Japan's most underrated little treasure town! Top-notch powder snow, old Edo architecture, and a direct stay in Hayao Miyazaki's fairytale world!

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🤗 Recommended Route

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D1 Landing at Toyama Airport → Staying at Hakuba Ski Resort

D2/D3 Free skiing in Hakuba Village

D4 Kureyama Park Observatory→Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art→Rimizu Park→Toyama Glass Museum

D5 Amagaru Coast→Nosaku Handicraft Experience→Kenrokuen Garden→Higashi Chaya Street

D6 21st Century Museum of Art→Shirakawa-go Gosho Village→Shirakawa-go Bed and Breakfast

D7 Return to Toyama Airport

Hakuba Village Skiing

Hakuba Village is a famous ski resort located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, nestled in the foothills of the Northern Alps and known for its deep snow and quality powder.

The 1998 Winter Olympics brought Hakuba Village to the international stage, making it a globally recognized ski resort.

Hakuba Village has several ski areas, 11 resorts, 146 lifts and over 200 trails. The 10 most prominent ski resorts have high quality powder snow, good equipment and facilities, and are superb value for money.

The snow here is about 11 meters thick every year and has some of the best powder snow in all of Japan. Both beginners and skiing veterans will enjoy it.

Resort Nightlife

Throughout the winter months, each resort in Whitehorse Village hosts a variety of activities, with fun snowshoeing, snowshoeing, snow tubing and wilderness skiing to name a few.

The nightlife here is colorful and lively. The Happo and Echoland districts, two popular places to stay, offer both international style and Japanese charm. The streets are lined with not only luxury hotels but also Japanese-style inns, craft beer bars next to izakaya (Japanese-style pubs), and authentic Japanese-style ramen restaurants next to world-class gourmet restaurants.

Located near the center of Hakuba Valley, Happo-One was the venue for the alpine skiing and ski jumping events of the 1998 Winter Olympics. The resort hosts a variety of events, including the New Year's Eve countdown and the Happo-Ogane Fire Festival in February, which is very popular among visitors.

In addition to this, Hakuba Village is rich in hot springs. After skiing, go to the hot springs to enjoy soothing and washing away the tiredness of the day. Happo Onsen is the only natural hydrogen hot spring in Japan and is said to have antioxidant and anti-aging effects.

Kurenasan Park Observatory

The Kureyama Park Observatory offers a spectacular view of the Tateyama Mountain Range to the east and a beautiful view of Toyama Bay and Noto Peninsula to the north.

This is why it is called the “Tateyama Viewing Platform”.

The altitude of this mountain is not high, but the vegetation is rich and the air is fresh and pleasant, and when you meet a good day, you can slowly climb the mountain to relax your body and mind and breathe in nature.

The observation deck is equipped with binoculars, which allow visitors to clearly see the snow-capped mountains in the distance. The view at sunset is even more stunning, with the city glistening in the afterglow, making it even more breathtakingly beautiful.

Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art

The Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art opened in 2017 and was designed by Hiroshi Naito.

Hiroshi Naito's design utilizes a large number of floor-to-ceiling windows to create a brightly lit interior that is appropriately scaled and carefully detailed, making you feel at ease and comfortable as soon as you enter.

The museum has a comprehensive exhibition of 20th century artworks, posters and chair collections. There are art exhibition rooms and studios where visitors can participate and create experiences, and there is a strong atmosphere of interaction and art creation.

There is also an event space, a café, and a variety of educational programs for adults and children. On the roof, there is a play space designed for children and a 360-degree view of Toyama City, making it ideal for parents and children~.

Around the Water Park

Also worth a visit is the Circumferential Park around the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art, which is a circular park that was converted from a former canal, making full use of the space around the water to create a cultural park near the water for both residents and tourists.

The Starbucks on the shore is called the most beautiful Starbucks in Japan, so it is relaxing and enjoyable to order a cup and then sunbathe on the shore and experience local life in Toyama.

Lighted at night, the water park is even more romantic. For an immersive experience, you can take an excursion boat to see the vast sky, the water reflecting the lighted sunset, and the rolling snow-capped mountains in the distance, with the beauty of nature at your fingertips.

Toyama Glass Museum of Art

The design of the museum uses materials such as Mikage stone, glass, and aluminum to create a layered exterior with a rich sense of nature, reminiscent of the Tateyama mountain range in Toyama.

The interior space of the art gallery is designed as a continuous diagonal spiral from the 2nd floor to the 6th floor; The clever use of light and mirrors makes the whole interior appear bright and penetrating.

The museum has a large collection of modern glass art, including works by top international glass artists and local Toyama artists

The form and beauty of glass in the hands of different artists varies, but all of them are marvelous. The “Glass Art Garden” by Dale Chihuly allows visitors to experience the infinite possibilities of glass art.

Amaru Coast

The Amaru Coast is located in Noto Peninsula National Park, and has been honored with many awards, such as “the most beautiful coast” and “the most beautiful white sand”.

