninsula, replete with tunnels, it is much easier to get there and will someday be more developed for tourism.
One reason for the road is the huge new atomic power plant on the back side of the mountains. The road does not reach to the end of the peninsula, I think the power plant makes it off-limits. The fishermen take their boats out to the tip at Nokogiri-zaki (point), and you can get a "pleasure" cruise around the point in the high season.
The road goes along the eastern shore of the peninsula where there is just one rather long narrow fishing town, Oshima Hatake Mura. It has a commercial and sport-fishing dock, and is far from touristy. There are only simple minshuku (lodgings) in town and many are closed in the off season. In season, the place probably attracts sports fishermen, who mostly fish and retire to drink in their rooms because there are no 'night-spots' in the town. The small town itself is passably pleasant; nothing special, but with a nice view out across the bay. There are more interesting places to stay the night in the Wakasa Bay area, but if you get caught up exploring Oshima Peninsula, this little town is not a bad stopover. Buses from Obama are sparse to this area.
At the north end of Oshima Hatake Mura is a short sand beach, beyond which is a paved walking path that is well worth taking. The path wanders among the ragged volcanic rocks on shore, making an easy walk of what would be treacherous otherwise. After a kilometer or two, you round a bend and come to a very picturesque little island reached by a small arching foot bridge. This is Akaguri Island Park. The little island is covered with pines and epitomizes the "haku-sa, sei-sho" (white sand, blue pines) ideal of wild beautiful sea-coast scenery. Waves crash against the steep rock cliffs and you can climb the island to a little light house. Nice spot for a picnic lunch, and unlikely to get very crowded.
Staying:
We stayed in a simple place in the south part of town whose name I cannot read. We asked at a nicer looking inn on the north side, but they were closed, so called to get us another. The south has better views, but is fronted by the commercial piers and is farther from the "beach". It turns out that construction crews (possibly for the power plant) were staying at this and several other minshukus, so all our fellow guests were grimy male construction workers. (tel (0770) 0241).
Tsunegami (tsune-GA-mi, sometimes written as Tsunekami) is a narrow, mountainous peninsula twisting out into the sea. Forty years ago, there was no road at all out here, and villagers carried their goods to market by boat, or (in olden days) by making the long trek several days along the top of the mountain ridge, passing by mount Baijoga-dake. There are a few fishing villages along the road, which climbs and descends the cliffs along the western shore of the peninsula. The great scenery doesn't stop, all the way to Tsunegami town, a fishing village on the rocky point of the peninsula.
All the villages have some kind of lodging, but it's worth the one-hour drive to Tsunegami. The people are nice, the water is clear (and cold), and the coastal rocks and mountains enclose the town in dramatic scenery. There is no sand beach here, and to be honest, the town itself really isn't much at all; but the setting makes it quite pleasant. There is not a lot to do except walk around a bit. You can climb along the rocky shore at road's end and there is a trail to the top of the very steep mountain if you get energetic.
Getting there:
Between Obama and Tsuruga cities is the Mikata Go-Ko (Five Lakes) area, near Mikata station on the Obama line. There is a scenic (toll) drive around the pretty little lakes which goes through some beautifully forested countryside. It's picturesque and a very pleasant and short drive. That's just the warm up!
Just beyond the Mikata Five Lakes Drive, on the west side, an ordinary road (no toll) takes off left along the western coast of the Tsunegami Peninsula. This is one of the nicest places we visited. It had something to do with the fine inn we stayed at, but also the isolation and beautiful scenery along the way. There is no regular bus service.
Staying:
There are a few lodgings in the village of Tsunegami; naturally some are closed in the off season. Just before the last tunnel into the town itself (about a five minute walk from the town) is a new, vaguely Western looking building that is the Nishi Mura-Ya Bekkan (inn). This is a Japanese-style ryokan and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. The room was nice with a fine view out to the sea, and it was a very quite place. They have a beautiful glassed-in coffee shop downstairs where they serve a great western breakfast, as well as traditional Japanese breakfast.
Dinner was incredible! The freshest raw fish I have ever eaten, and lots and lots of it. Everything was still moving. We had sea urchin in the shell, raw shrimp, a huge raw flounder that was still trying to flop around, and the best squid I have ever seen, so fresh you could almost see through it -- complete with waving tentacles. This is stuff you cannot get in Tokyo or Osaka at any price; it is all local and is served right out of the sea.
