June, 2025 | Japanese Countryside Travel Notes

2025-06-302025-06-30

This is Little Kyoto, Taketa Old Town

taketa9 earthen wall of samrai residence

Taketa City is famous for the ruins of Oka Castle, a castle built on top of a cliff. It is the motif of the song “Kojo no Tsuki” (Moon over the Ruins of the Castle) composed by the musician Rentaro Taki, but I’ve already been there so I’ll pass this time. I took a walk around the old town, which I hadn’t been able to see last time. It’s a town with a sense of history like Kyoto. I was surprised to see a bronze statue of Lieutenant Hirose, who carried out the Port Arthur blockade operation during the Russo-Japanese War. I didn’t know he was from here. After the operation, the Japanese Navy, led by Commander Togo Heihachi, faced off against the Russian Baltic Fleet, which was said to be the most powerful fleet in the world at the time.

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taketa9 earthen wall of samrai residence

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taketa3 decoration with trowel

taketa5 tamachi street

taketa6 fom shrine

taketa14 straw under the plaster

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taketa21 taki rentaro tunnel

taketa22 house in the childhood

In one corner of the samurai residence is the Hidden Christian Cave Chapel, giving the area a sense of its rich history.

taketa11 christian cave chapel

taketa10 christian cave chapel

Finally, we had a special lunch (reservation needed in advance) at Okura Shimizuyu, a café that was once a bathhouse. Apparently, his parents own a vegetable shop next door, so they served us a variety of vegetable dishes. I couldn’t finish it all. They even served us matcha green tea.

taketa25 ohkura simizu public bath in the past

taketa26 restaurant now

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taketa28 restaurant managed bu vegitable shop

taketa30 lunch

taketa29 lunch

taketa32 remnants of public bath from upper floor

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taketa33 dessert

taketa35 fukujyuenn distilled spirits factory and shop

Our final stop was a barley shochu brewery in town, where we had the opportunity to try a variety of shochu while the proprietress was busy on her way to Tokyo to attend a wedding.

climbing18 mitsumata mountain from kutsukake mountain — Go back to itinerary

2025-06-222025-06-23

Getting lost in search of a water source in Ubuyama Village

The village of Ubuyama, located on the outer rim of Mt. Aso, is a laid-back place. The outer rim area is made up of many alternating high hills and deep valleys, and once you enter a valley, it’s hard to tell where you are. There are countless water sources in these valleys. One of them, the Yamabuki Spring, has been selected as one of the 100 famous water sources in Kumamoto Prefecture, and gushes out 30 tons of water every minute. The way the green and autumn leaves of the trees are reflected on the clear water is beautiful.

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ubuyama village3 ohgi tanada (rice terrace)

Please note that navigation systems do not work this far, so you need to keep a close eye on the map. The terrain is so complex that it is difficult to know where you are once you enter the valley of the outer rim of the volcano. There are stacked fan-shaped rice terraces nearby, and you’ll want to take photos of the way they are filled with water before rice planting and the stars reflected in them at night.

ubuyama village1 sobosan(grandmother mountain) and sea of clouds

ubuyama village2 aso mountains

ubuyama village5 cattle grazing

yamanami21 ranch near hotel

yamanami23 satoimo with a sticky texture

There are also pastures everywhere. There were calves right in front of the Yamanami Inn, but I hope it wasn’t used as an ingredient in the barbecue at the inn last night. There is also a buffet with nearly 30 kinds of homemade pickles. I was impressed that even these things can be made into pickles. If you can’t finish rice, they will make it into rice balls for you to have as a midnight snack.

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yamanami19 take out gift after dinner

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yamanami2 entrance

yamanami3 original hotspring

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yamanami7 dinner

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yamanami5 chabo house

yamanami6 chabo for dinner

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yamanami18 dagojiru

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yamanami26 breakfast

yamanami25 breakfast

2025-06-18

Mount Kuju, a mass of multiple volcanoes, loves sweets

climbing19 hossho mountain and nishisenrigahama

Mount Kuju is a place where you can enjoy a leisurely day of mountain hiking without having to stay overnight. However, here I would like to introduce a short 2-hour round trip trek to Mount Kuju, which shows off enough a variety of different faces, and the rewards that are well worth it.

climbing1 start from makinoto mountain pass

I would like to see the whole mountain covered in pink Kirishima Azalea flowers in May or June, but I have heard that the mountain gets congested. In the end, I end up just taking pictures of the line of climbers that stands out against the pink mountain. So this time, I went in late October to search for autumn leaves.