It has been a tourist attraction in Japan since ancient times, and its beauty has been praised in the Manyoshu (The Book of Ten Thousand Leaves).

The sea as a landscape and the mountains as a companion. The Amagari Coast not only presents Toyama Prefecture's unrivaled natural beauty, but has also been a source of inspiration for poets and artists for thousands of years.

The white sandy beaches and the tall pine trees are a beautiful contrast, giving visitors a sense of beauty to remember in spring, summer, fall and winter.

If you have enough time, you can also visit Michi no Eki Amagaru, a 3-story building just 5 minutes away from JR Amagaru Station. The exquisite floor-to-ceiling windows and open terrace offer visitors a great place for relaxing views, and there are many photographers who come here to take pictures of the train.

Nozaku Handicraft Experience

The Takaoka area is known for its rich traditional crafts, such as Takaoka copperware, lacquerware, and tinware.

Nosaku is one of the best-known metal craft manufacturers in the Takaoka area.

It is a place where the essence of traditional craftsmanship is inherited and modern design concepts are incorporated, which is favored by the younger generation. Visitors to Nosaku's headquarter factory can get a close-up look at the craftsmen's skill in the casting and polishing workshops.

If you are interested, you can try your hand at making pure pewter mugs at the Experience Space.

There is also a cafe in the factory where visitors can come and enjoy dishes made from healthy local ingredients using tinware. The taste is good and it is a very special experience.

Kenrokuen Garden

Kanrokuen Garden, one of the three most famous gardens in Japan, was once the garden of the feudal lord of Kanazawa Castle, and has a rich Edo period atmosphere and a quaint atmosphere.

Grand, profound, manpower, ancient, water spring, and view are not only the origin of the name of Kenrokuen Garden, but also completely summarize the characteristics of Kenrokuen Garden. Compared to other gardens in Kyoto and Nara, Kanrokuen is more atmospheric, with a fascinating traditional landscape and a sophisticated, design-oriented atmosphere.

The garden also features a fountain with a natural jet of 3.5 meters high, the emblematic square lanterns, and the Sungsun Pavilion, which is a fusion of two Japanese architectural styles. There are four seasons: spring cherry blossoms, summer azaleas, fall maples, and winter pines.

Higashi Chaya Street

As one of the teahouse districts representing Kanazawa culture, Higashi Chaya Street exudes the elegance of old Japan from the Edo period to the present day.

It's also nice to find a favorite teahouse to rest your feet, sip tea, eat snacks, and spend a lazy, leisurely afternoon.

In addition, the atmospheric old townscape of Higashi Chaya Street has been selected as an area of national importance for the preservation of traditional architectural complexes, and you can see tourists in kimono taking pictures of it.

21st Century Museum of Art

The 21st Century Museum of Art in Kanazawa, designed by the renowned architectural firm SANAA, was awarded the Golden Lion at the 2004 Venice Architecture Biennale.

The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa has been revitalizing Kanazawa by harmonizing the museum with the city, both in terms of creating a new culture and revitalizing the city.

Facing the street on three sides, the Museum of Fine Arts utilizes a glass circular wall on its periphery that has no front or back, making the entire building bright and open. Its circular design has no strict front or back doors, encouraging visitors to enter and engage with art from all directions.

Today, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa attracts more than one million visitors each year and is an indispensable cultural landmark in Kanazawa.

Shirakawa-go Hoso Village

Shirakawa-go in the northwestern part of Gifu Prefecture is surrounded by mountains, rice paddies, and rivers.

It is a rare place where more than 110 houses of various sizes are still inhabited.

In winter, when it snows heavily in Shirakawa-go, the whole village is covered with snow, and the huts are covered with thick cream, making them dreamy and beautiful. This is also the time for the Winter Illumination Event, which has been held for 25 years on January 13, January 19, January 26, and February 2, and is very popular, so you need to make a reservation in advance~.

In 1995, “Shirakawa-go and Gokayama Gosho Settlement” was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the world discovered this fairy tale snow town.

For those who are physically fit, we recommend taking the Ogimachi Castle Trail Observatory Trail up the mountain. The observatory is always a hotspot for photos, regardless of whether it is lighted during the winter season or not. The whole village of Hapo can be captured in one shot, so anyone can take pictures of the fairytale-like dream village.

Shirakawago Bed and Breakfast

If you would like to explore the beauty of the Happo-zukuri in more depth, you can also choose to stay directly at the hotel and immerse yourself in the cozy embrace of the traditional architecture and the unique flavor of time in Shirakawa-go.

Staying in the fairy tale countryside written by Hayao Miyazaki in the winter with heavy snowfall, the outside of the house is a pure white color with no boundaries; Inside the house, we cook around the stove and quietly listen to the grandmother's gentle narration of the stories that once happened on this land.

There are also hot springs to wash away the dust and fatigue of traveling, and you can enjoy a good night's sleep by satisfying yourself with local wild vegetables, rice, and Hida beef.