Nishi Mura-Ya
Fukui-ken, Mikata-cho
Tsunegami Mura
tel (0770) 47-1117 or 47-1007
________________
The Tojimbo Cliffs (toe-jim-bo, photo, left,
clickable),
on a point of the Echi-zen
Kaigan (coast) National Park, are the tourist attraction here, but the
entire surrounding area is beautifully forested coastal scenery which
is mostly undeveloped and can be easily explored on foot or by
bicycle. Most Japanese tourists stay at the
)
To see:
The Tojimbo Cliffs themselves, which are limited to a small area, are interesting to see and fun (and free, I think) to walk around exploring. Of course there are busloads of people much of the day, plenty of souvenir shops, and a big tourist center building, but the rocky cliffs are worth seeing and even the tourist excursion boat can be pleasant on a nice day. The boat tour takes twenty minutes to look around all the interesting cliff formations, and is not bad if you don't have to queue up too long to get on. There are a number of small boats so this should not be a problem.
The nearby fishing village of Anto
(
)
has its back to the sea, with a broad beach you can walk along.
It is completely ignored by the tour bus people.
Just beyond the east end of town the
beach swings out to a short bridge leading to a good-sized island
right offshore. You can park you bike at the bridge and have an
interesting time walking all over the island for an hour or two. The
island is one large forested hill with wild coastal scenery, and even
some large hillside meadows facing out to sea. Naturally, there are
several shrines on the island, but no other buildings or hawkers (it's
a park), and if you aren't careful you could while away much of an
afternoon here if the weather is nice. Great for a picnic lunch.
You can continue walking east down the coast, on and on through some good tide-pools to a wayside park and a tourist aquarium (we didn't go in). Or bike down there on the road. Everywhere are pine forests, cliffs, beach, rocks, and not too many commercial roadside attractions. Pretty nice.
Getting there:
Take the Hokuriku Main line past Fukui city to Awara On-Sen station. The actual Awara Hot-Spring area is 15 minutes away by bus, and the public bus continues on another 20 to 25 minutes to the coast and the Tojimbo Cliffs. The little town nearest Tojimbo is called Anto and it is the bus stop just before Tojimbo. This is where you get off if you want to stay in the area. Buses run about every 40 minutes until about 7pm.
There is a little tram-line from Fukui city out to Mikuni-Minato, just a couple of kilometers by bus from Tojimbo on the coast; it runs every 30 or 40 minutes and takes 45 minutes; then you catch one of the Awara buses (from Mikuni, not Mikuni-Minato) 10 minutes to Tojimbo. Ask at Fukui station. If you're driving a car, Tojimbo is also very near an exit of the new Hokuriku Expressway.
The large and famous Eihei-ji Zen monastery, founded by Dogen in the 13th century, is in the mountains about a half-hour inland from Fukui city by bus or train. There is also a tourism bus that runs between Tojimbo, Awara Hot-Springs, and the famous Eihei-Ji monastery; it leaves Tojimbo every hour in the morning (starting at 9:50), returning from Eihei-Ji (via Awara Station) every hour in the afternoon until 5pm.
Staying:
Anto is a nice little village with a few minshukus, no fancy ryokans. One nice-looking place was the Nakaya Minshuku (walk ahead toward Tojimbo, then turn back and down to the right on the only other road in town).
When we were at the Awara On-Sen station, we saw a brochure for the Nagaya Pension, with pictures of an open-beam all-wood structure in the midst of a forest. We made the extra effort to walk there and it was fantastic! But this pension is a 15 minute walk from either Anto or Tojimbo. Anto is the closer stop; walk ahead down the road (toward Tojimbo) to the traffic light. Angle off left, following the Nagaya Pension sign and down the small forested road to the pension. We called ahead from the station to make sure they were open, and to get directions.
The Nagaya Pension (no relation to Nakaya Minshuku, in the middle of Anto village) is indeed all wood, glass, and big beams, with high-pitched roofs and is nestled all alone right in the forest. This place is quite new and run by a young couple who are very nice. The rooms are all wooden, but Japanese style. There is a nice coffee shop, the public "Swingbird Tea Room", and the food at dinner was great! The local specialty is raw shrimp. They also provide free bicycles for you to explore on! We stayed two nights, and could have enjoyed another day or two, just relaxing. We never got around to walking down to Tojimbo in the evening, but it would be pretty quiet then.
