The best timing to visit Japan is NOW

Destination:  Lake Nojiri, Nagano Prefecture (Distance from Tokyo: 256km, approximately 160 miles)

Map →  http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/nagano/togakusi_kurohime.html　

Date:  September, 2010
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Gosh! Another big earthquake hit this country last month. That was crazy, even though people are used to having frequent quakes here.  On top of that, the nuclear power plant in Fukushima has got in a serious situation which is definitely not a frequent thing.  Radioactivity is falling out and has scattered all over the nation.  Japan is now under the umbrella of fatal radiation everywhere.  Maybe people should run away from the contaminated Japanese soil as early as possible and as far as possible.

Can you believe that??

If you want to believe, fine. You are totally safe.  But if you don’t believe that, you can be finer and smarter than those counterparts. Japan is now safe in most areas of the country except the suffered ones from the earthquake and tsunami.  And a better thing is that tourist places are now uncrowded everywhere!!  So if you plan to travel to Japan some time in the future, the time is NOW!  Why?  The answers are below:

a. Less crowded than usual.

Usually it’s so crowded in any tourist destinations about this time of the year in Japan.  You easily get exhausted with jam-up environments before you enjoy something.  For example, Hakata Dontaku Festival of Fukuoka Prefecture (http://www.fukunet.or.jp/dontaku/?cat=8) attracted more than 2 million people to the 2-day event last year.  That’s the common case for any tourist attractions around this time.

But things would be different at many spots this year, because many people – Japanese, foreigners, whoever – unnecessarily refrain from traveling even to disaster-free regions.  Just overreacting to the situations due to the hype the media create.  Many tourist destinations are struggling to bring people in.  That means you can have more space and time to enjoy your travel wherever you go in Japan.  No hustle and bustle, no nuisance people, no traffic jam, of course no radiation.

b. Less expensive than usual.

Hotels and inns are having a disaster as huge as the quake.  Nobody comes in.  When they pick up the phone, they have to hear people say “I want to cancel my reservation” most of the time.  TV news says there are tons of hotels even in the safe areas that have dropped the sales close to 80 – 90 % after the earthquake.

A lot of the accommodation is now offering special discount rates to attract customers.  If you research online, I am sure you can find a better deal than a usual case.  For example, one of the giants in the Japanese hotel industry Prince Hotels (http://www.princehotels.com/en/) offer more than a 50% discount for many of their rooms. 

I’m also sure you can get better hospitality from hotel employees, because you are a very very valuable guest for them.  They'd treat you like a VIP once you step in their place.  You might be even bale to occupy a whole hotel facility as an exclusive guest without other ones, if you are lucky enough.  So you should try your luck Right Now in Japan.

See how good it is to visit Japan now?  Still worried?  OK, fine. I understand how you feel.  Since you don’t know where Fukushima is, you don’t know where a safe destination is in the country (FYI, Fukushima is about 225km, approximately 140miles, away up north from Tokyo).

Alright, here is my recommendation of where to go (said differently how to stay away from the tainted area).  Go to Lake Nojiri in Nagano Prefecture.  It’s totally safe and excellently beautiful.  Definitely a must-visit place in Japan.

I’ll show you the details on the next post.

The Lake Nojiri area is quite peaceful
like this photo shows.

Lake Nojiri

Lake Nojiri

Mt. Kurohime. It's kind of a symbolic mt. of the area

Mt. Kurohime

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Traveling Tips in the Lake Nojiri area

-  Getting there by:

Train;  

Nagano Shinkansen to Nagano  (90 minutes). JPY7,970 for a one-way ticket.  (http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/routemaps/naganoshinkansen.html) And change to Shinetsu line to go down to Kurohime station (approximately 30 minutes) .

Bus;  

There are some companies offering highway bus services from Tokyo to Nagano station (approximately 4 hours). The fare is around JPY 7,000 for a round-trip ticket. I couldn’t find a direct bus service to the Lake Nojiri area.  There might be a few services, if you dig in more research.

Car;  

From central Tokyo, get on Kanetsu Expressway and change on to Joshinetsu Expressway.  It takes about 4 hours to reach the lakeside.

-  To get around the northern part of Nagano:

Preparing a car to transport yourself is strongly recommended. Driving is the best way to visit as many tourist spots as you can and save as much money as you can. The interesting spots are all scattered over out there. It’s quite hard to cover many spots by using the public transportation.

-  Accommodation in the Lake Nojiri area:               

Although there are many hotels and inns in the area, we believe El Bosco (http://www.nojirikohotel-elbosco.com/) is the best one among them in terms of ROI.

- Hotels in the Lake Nojiri area

FYI:  http://kw.travel.rakuten.co.jp/keyword/Search.do?f_max=30&f_query=%96%EC%90K%8C%CE   <Japanese>

-  Affordable Hotels:

FYI:  http://rurubu.travel/hotel-list/200506/   <Japanese>

-  Travel Expenses:

JPY 50,000 would be at least necessary to cover all your expenses for a 3 day / 2 night trip. But it totally depends on where you stay and how many people share a rental car. The costs can be much lower than we spent.

-  Local Tourist Information Center:

Shinanomachi Tourist Association  (http://www.shinano-machi.com/index.php)

Shinsyu Travel Net  (http://www.tabinet-jp.com/)