Autumn and Winter in Japan - A pictorial chronicle

[SQKevin]

Thanks for sharing the great pics. Just curious. Do you get to these places by your own transport or public transport? That's quite a bit of travelling.

[kelvgoh]

Thanks for sharing the great pics. Just curious. Do you get to these places by your own transport or public transport? That's quite a bit of travelling.

Hello! Thanks for your kind words. I get to most of the places by train/air transport but there are some places where I would drive and/or trek.

[phaleesy]

Kelvgoh, how did you get to Takayama and Shirakawago? I rented a car from Takaoko, drove to Gokayama, overnite in Shirakawago, then drove onto Takayama. Then took the train to Kyoto or Osaka I think.

I read that there was a bus service to Shirakawago but did not know the schedules. Any ideas? I'd be spending a few weeks in Japan this winter and I did think of revisting Takayama and Shirawago.

Was it difficult to drive in the snow in Japan? Roads gritted?

I'm also thinking of doing a trip in the Kushiro area this winter and I don't know how difficult it would be driving in the snow. Would appreciate your comments about winter driving in Japan.

[rouquin]

Kelvgoh, how did you get to Takayama and Shirakawago? I rented a car from Takaoko, drove to Gokayama, overnite in Shirakawago, then drove onto Takayama. Then took the train to Kyoto or Osaka I think.

I read that there was a bus service to Shirakawago but did not know the schedules. Any ideas? I'd be spending a few weeks in Japan this winter and I did think of revisting Takayama and Shirawago.

Was it difficult to drive in the snow in Japan? Roads gritted?

I'm also thinking of doing a trip in the Kushiro area this winter and I don't know how difficult it would be driving in the snow. Would appreciate your comments about winter driving in Japan.

Hi there, I personally did Takayama-Shirakawago by bus, but if you have seen Shirakawago already and would like a likewise experience but more quite, I recommend you drive further (30 min) to the smaller Ainokura. Just great and so relaxing. We stayed there at an excellent Minshuku last April (still lots of snow...).
Greetings.

[phaleesy]

Hi there, I personally did Takayama-Shirakawago by bus, but if you have seen Shirakawago already and would like a likewise experience but more quite, I recommend you drive further (30 min) to the smaller Ainokura. Just great and so relaxing. We stayed there at an excellent Minshuku last April (still lots of snow...).
Greetings.

Thanks, rouquin.

I believe I drove to Ainokura first. Had a bit of food, wandered around, then drove onto Shirakawago where we spent the night. I think it must be Ainoura we visited first - much smaller than Shirakawago. (It is all rather confusing because we were trying to key in the details into a Jap sat nav)

How did you find the bus schedule? Was it a hassle taking the bus? I'm not up to driving on my own in winter, so there is no option except for the bus. But do the buses run in January? Or would the snow be too heavy? I suppose life goes on in Japan regardless of the weather, unlike the UK!

Was it difficult getting up to the viewing points for the aerial view of the villages in winter?

[kelvgoh]

Kelvgoh, how did you get to Takayama and Shirakawago? I rented a car from Takaoko, drove to Gokayama, overnite in Shirakawago, then drove onto Takayama. Then took the train to Kyoto or Osaka I think.

I read that there was a bus service to Shirakawago but did not know the schedules. Any ideas? I'd be spending a few weeks in Japan this winter and I did think of revisting Takayama and Shirawago.

Was it difficult to drive in the snow in Japan? Roads gritted?

I'm also thinking of doing a trip in the Kushiro area this winter and I don't know how difficult it would be driving in the snow. Would appreciate your comments about winter driving in Japan.

Hello! Nohi Bus Company is the one which provides the bus service between Takayama, Kanazawa, Gokayama and Shirakawago. Here is their website http://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/index.html . You can either make a booking on the phone (a must for certain buses) or just pop around the bus terminals in Takayama or Kanazawa to buy the tickets.

I got to Takayama via train - shinkansen to Nagoya and then a local train service to Takayama - spent a night there, then off to Shirakawago by bus. The standard route I think.

The buses run all year around unless it's physically impossible to drive, which is very unlikely. I went to Shirakawago in late Jan/early Feb I think (can't remember now). There's a bus up to the viewing point and it isn't difficult at all for the bus to go up, although it is tricky for people to get a good view as the gallery is all snowed up. Bring serious snow boots!

I toyed with the idea of driving to shirakawago in winter but I chickened out of it. It's erm, I think not particularly wise to drive in Japan in winter as it's difficult to try to translate/figure out road signs (esp in rural Japan), figure out where the roads are, and drive at the same time. haha. The major roads are gritted but it's not much use when the snow is relentless (as it was in Takayama). You'll probably spend more time at the side of the road rather than moving along.

[phaleesy]

Thanks, planned to go to Kanazawa for the winter garden, so the bus route would be v useful.

[phaleesy]

Kelvgoh, photographed the snow monkeys yet? Just wondering how much of a walk it would be to get to the thermal pools.

How about the dancing cranes in Kushiro? I keep reading about tours to see the cranes in February! Any idea why in February? I thought the birds would be 'dancing' about and getting fed for the whole of winter. I plan to be in Japan in January, and I would be most upset if I turned up in Hokkaido and there were no cranes to dance for me.

Please help me with any information you've got. The guidebooks and internet searches which I've done are not providing me with enough information.

P.S. Any places in Tokyo you'd recommend to do a time-lapse? Lots of cars/traffic/lights/nice road structures e.g. bridges, would be nice.

[kelvgoh]

Hello Phaleesy

By snow monkeys, did you mean the monkeys which bathe in the onsen in Yamanouchi? If you did, unfortunately I did not get a chance to go there. It's a massively difficult place to go to involving a few changes of trains and buses. haha. I think though, if you base yourself in Kanazawa, it's not that difficult to get there.

I've not been to see the cranes in Kushiro. The rationale for seeing them in winter is because you can get them all in one area - their feeding zones. Why in February rather than January? January sees the harshest bit of winter in Hokkaido, so it may be more of a logistical issue rather than anything else. The cranes feed all winter (as you mention), but getting around is much harder in January, as opposed to February where it gets milder.

Tokyo time lapse - how long were you thinking of spreading it over? Plenty of places which may be suitable but depends on whether it's possible to place yourself there for the desired period of time.

[phaleesy]

Hi Kelvgoh, thanks for your comments.

Snow monkeys- http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6028.html.
Looks like I have to walk 40 mins along this trail to see my snow monkeys! I hate walking in the snow!

Dancing cranes - I think they only dance during the mating season. So Jan is mating season too? I'm just afraid that the cranes mate in Feb only because of Valentine's Day, so no dance for me in Jan when I'm there.

Time lapse - on the street- 15-30 mins should be more than sufficient. I'm definitely not sitting there the whole night.
Time lapse in the room - 24 hours?

How'd you do a 24 hours time lapse anyway? I think some sort of computer programme must be required. I need to get one of the intervalameters (sp?) thing, and a motorized tripod head. Need to do research first. Someone showed me his setup in NYC recently and it was really cool but I didn't look at the brand of the motorized head. There's one made in Japan which I'm interested in. Are you heading to LHR anytime soon? I'm sure you know what my evil plan is.

[jhm]

How'd you do a 24 hours time lapse anyway? I think some sort of computer programme must be required.

For a basic setup, all you need is:

(a) your Canon on a tripod;
(b) a USB cable from the camera to the computer; and
(c) Canon's free software:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/sof...eos-utilty.htm

(Nikon charge for their equivalent software!)