Pension Nagaya
Fukui-ken,
Mikuni-cho
Anto 15-78
tel (?) 82-3006 (ask for the area code)
________________
There seems to be no store at all in Anto (where do those people get their staples?), and certainly no bank. The nearest shopping is in Awara On-Sen, 15 minutes by bus; so bring your snacks, wine, and whatever with you. As everywhere, the pension has bus and train schedules posted.
and the Notto Hanto 
East up the Japan Sea coast from Fukui Prefecture is the pleasantly traditional city of Kanazawa and the nearby Notto Peninsula. These are both interesting places to visit if you are in the area, and are worth a long week-end trip on their own merits. Many Japanese tourists do visit here, and there is no shortage of information on what to see and do.
Kanazawa has maintained much of its atmosphere as a provincial center of traditional culture, especially in the historical districts of Teramachi and Nagamachi, the old pleasure quarter and Samurai quarter, respectively. Not surprisingly, they are conveniently close together. The most famous attraction in Kanazawa is the large Kenroku-en landscape garden, one of the finest (and most famous) in Japan. It's right next to the former castle grounds in the center of the city.
There are a number of other historical and cultural sights in Kanazawa. If you're headed that way, pick up a copy of Ruth Stevens' book "Kanazawa, the Other Side of Japan", which explores her town in intimate detail and also lists a number of lodgings. Any other guide book will give information about this well-visited -- and worthwhile -- place. There is a reasonable tourist information office as well as lodging agents in the modern railway station.
Getting there:
To get to Kanazawa by train from the Tokyo area, the fastest is to
take the bullet train to
),
It's a bit slower to take the traditional and more scenic Takasaki line from Ueno station in Tokyo. This joins the Shin-etsu line passing by Karuizawa to Nagano, where it joins the Oito line north to Itoigawa on the Japan Sea, where it meets the Hokuriku Main Line that will take you west to Kanazawa. There a couple of night trains daily direct from Ueno to Kanazawa on this route, leaving about 11pm and it takes about seven hours.
Kanazawa is under 4 hours west of Niigata, and the Joetsu Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Niigata takes under 2 hours, but the connections are few and far apart, so don't choose this route unless you want to stay over in Niigata (and Sado Island). There is also one direct express train a day from Nagano City (if you happen to be there) at 3:50pm, passing Kanazawa about 7pm.
The Takayama Main line runs north from Nagoya all the way to Toyama City, which is closer to Kanazawa than Itoigawa. But it can take much longer, especially if you are tempted to stop and visit Takayama on the way (see below).
The Hokuriku Main line turns inland at Tsuruga, west of Kanazawa, to meet up with the Tokaido Main Line (and also the bullet trains) at Maibara. This is the quickest route to Kyoto and Osaka at something over three hours using regular trains. If you use the bullet trains instead, it's only half an hour from Kyoto to Maibara, and 45 minutes from Osaka. Then two hours on the regular express to Kanazawa.
By car, the quickest route no matter where you come from is to take
the Hokuriku Expressway which begins at Maibara and follows the rail
line to Kanazawa and Toyama. Even coming from Tokyo it is quite a bit
faster to get the ToMei or Chuo Expressway all the way to
)
However, if you are not in such a hurry, why not just wander around in those mountains for a while on the way? See The Central Mountains of Honshu, below.
The Notto Peninsula is broader, more diverse, and more populated than most of the desolate mountainous peninsulas along the Japan Sea coast. Yes, it has some rolling mountains, but also some thriving towns amid broad valleys, coastal strips, and farmlands. There are a number of side roads across the peninsula that lead to rustic farm country, and not a few old temples, shrines, and historical residences.
The outer, western shore is the typically rugged and rocky coast you see along much of the Japan Sea coast. While the inner, eastern shore has sheltered bays and harbors with quiet backwaters and islands. There are some nice old farm and estate houses around the Ukawa-Mizuho and Takojima areas of this coast. Most of the roads are modern and because there are a number of fair-sized towns on the peninsula, a good bus service covers most of it. It is also a favorite place for bicyclists, as most of the terrain is flat or rolling hills. There is a coastal hiking trail starting from the tip of the peninsula at Cape Rokugo.
