Ashikaga in Japan NEEDS TO BE DISCOVERED! (Japan Travel Vlog Guide)

Hi Minasan, I'm Nathan and welcome to ninja monkey  the place for all things related to Japan,   where I help you plan your trips and give you  Japan related ideas. I had the privilege of  visiting Ashikaga and discovering an  area with so much to offer. Ashikaga is certainly worth a day trip and if not an  overnight stay. Being only around 70 minutes away from Asakusa in Tokyo using the direct  limited Express Ryomo train from the Tobu Line,   and about the same travel time using a  combination of the JR Tohoku Shinkansen with a change to the Ryomo line. I hope to Showcase some of the many things to see and do in this less visited but awesome area. So let's get started! My first destination took me to Kurita museum about a 10 minute walk from Jr Tomita station only two stops from Ashikaga station I've come to Kurita art museum. Behind me is actually  quite famous because Freddie Mercury came here   as you can see by some of those  pictures and it is said that when he arrived at this Museum he  wanted to purchase everything. One of the things that I absolutely love about coming to these places is discovering or rediscovering a love of Art. And these items, these Ceramics are so beautiful that as I mentioned before Freddie Mercury came  here especially to check this Museum out. This place itself is so much  bigger than I expected, and it's worth coming for a little Wonder  just in case you're in the area. Standing here in front of this ancient lime kiln Hill or pottery kiln, or whatever it is. I was reminded that this  location actually has some pottery workshops. So if that's something that you might be interested  in then you can also check that out. I won't have time and I also wanted to mention that I've  actually been given permission to film inside. So you're not supposed to film inside remember  that. From Kurita Museum a short 12-minute walk will get you to Ashikaga famous flower Park and although it wasn't the best season to visit it really was a beautiful sight and I really wanted to Showcase this the location as many people have seen the images but don't realize how easy it is to get to from Tokyo. This is certainly somewhere that you will not want to  miss especially during Wisteria season I'll include some photos that really don't do this  place any justice. The location that I stand in right now is a Ashikag flower Park, very famous for its Wisteria. Probably you've seen the photos of the famous Wisteria hanging tunnel well this is a place and yes I'm here in the summer and actually I've even spotted some wisteria surprisingly. There is no Wisteria tunnel but there's plenty more to see, so if you are in the area and it is Wisteria season I definitely recommend you come Something that's really interesting that I didn't know  is that actually all the Wisteria were taken   from another Park in Ashikaga and brought  over here because of fear that the park was   too small and that they couldn't expand so  they brought all the Wisteria here so that   they could expand the park and boy oh boy  there's Wisteria everywhere even now in the summer theres some flowering. A 15 minute drive from a Ashikaga flower park or a 10 or 15 minute taxi drive from the main stations lies the first Shrine I will visit in ashikaga. Also accessible using public transportation along  with a half hour walk. This Shrine or Temple is located in the Northern Area. Kabasaki Hachimangu Shrine or Temple is a National Historic Site and was built for Ashikaga Yoshikane the Lord who established banajii Temple. And I must admit that I was surprised to find  such a unique place and really enjoyed my visit. I'm here in kabasaki hachiman Shrine and it  said that if you walk in a figure of eight   like I've just done, that you'll be purified, so  make sure that you do that if you ever come here It's obviously a very local shrine where locals will come and give an offering and a prayer and it's fantastic, these sort of shrines that are basically surrounded by   forests with such tall trees, they just remind  me when they look at the the trees that are   so tall up in the sky. They just remind me of  how old this sort of place is. it really is a reminder and I just love wondering and I've  said this many times in my videos. Actually when it's raining or drizzling these places  become even more magical and peaceful This shrine used to be a temple actually. It was founded  by Yoshikane a very famous Samurai in this area   and the reason why this Temple was  built was to pray for the souls of the deceased in a big battle. The story of Yoshikane is incredibly interesting and I totally recommend that you do a little bit of reading especially if you are going to come here. The next spot is Coco Farm and Winery a 20-minute taxi drive from the main  stations or a 60 or 80 minute walk if you really want to stretch your legs that is. And believe you me you're not going to want to drive to this one although you can if you want to. Coco Farm is also accessible by bus and open from 10 a.m to 6 p.m with a cafe open from 11AM to 5:30 PM. Welcome to Coco farm and Winery, this place actually has one of the most renowned Wines in Japan. Surprisingly, so if you're a wine lover this is definitely someone that you need to come to and behind me is actually all The Vineyards where they actually grow and there's somebody banging away trying to scare all the the birds. So that they don't eat the probably very delicious  grapes. Cocoa comes from the word kokoromi and kokoromi basically means to try something but it also means heart. And this place is pretty unique and amazing because it's actually employs disabled people to give them a job so they can actually have a life and make a life over here and people from all around the area they come and they work here on this Farm to produce really delicious wine which has been even served for G7 Summit members. So let's get to it this is a, this is maybe the first Japanese wine that I've ever had to be honest. I think I've never had a Japanese wine and what better place to try a Japanese wine than actually in a Japanese Winery or Vineyard, Kampai! am I supposed to do the whole like (slurp) am I supposed to do all of that? I'm not gonna do that anyway. Kanpai! oh! it's very easy to drink, I mean I do like red wine   and actually when you come here you're given  you for 1 000 Yen you're given five different wines to try you can try from sparkling to Red to White and there's even a non alcoholic um you know choice just in case you are driving around So this is just the start of my Ashikaga adventure stick around and subscribe so that you don't miss any future videos. in a future video I will be exploring a range of temples and shrines that might be on par or  better than many that I have visited in Japan. I will literally be jumping into the location of  a Japanese historical painting, hanging out with the locals, learning how to make soba noodles, wearing some Samurai armor whilst exploring the city, have an in-depth conversation with a Buddhist  monk and staying in what could potentially be   the most unique and interesting ryokan  traditional Inn that I've stayed in and   that's just a start. So hopefully this will be a good reason to subscribe. I really enjoyed my time in Ashikaga and I hope that I can convince you to give it a go too. Once again thanks so much for watching all the way to the end and if you have then prove it by commenting with a Ramen Emoji even if you have nothing to say. Like I always say stay positive team but Covid negative! arigatou gozaimasu, gracias, thanks, bye

Channel: Ninja Monkey

Views: 6,499

Keywords: japan, samurai, explore japan, japan travel, japan walk, japan travel guide, japan travel tips, famous places in japan, japan trip, japan travel vlog, japan 2022, japan travel 2022, top Japan, unknown Japan, travel japan, how to travel japan, japan guide, things to do in japan, what to do in japan, japan travel update, japan tourism, travel to japan, Ashikaga, Ashikaga Japan, Japan tourism, Japan border, japan reopen, tochigi, best place Japan

Id: 5-_37bHZPoA

Length: 12min 29sec (749 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 01 2022