The easiest way to get to the summit is from Makinoto Pass along th road, which gives you the highest altitude possible as the starting point.

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climbing5 waita mountain like Mt.Fuji

climbing6 kutsukake mountain

climbing10 goal of kutsukake mountain

At first, the mountain trail is a long, gradual concrete slope that can be tiring. However, you can get past this point and head towards Mount Kutsukake.

climbing7 iida hights and yufudake over there

climbing9 aso mountains

Along the way, you can see Mt. Yufudake and the Aso mountain range, and at the end you can enjoy the autumn foliage of Mt. Hossho and Ohgigahana. I didn’t see anyone wearing high heels up here, but you can climb in normal shoes. The area around the summit of Mt. Kutsukake is full of rocks, but after that the trail continues along a gentle ridge. If you have the stamina and time, you can go a little further.

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climbing18 mitsumata mountain from kutsukake mountain

climbing19 hossho mountain and nishisenrigahama

climbing20 ohgigahana

A detour or a reward (Sweets Restaurant)

Return to Makinoto Pass and head south, cross the pass and the Aso mountain range will come into view, and you will then see Chez Tani Senomoto-Kogen store. The view of the Aso mountain range from the full-length windows is a sight to behold, but the 90-minute cake buffet for 3,300 yen is a menu that will make you forget all about it – a menu that is sure to satisfy any desire. If you can’t do something like that, the 1500 yen 2 cakes set with drinks is enough. The cake portions are too big, so you forget to enjoy the view.

chez tani mo mo roll

chez tani pudding

chez tani grape yogurt mousse

chez tani fruit cake

2025-06-172025-06-22

The charm of Kikuchi Gorge is its deep pools

The entrance is located quite a way down the slope from the northern outer rim of Mt. Aso to the west. This gorge has an abundant amount of water and is deep, so the sun does not penetrate to the bottom of the gorge. That’s why the color of the pool is a deep blue and mysterious. The only time the light penetrates to the bottom of the gorge, illuminating the curtain of water vapor rising from the pool, is early in the morning in early summer, when the gorge is apparently occupied by many photographers.

kikuchi gorge2 kakefu fall

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kikuchi gorge15 tree on the rock

kikuchi gorge18 hirokawara

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It’s a two-hour circular course that goes up and down and doesn’t have many ups and downs, but for some reason it takes longer than that. Perhaps it’s because you’re bathed in negative ions and there are a series of spectacular waterfalls and pools.

For your refference, I recommend sevral as below.

Narugo Gorge(Miyagi Prefecture)
Hugging Gorge(Akita Prefecture)
Nakatsugawa Valley(Fukushima Prefecture)
Geibikei Canyon(Iwate Prefecture)
Oirase Valley(Aomori Prefecture)

Detour (Aso Skyline Observatory)

There are several observation decks on the outer rim of Mt. Aso. The most representative of these is Daikanbo, which juts out slightly into the caldera basin from within the outer rim, and from there you can see the Aso mountain range directly ahead from due north. However, it takes a little time to get to the top of the observation deck, including the walking time, and the Aso Skyline Observatory solves this problem. The observation deck is right on the side of the road. It is on the way to Kikuchi Gorge.

aso viewpoint1 left

aso viewpoint2 kuju

aso viewpoint3 somma

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aso viewpoint5 nekodake

aso viewpoint6 kusasennri

aso viewpoint7 somma

aso viewpoint8 right

Detour (Lunch time)

Going back a little to Minamioguni Town, in a really small basin surrounded by mountains, there is an apple mint herb garden and a natural food restaurant called “Kaze no Mori (Forest with wind).” I love the plate with colorful vegetables, so I always stop by here. You can enjoy a leisurely lunch while looking at the farm. The assortment of various herbs is a great deal.