You can make a good round trip of the Notto Hanto from Kanazawa, and you can do most of it in a day with a car. But it's also pleasant to stop over in one of the quieter coastal or inland villages. The inn I stayed at in Wakura was nothing special but it was a nice area, and there are bound to be some hidden get-aways out there somewhere.
Getting there:
The Nanao train line runs up from Kanazawa to Nanao in the middle of the peninsula about every hour. A few of these trains continue up the Notto line to Amamizu where you can change to a train right to the end of the peninsula at Suzu and Takojima; they run about every hour. These trains run mostly along the southern (inner) coast of Notto, but a spur line runs from Amamizu up to Wajima on the north side about every hour. There are two express trains at 8am and 5pm direct from Kanazawa to Wajima.
Several buses a day run from Kanazawa station up the outer (north) side of the peninsula as far as Monzen in two hours. From there you can ger regular buses up to Wajima or over to the train at Amamizu. These are just examples; once you get out there you'll find quite a few buses running all over the place. Just don't get caught out too late or you may have to stay the night (too bad!).
Hegura-jima (island) is a place that has always tickled my
imagination, largely because I've seldom heard anything about it.
This is an island, somewhat north of the Notto Hanto, where abalone
has been taken from the sea by free-divers for centuries. As far as I
know, the divers -- almost exclusively women -- still ply their trade
here, though in dwindling numbers. There may be no permanent
settlements as most of the abalone gatherers come out here for only a
few months of the year, and the island is quite isolated.
There are regular boats to Hegura-jima -- sometimes called "Hekura" --
from Wajima (on the Notto Peninsula) when the weather permits.
They leave Wajima at 9am,
returning at 3pm (2pm from November through February), and the voyage
takes an hour and a half. ¥2,200 each way. (Boarding 1
hour before departure.) But what you might find there,
I could not say. Here is the 
Hegura Home Page,
in Japanese.
Fosco Maraini went to Hegura in the 1950's and wrote a book (with photos)
about the abalone divers and village people there.
"The Island
of the Fisherwomen" ("L'Isola delle Pescatrici" in its
original Italian) is long out of print but you may still
find some copies, if you're interested. (I've got mine.)
Sado Island (sado-GA-shima) is a quite large rural island a few
hours off the Japan Sea coast from Niigata city, north (across several
mountain ranges) of Tokyo. The island is made up of two parallel but
offset mountain ridges, with a fertile valley in between
(Map).
There are forested mountains with wild flowers, desolate stretches of dramatic
coastline, quiet bays and lakes, and a few minor cultural attractions.
Here's a general Sado Is. Info Page In English.
The main interest here is just in wandering the island, visiting quiet fishing villages, rugged coastline, and several beaches. If this sounds good, Sado is large enough to spend several days at it, and a week-end is barely enough to really get into the relaxed island atmosphere. With a car, you could cover most of the many roads around the island in two or three days (once you get there), stopping where you pleased. Buses also run most everywhere, you just have to pick your spots ahead of time, and wait for the next connection.
Since the construction of the Joetsu Shinkansen (bullet train) from
Tokyo to Niigata, and the advent of hydrofoils out to the island, it
is no longer a long day's journey to Sado from Tokyo, and there will
likely be many more tourists than before. Still, there are dozens of
little villages that are not on the tour bus routes, and islands are
only really popular with Japanese tourists in the high summer months.
Sado was long a penal colony, or more accurately an island of
banishment for enemies of the ruling lords. It figures in several
historical dramas, where forsaken heroes lamented their lonely and
desolate fate. Among the more famous exiles were the Emperor Juntoku
and the celebrated Priest Nichiren, both of the 13th century. Sado is
also famous for it picturesque folk dances, accompanied by the
melancholic ballad, Sado Okesa (photo, left, clickable).
To see:
If you just want to get the lay of the land, or don't know where else
to go, you can take a half-day or full-day bus tour from the ferry
dock at Ryotsu, the main town. A tour will take you around the
central part of the
island, visiting several of the historical sites and heading up in the
mountains and along some of the coast line. This is a pretty easy way
to hit the sights, but a Japanese bus tour can be a fast-paced and
exhausting experience. At some point, you have to head out to explore
on your own.
[Photo: Mandatory
Sado
bus tour photo]
First you have to pick your routes.
(Click
the image on the right for a larger map of Sado Island.)
From the main port town of
Ryotsu, you can set out in one (or more) of five directions. Two of
them head off through the central valley to Sawata and Mano, on the
opposite, windward shore. The route to Mano passes several of the
most historical and cultural sights on the island, including the
Homma-ike Noh theater at the end of Homma-ike lake, Konpon-ji temple,
Myosen-ji temple, and the Mano Mausoleum. The mausoleum is that of
the Emperor Juntoku, and nearby is a museum of relics from the
emperor, as well as of the priest Nichiren.
Having reached Mano, you have several choices. You can head south along the coast and over to Ogi, another port with ships heading back to Naoetsu and Kashiwasaki (on Honshu), somewhat south of Niigata on the Echigo Main line. Or go north up the coast around Mano Bay to Aikawa and on, and on.
The mountain route from Ryotsu goes across Myoken-zan (3300 feet) and down to Aikawa on the coast north of Mano Bay. Just before Aikawa is the site of several feudal-period commercial gold mining operations, and you can take a tour of the Sadoyu-ko mine. From Aikawa you can take a side trip south down the Nanaura Kaigan (coastline), toward Dai-no-hana point. There is some fine scenery along this stretch, with numerous islets off the shore. Here you will find a few villages with some lodgings, few tourists, and not as many buses. We stayed at a nice little town about three-quarters of the way down, whose name I can't read; I think that was as far as our bus went, so there we stayed.
From Aikawa or Mano, you can head straight north up the long western coastline, facing the open Japan Sea. It's a long ways and there is plenty of picturesque rocky coastline, several nice beaches, and only small villages along the way. The northern most part is the most scenic and we stopped at a nice beach at little Ogawa on the Soto-kaifu Coast.
Towards this northern tip of the island, the coast gets very rugged, the roads worse, and the buses fewer. At the very tip are two dramatic points, Futatsu-game and Hajiki-zaki. There are a few little villages here where you can stop over for a meal or the night, and there are some interesting walks along the coastal cliffs and into several caves in the rocks. We found one seaside cave that was full of little Jizo shrines -- well tended -- to the souls of dead children.
Rounding this northern point, the road heads back south down a long quieter coastline back to Ryotsu. The only real town is Uragawa, about half-way down. You could also start out from Ryotsu and head up this eastern coast in the opposite direction. This northern "leg" of the island covers a lot of distance, and is not nearly as touristed as the southern areas. There are a couple of rugged roads across the mountains, not served by buses.
The fifth route out of Ryotsu is south along the coast and out toward Hime-saki point. We stayed at a little inn at another village called Ogawa, before the point. Beyond Hime-saki, the road south down the eastern shore is poor and there may be few or no buses at all.
There are a few other regular roads across portions of the island, and several little side-roads and mountain tracks that you could explore by car.
Getting there:
Sado is usually reached via
Niigata city (
).
The regular Takasaki - Joetsu line from Tokyo to Niigata is a dramatic
trip through real snow country, especially in Gumma Prefecture.
But nowdays it only takes about 2 hours to Niigata on the new Joetsu
Shinkansen, which tunnels through much of the high mountains.
You can still take the slow train if you really want to, but they are mostly at night now. A train leaves Shinjuku Station in Tokyo about 11pm, arriving in Niigata about 5am. Otherwise, you take a train from Ueno, and change a couple of times at Takazaki and Nagaoka.
If you are already on the Japan Sea coast, you can just head up on the Hokuriku and Echigo Main lines from Kanazawa. Along this coast is Naoetsu, from where regular boats ply to Ogi, on the southern tip of Sado Island. In warmer months (April to November) there is a hydrofoil service on this route that takes one hour; the regular ferry service runs all year that takes two and a half hours.
From Niigata, the regular car ferries take about two and a half hours
to Ryotsu on Sado; for quite a bit more money you can take the hourly
hydrofoil ("jet-foil") in just one hour. This is a most popular route
and there will be quite a queue during the summer.
Here's a link to some Sado Ferry
Staying:
Ryotsu is a good-sized town with plenty of tourist hotels, but it will be much more fun to head out into the countryside and find a nice little inn in more pastoral surroundings. Any of the little villages will have a minshuku of some kind or another, but some of them will be closed in the off-season. Most of the really scenic areas will have several inns, and at least one will be able to take you in.
Randy's Japan Page
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