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apple mint3 pumpkin soup

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2025-06-14

Yamanami Highway is Mountain wave itself

The Yamanami Highway is a road that connects Yufuin to Aso, passing through the Kuju mountain range. The scenery overlooking the mountain range changes rapidly, and the road has moderate curves, so you can enjoy an exhilarating drive while listening to music. Along the way, stop at the observation deck where you can get a full view of Mt. Yufu-dake. Mt. Yufu-dake is also known as Bungo Fuji, and its summit is made up of two well-balanced peaks. Although it is different from the shape of Mount Fuji that is generally associated with it, the Mount Fuji as it is called in various regions is probably a mountain that constitutes a representative mental landscape of each region.

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yamanami highway2 yufudake

yamanami highway3 mitumata mountain

yamanami highway4 evening sun on kuju mountain

Just because you’re not driving doesn’t mean you should fall asleep. This is a route where you should enjoy the beauty of mountain waves. It’s especially amazing to pass through the Kuju mountain range to the south and see the Aso mountain range in the sunset from the pass.

yamanami highway5 aso view left

yamanami highway6 aso view right

We descend the mountain and head towards my usual lodging, Kurokawa Onsen Sanga, as the silver grass sways and sparkles towards the sunset. I came here again looking forward to the food. I apologize for the photos being all about food. But every dish and its tableware is a work of art.

Kurokawa Hotspring “Sanga”

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kurokawasanga dinner1

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2025-06-08

Castle town Kitsuki with picturesque slopes

kitsuki castle town9 accounting place slope

kitsuki castle town3 vinegar house slope

I wonder how to read this kanji of city name as Kitsuki. It is composed of the kanji characters for pestle, which is used to knead rice cakes, and construction, so it seems to be auspicious. Even more auspicious, this kanji is also used as part of the address of Izumo Taisha Shrine where The god of nation building is enshrined. There is a theory that the place name originated from a typo on a red seal letter (a document guaranteeing territory) given to feudal lords by the shogunate, but is this true?

Kitsuki is also said to be one of the Little Kyotos, but what exactly is a Little Kyoto? There is an organization called All Japan Kyoto Committee, which all cities across Japan that are considered Little Kyotos join, and the three requirements for membership are that a city have a landscape similar to Kyoto, historical ties, and traditional industries and performing arts. Onomichi City is also a member, but what is missing in Takehara City(*), which calls itself Little Kyoto and is close to Onomichi? Or is the membership fee too high? Or is Onomichi opposed to joining? I wonder if there are various adult reasons for a city like this to join. It seems like it’s very difficult for new members to join either the EU or NATO.

(*)After looking into it more closely, I found that Takehara City was a member but withdrew on its own, and Onomichi City has now also withdrawn. Is the name value of Little Kyoto no longer effective? This may be due to the diversification of tourism appeal.

kitsuki castle town1

kitsuki castle town2 salt house slope

kitsuki castle town3 vinegar house slope

kitsuki castle town10 fuji and reflecting fuji on th slope

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kitsuki castle town12 clan school

kitsuki castle town4 chief retainers house

kitsuki castle town5 samurai residence

kitsuki castle town14 church

Anyway, it seems like it’s popular to take photos on the slopes in kimono. There are a lot of kimono rental shops. It’s a quiet and nice town. The castle town of Kitsuki is made up of samurai residences built on two plateaus running east to west, and merchant houses on the lowlands surrounded by these plateaus. That’s why there are slopes everywhere. When you go up to one plateau, the other slopes seem to be right in front of you, so it makes a great picture. If you walk along the southern plateau to the eastern end, you will see Kitsuki Castle as if it is floating on the sea. This is also worth seeing.

kitsuki castle town6 left castle

kitsuki castle town7 right yasaka river

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A detour or a reward (Sweets Restaurant)

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Detour (Aso Skyline Observatory)

Detour (Lunch time)

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Kurokawa Hotspring “Sanga”

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